Glossary of Terms

This is an unofficial collection of frequently used terms and phrases used in the community.

B

 * Bait
 * A style of play which focuses on waiting out attacks from the Infected team before moving forward, sometimes for minutes in a single choke point. The goal of baiting is to have the other team spawn early and fail their attack so that Survivors can continue on with the map with little damage inflicted.


 * Bleeding Out
 * This is when the Survivors have temporary health and lose health over time even if damage isn’t taken. This can be very dangerous for situations like choke points or when fighting a Tank due to the fact that the Survivors cannot bait attacks as long with their health decreasing with time.


 * Bunny Hopping / B Hop
 * To “bunny hop” means to move faster as either Survivor or Infected by pressing the jump key just as you land on the ground. This causes the player to move at a faster pace and is used when going down a slope of any kind. This move as a Survivor can backfire however, as sometimes Survivors may bunny hop too rapidly on a slop and take fall damage or even become incapacitated when landing.

C

 * C4F
 * Community 4 Fame. This was a group dedicated to introducing newer or less experienced competitive players to the scene by having a “mentor” or higher skilled player on their team to help answer questions, call and give tips. It was supplanted by "Left2Learn" and became inactive.


 * Caller
 * A “caller” is generally the player who is leading the team in-game and giving direction on what the team should be doing.


 * Cast
 * A live stream of a match so that a larger group of people can spectate the game without having to join the server. Along with the steam are casters who essentially narrate the gameplay and entertain the viewers.


 * CEVO Bait
 * A term used to describe when Survivors bait for an unnecessarily long period of time in a game that doesn't require super serious mode. CEVO (Cyber Evolution) hosted several top tier tournaments that involved cash prizes so the players would bait attacks and take their time through each map to ensure a win.


 * Chip
 * "Chipping" a target is dealing relatively small amounts of damage repeatedly so as to take it down. Survivors can be chipped through successive attacks, eventually reaching low health at the end of the map. Tanks can bechipped by an uzi or hunting rifle to take gradually take off their health so that they take less time to kill once they commit. Special infected can also be chipped, though this usually is a sizable amount of health, for example a chipped hunter is easier to skeet, and a chipped charger is easier to level.


 * Choke Point
 * Specific places on a map where the Infected team has the advantage. For example, when Survivors are forced to move in a very tight corridor, ascend or descend via a ladder and so on. Executing a well organized attack in a choke point can end in a disastrous result to the Survivor team. This is where one would see the Survivors baiting an attack. Examples of choke points include the ladder climb in The Parish 3 and the ladder climb in Dark Carnival 2.


 * Clear
 * To kill Special Infected or common Infected so that conditions are safe for pushing forward/chasing down the tank as Survivor again, or to shoot a pinner off a teammate.


 * Commit
 * To commit as a Tank means moving in to engage the Survivors in close quarters such that the tank cannot exit the battle without either wiping the survivors or being killed himself. Using this word usually implies Special Infected are standing by to support the Tank, since a tank without support will typically be killed without dealing much damage. Common usage for Survivors can include “committing pills” meaning that they have taken their pills, or waiting for baiting survivors to pass through a choke point before attacking.


 * Common (CI)
 * The regular "zombies" running around that like to punch you.


 * Crown
 * A "crown" is a single shotgun kill of a Witch. See "Draw Crown" or "HR Crown" for different techniques.


 * Curve Rock
 * A special technique used by the Tank when throwing a rock. The name describes it quite well as the Tank gives the illusion of "curving" or changing the direction of the rock being thrown. To curve a rock as a Tank, change direction with crosshair just as you are about to throw a rock. This technique became popularized after ymtisd's tutorial video.

D

 * Damage Pounce / DP
 * A Hunter technique of pouncing a survivor from a height, causing increased damage. The highest damage that can be done with a damage pounce is 25.


 * DC
 * "Disconnected"


 * Deadstop
 * "Deadstopping" simply means meleeing a pouncing Hunter or a leaping Jockey. Deadstopping a Hunter should be followed by a quick headshot to avoid them from giving damage to yourself or others.


