"LFG to Run DM. Need Heal and DPS Then G2G" - A Translation Guide to World of Warcraft Shorthand

Congratulations! If you are reading this, the you have just recently joined the millions who already play one of the most popular MMORPGs in the world, World of Warcraft. By now, you have already gone ahead and created your character, chose its race, and its class. You also have probably completed about forty to fifty low level quests and have made it to your first major city.

As you are walking around town and looking through the different shops, trying to find your trainer for your class, and finding the inn to set your hearthstone for, you may notice your chat window begins to fill up with what may look like a foreign language. For instance, you may see, on any given day, something like "LF DPS to run DM" or "LF LW to make (insert name of item). Will provide mats. Send tell" or even "LF DPS and heals for VOA 25 then G2G".

If you are anything like me, your first reaction may have been like mine: "What the heck are they talking about?" and then "What the heck have I gotten myself into?" But not to worry; this seemingly foreign language is just shorthand for many of the different titles, jobs, and locations in the game. Much like the short hand used in texting and instant messaging (creators of the original LOL), these seemingly nonsense words are short for a multitude of different longer phrases, thereby making it easier for you to type as you're trying to defeat Hogger. (If you don't know who Hogger is, count yourself lucky.)

Included is a short, non-exhaustive guide to a lot of the most common terms used in the game to help you decipher what your fellow players are saying:

LF- short for 'looking for'. The common derivative of this is LFG which means 'Looking For Group', a phrase which you use when you are needing help completing a quest or an instance.

DPS- short for 'damage per second'. In WoW, there are three types of players for groups: DPS, healers, and tanks. A DPS player (most often a hunter) is sought after when going up a large group of enemies, or one really big, mean boss.

DM, VOA, HOL, ST, ZF- These are not abbreviations for new airports. These are actually abbreviations for different dungeons/instances for groups to complete. These abbreviations are usually found at the end of a LFG sentence.

LW, JC, BS- These are abbreviations for the different professions, and the most popular ones you can find in Trade chat. They stand for Leatherworking, jewel cutter, and blacksmith.

Mats, tells and pst- Finally, these are often found at the end of a sentence. Mats are materials that players use to create things. You can either ask for a player to give you mats so you can make something for them, or you can use your own. Tells and pst are actually synonyms. Both of them stand for the whisper feature in the game, so you can privately message another player.

There are many more abbreviations that are used in the game. However, these are the most common ones you will run into on a daily basis. Understanding their meanings will help bring a deeper appreciation of the game and allow you to be more involved than you were already.