Gamer Slang

Tiffany Rangel
COVID-19
Due to a unique situation, created by the global pandemic of
Covid-19, I was unable to observe a group of teenagers in
their natural habitat. However, thanks to technology I was
able to observe a group of mid-twenties gamers in their
natural habitat. The following slang terms were what I
observed via online gaming, while doing my part to practice
social distancing.
Party

Sentence:
Hold on man let me add you to my
party.

Meaning:
An online private gaming chat where
gamers can hang out virtually and
play games together.
Lobby

Sentence:
Back out to the lobby guys, I
glitched.

Meaning:
A virtual waiting room where
players gather and wait to start
their match.
pwnd

Sentence:
I just PWND this guy!

Meaning:
To annihilate or beat another
player badly.
Scrimped

Sentence:
Oooh… get scrimped.

Meaning:
A term used when you take out
another player with a cool move or
get a player that has been
bothering you.
 Camper

Sentence:
Guys we got a camper over here.

Meaning:
A player that shelters in somewhere
in a game to give themselves an
advantage. They do not move
around.
 Sweaty

Sentence:
Someone I being super sweaty over
here.

Meaning:
Trying way too hard, over doing it.
 Noob

Sentence:
I am stuck with a bunch of noobs
on my team.

Meaning:
Someone who is new to a game or bad
enough at the game to seem new.
 Toxic

Sentence:
Heads up guys, this lobby is toxic.

Meaning:
Contains rude players or vulgar
language.
 Git Gud

Sentence:
Aww yeahh.. git gud!!

Meaning:
A sarcastic way of telling someone
they suck, often used toward other
players after taking them out.
 A Matt

Sentence:
Way to pull a Matt.

Meaning:
To perform poorly because you
are distracted. Specific to
gamers I observed, as Matt is a
member of their group.
My pre-observation expectations:
In a time of shelter in place orders I had to get a little
creative with my observation. My husband and step son both
game and I knew I was not up on the current gaming slang. I
decided to observe my husband and his friends (mid 20’s age
group) in one of their gaming chats. I expected to not know
a lot of the words that came up while listening in on their
online chat. I also expected to hear some familiar slang.
Expectations vs reality:
While I expected to be unfamiliar with a lot of the gamer
talk, I was surprised how much of it was easy to follow.
Context clues and morphology principles allowed me to figure
out what several of the words meant. I was also surprised
how closely the slang resembled the way I talked as a
teenager, considering the group I observed were actually in
their early to mid twenties.
 Reasoning behind gamer slang:
Slang is used for a number of reasons; venting emotions, expressing
creative intelligence and maintaining social space. Adolescents are the
biggest developers of slang as they use it for connection with their
peers and distancing or independence from adults (teachers, parents,
coaches). Social media and technology are causing slang to be on the
rise. Teens are still in the midst of cognitive development and develop
at different rates. Slang allows them to connect on the same level even
when they are really on varying levels of intelligence and development.
Slang also allows for individual identities to be built as well as groups
(Adolecent Slang, n.d). Gamers are a social group so it makes sense for
them to have their own slang despite the varied age groups. It is a way
for them to connect on the same level despite their differences as
mentioned above. The online aspect of gaming is also what causes the
slang to continually change.
My teenage slang vs. Gamer slang:
The phrase “pulling a Matt” was the most similar to my
teenage slang as we also would use other kids names in a
negative way. There was always that kid in class that asked
all the questions and when your friend asked something you
thought was straight forward you would sarcastically tell
them “Okkkkay Karen.” Also like my teenage slang, everyone
in the group knew and used the terms like it was plain
English. Teenagers also have this tendency to use their
terms easily and without additional thought. I did feel most
of their slang was negative, as a teenager I remember having
both positive and negative slang terms.
Connection to my studies:
I was able to use morphology to decode some of the words I
observed such as schlumped. I knew to schlump over meant to
fall over looking dead and the -ed made it past tense. I was
able to deduce from this and context clues that the word
meant killed. Other words had morphemes in them but I still
had to look them up to get their meanings such as scrimped.
I knew the -ed made it past tense but I still could not get
the meaning through decoding. When it comes to semantics
slang actually has a meaning unique to the users. When
analyzing semantics we are typically more interested in
general meanings (Yule,2017).
Slang in The Classroom:
The rise of social media and slang is causing a decline in writing
skills according to an article published by U.S. News. Teachers are
seeing an increase in abrevisitors and slang in not only email
correspondence but writing assignments as well. College admissions
offices are admittedly throwing essays with slang and abbreviations
aside. Admissions officers believe if students cannot adapt and
write appropriately for their admissions essays they will struggle
to adapt to the college curriculum. Research is suggesting the
integration of slang in to writing is not intentional on the part of
students. They are writing how they talk and it is causing a
decline in the quality of their writing (Lytle, 2011).
Slang in My Classroom:
Upon researching the developmental aspects of slang as well as the
effect of slang on the modern classroom, I have come to the
following conclusion. Slang does have a place in the classroom.
However, just like other aspects of our lives this comes with
limitations. The connectivity of slang and its importance in the
process of development lead me to think we should encourage slang,
at least verbally. However, I don’t think slang belongs in written
assignments within the classroom. Journaling would be an exception
to this rule, but more formal writing should be expected for essays.
We can help our students learn when it is acceptable and
unacceptable to use slang by following this standard. Allowing them
to connect with their peers, but build writing skills that set them
up to be successful.
Sources:
Adolescent Slang. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://pages.stolaf.edu/developmentalpsych/adolescent-slang
/

Lytle, R. (2011, June). How Slang Affects Students in the

Classroom. Retrieved from
https://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2011/
06/13/how-slang-affects-students-in-the-classroom

Yule, G. (2017). The Study of Language [Kindle] (Sixth

Edition).