World of Tanks Common Terms and Acronyms

World of Tanks Common Terms and Acronyms by boilerrat

Before I start, I would like to give a collective pat on the back to everyone who submits anything; you know who you are.

In this thread I think it would be a great helpful idea for the new players, and maybe those who would like to learn something about some of the crazy abbreviations that may appear in their gaming experience with WoT.

I have compiled this quick list of things I could remember, Mixed largely with tons of community submissions

WoT related terms

  • HE = High Explosive
  • AP = Armor Piercing
  • Arty = Artillery / SPG (Self Propelled Gun)
  • School bus = SU-14 – Final Russian SPG -(besides the S-51 that comes from the KV chassis)
  • Boxhead / Bobblehead = Tier 5 Russian heavy tank equiped with the turret upgrade.
  • Mini Maus = Tier 9 VK4502 German Heavy tank before the Maus. (I started this phrase)
  • Scout / Spotter = Usually a light tank such as an A-20 or Leopard.
  • Spotting = Finding targets for artillery / tank destroyers.
  • Rushing = All (Hopefully) tanks cooperating in a mad dash for the enemy base in order to secure a capture victory.
  • 1337 Traktor / LolTraktor = Tier 1 German tank, nickname for the leichtraktor.
  • Premium / Prem = An account type purchased with gold for a temporary period that provides the player with a bonus to credit and experience gain.
  • Premium tank = A tank purchased with gold such as the Churchill, Matilda, or the Valentine.
  • Prem Ammo = Premium ammo bought with gold.
  • Leo = Leopard light scouting tank for Germany.
  • Campinovka = The affectionate nickname for one of the most disliked maps named “Malinovka”.
  • Cap / Capping = Capturing the enemy flag / base.
  • Light = Light Tank.
  • Med = Medium Tank.
  • Heavy = Heavy Tank.
  • Camo = Netting equipment that improves your ability to hide.
  • KT = Nickname for the Tiger II, “King Tiger”.
  • JT = Nickname for the JagdTiger.
  • Bison = The Sturmpanzer 1.
  • VK’s = Blanket term for the whole VK series, excluding the mini maus.
  • Tracked = The adjective describing the broken state of your treads. “I’m tracked” “That heavy is tracked” “I must repair, I’m tracked”.
  • Binocs = The equipment that allows you to see much farther while stationary.
  • Oneshot = A term for a fatal blow, killing a tank with a single hit. Usually this happens if Heavy Tanks or SPGs shoot at smaller targets.
  • TX = TX is used to describe the tier a vehicle is on, for example the KV is a T5 heavy tank. “T” is tier, and “X” is replaced with the number.
  • Warping = Due to lag, and the way the current version of the BigWorld engine that WoT uses is coded, tanks can appear to warp or teleport from place to place – making it very hard to hit them at long range. This problem should be fixed in the 0.6 / 0.7 patch which includes an engine update.
  • Peashooter = A very small gun that can’t penetrate larger enemies.
  • Pecked / Chipped = Slowly destroy an enemy tank with a small gun.
  • Lolcannon / Derpgun – Refers to a few weapons, the Soviet 152mm for the KV,ISU-152, and the SU-152, so called because they can often deal high damage, often causing module damage
  • Circling = Driving circles around a larger tank that cannot turn it’s turret fast enough. Also works equally well for Tank Destroyers and
    SPG’s that have to turn their whole chassis. This tactic is most notably used by light tanks and high tier mediums.
  • Ricochet = A shell that hits the target and flies off in a different direction at high speeds.
  • Blindfire = Tanks firing blindly at common hiding spots, or where a tank was last seen. Most commonly utilized by artillery.
  • Suicide Scouting = Light tanks rushing FAR ahead of the team to scout the enemy, without any support and usually before the artillery is even prepared. Usually this tactic is used just for the light tank to earn scout medals.
  • Counter-arty = When your artillery focuses solely on killing the enemy artillery.
  • Ass rape = Constantly being fired on from behind, usually by many smaller tanks because of their lack of frontal penetration ability.
  • Racked = Having your ammo rack destroyed.
  • Circle Fighting = Similar to a circle pit during a heavy metal concert, two actual pieces of heavy metal circle each other in hopes of hitting the back armor to penetrate. Most notably seen with the Russian and German mediums.
  • Hand of God = A nickname for powerful artillery such as the S-51 / Hummel / Schoolbus. It relates to lightning because the artillery trajectory gives the effect of the projectile coming straight from the gods. “I was just struck down by the gods themselves”
  • Gophering / Peek-a-boo = Sticking your tank out just enough from behind cover just long enough to take a shot before quickly hiding again until you reload. Rinse and repeat.
  • Grousers = A piece of equipment that increases the German tanks’ traction. It improves performance on soft ground as well as a higher speed. (“install additional grousers”)
  • Long (gun) = A gun with a longer barrel than usual, granting increased penetration and accuracy
  • Short (gun) = A gun with a shorter barrel than usual, usually an extremely high caliber designed for high explosive rounds to destroy bunkers (Or sub systems :-)
  • Fireflies / Hummingbirds = A nickname for the scouts on either team, named after the chaotic maneuvers they use to survive. Most notably seen on the Leopard / A-20 / BT-7.

Non-WoT exclusive terms

  • Tker = Team Killer.
  • Tk’d = A verb to describe that someone was team killed. “He was Tk’d” – “That guy just TK’d me” – “Imma get Tk’d any second”
  • FF (Friendly Fire) = (Hopefully) An accident that occurred when a team mate receives damage from another team mate’s weapon.
  • Botter = Player using a script or program that automates gameplay for the sole purpose of earning credits.
  • Farming / Grinding = Doing a repetitive nearly entertainment barren task to earn credits or an item.
  • Lag-death = Death resulting from a high ping or low FPS.
  • Nerf = Having an item, ability, or character less effective due to balancing issues. These entities are “Nerfed” by patching.
  • Zerging = A reference to the popular Starcraft series, when players all rush one direction in hopes of overwhelming the enemy. This tactic only works if EVERYONE cooperates. When a few people do not cooperate, they guarantee death for themselves AND the team.
  • Camping = When a player sits themselves in one position defensively, usually not helping anyone but themselves. It is a very selfish tactic, unless you are artillery which is acceptable.
  • L2P = An abbreviated insult, “Learn to play nub”. Really immature and inappropriate, as it makes you look equally nubbish. It is commonly used to describe the skill of another player.
  • F2P = An abbreviation for “Free to Play”, it describes the nature of a game being free but usually with the option of purchasing additional items.
  • P2P = An abbreviation for “Pay to Play”, it describes the nature of a game that is made to be paid for each month to enable the player to continue playing. Most notably seen with games like “World Of Warcraft”.
  • Raging = An extreme expression of anger towards a certain event, or person. Sometimes expressed by players with “FFFFFFUUUUUU” or excessive cursing.
  • rgr = Short for “roger” which is a person expressing understanding of what was just said or commanded to them.
  • Meat shield = The act of hiding ones tank behind another one (dead or alive) in the hopes of it taking hits instead of the players own tank.
  • gg = good game
  • gj = good job
  • ns = nice shot
  • BVR = Beyond visual range- Someone is attacking you and you can’t see them: “That darn TD is BVR.”
  • OP = Overpowered.
  • Kser / Kill stealer = Having one of your kills stolen at the last moment after working really hard. “That guy just Ks’d me” “Stop Kill stealing”.

Feel free to contribute any, I may update the OP if your submission is relevant.
If you choose to submit any, please be so kind as to bold and list the terms in the format I have used.

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