Term

Usage

Meaning

Bio

“BRB, I need a bio break.”

A euphemism for going to the bathroom, but phrased in a less descriptive (and less gross) way.

FTW

“Druid healing FTW!”

Stands for “For The Win.” It means something is great. Its corollary is FTL (For The Loss) which means something is a bummer.

LF
LFG
LFM

“LF tank for Wailing Caverns.”

It stands for “Looking For,” with variations like Looking For Group (LFG), Looking for More (LFM), Looking for 2 More (LF2M), etc. This means that someone needs more folks to help with a dungeon or a quest. Maybe you can help them!

WTB

“WTB Peacebloom.”

Usually seen over Trade chat, it means “Want to Buy” or “Want to Sell” (WTS), just like on Craigslist.

NPC

“There are three NPCs at the top of the tower.”

Also called a “mob.” Stands for “Non-Player Character” and it means any of the computer-controlled creatures in the game.

AoE

“The mage’s AoE can kill all those mobs at once.”

Stands for “Area of Effect” which describes the damage a spell can do within a radius of the caster. So, instead of hitting just one monster, the spell hits all monsters near the person who cast the spell.

Pat

“Don’t let the pats around the corner catch you off guard.”

Short for “patrol,” which is a special kind of NPC who roams around an area instead of staying in one place all the time.

Pug
PUG
PuG

“I hate going through dungeons with pugs.”

No, it’s not a cute little doggie. It stands for “Pick Up Group” and it happens any time you join a group of other players that you don’t know.

Pots

“Bring some healing pots to the instance.”

Short for “potions.”

PvP

“I think world PvP is harder than battleground PvP.”

Abbreviation for Player vs. Player, which means you’re fighting other people like yourself instead of NPCs. (Fighting NPCs is called PvE: Player vs. Environment.)