 * De-sync
 * Hittables in L4D1 would sometimes "de-sync" between client and server, so your client might lose track of where a hittable was. Your client sees the hittable at an old location and doesn't see it get moved. Often, a single player will experience "de-syncing" while the rest of the players can see the hittable in the right area. To view an example check out this video!


 * DoS/DDoS
 * "Denial-of-Service" / "Distributed Denial of Service". In terms of gaming DoSing a server is when someone lags a server out causing an increase of ping to everyone on the server. Typically done to create rage from the other players and typically done because of the rage the DoSer had. See also Denial of Service on Wikipedia.


 * Draw Crown
 * Similar to a crown but instead of going to the Witch, you make the Witch come to you by triggering her then using a shotgun or with the help of the other team mates, shoot her down until she dies. Often, a draw crown is used in situations where a Witch may be in an unsafe spot where the Special Infected are likely to attack with ease.

E

 * Eating a Rock / Eating
 * A phrase used to describe a Survivor who is hit by a Tank rock. There is an implication that it is the Survivor's fault for being hit. This phrase can be used in many other situations as well. "Eating a charge", or "Eating a DP" are also popular uses.

F

 * Frag
 * A term used in gaming in general that means “player kill”.


 * Friendly Fire / FF
 * Damage that is inflicted to your own team by your own team.

G

 * GG
 * "Good Game". Often said at the end of an entire match/campaign as a sign of good sportsmanship.


 * GH, GR
 * "Good Half" and "Good Round". These are used at the end of a single round and at the end of a map, respectively. Often these are omitted in Competitive play. Quite often a single round will result in a large score defecit for one team, so using these terms can be considered bad manners if the (half) round was not actually that good.


 * Ghost / Ghosting
 * When a Survivor walks slowly or crouches to avoid being seen by the Infected team. When ghosting, the Infected team cannot see Survivor glows. Often, a Survivor will ghost in the safe room or during a choke point to threaten spawn blocking. This may force the SI to spawn and thus attack, meaning that ghosting is often used as a bait.


 * GL HF
 * "Good Luck, Have Fun". Often said before a game by both teams in spirit of good competitive nature.


 * Gravity boom
 * A boomer technique that takes advantage of the arc in the boomer's vomit by vomiting over an object such that the vomit hits a survivor, but the boomer is not visible.


 * God Frames
 * The time where a Survivor cannot take any damage after being freed from an attack or down.

H

 * Health Bonus / HB
 * The health you start with, that does not drain away with time. Note that damage always takes away from your permanent health first. If Survivors reach the safe room with permanent health then additional points are added to their score. If a particular Survivor is carrying a lot of permanent health, it is important to keep attacking that specific player to prevent a large bonus for their team if they make it to the safe room.


 * Hittable
 * An object a Tank can punch in the hopes of incapacitating a Survivor in 1 hit.


 * Hunting Rifle / HR
 * As the Survivors, one player is allowed to carry the hunting rifle as a weapon. This is an important position to play due to the amount of damage the HR can cause. Being HR also requires the ability to clear your team fast and kill spawns that require accuracy. HR is often used to cause the most damage to the Tank because of the distance range and damage per bullet.


 * Hunting Rifle / HR Crown
 * Another method of killing a witch. This specific technique is used with the Hunting Rifle / HR as the name suggests. When the Witch is in her normal state of crying and is not startled or agitated, the HR can shoot her in the head several times to daze her before she has a chance to run and kill anyone. This move is helpful but also risky because the Infected team can disrupt the HR just as he startles her allowing the Witch to regain her senses and run towards the team.

J

 * Jerkstore
 * To fail a Witch crown. The back story to this term is when the competitive L4D1 player, Jerkstore, failed to crown a Witch during the 2009 Newegg Tournament during Blood Harvest 2 (may need confirmation). The game was being live streamed and the casters jokingly brought up “Jerkstore” as the other team killed the Witch as Survivors.


 * Juke
 * Most often applied to Chargers and Tanks, particularly when the tank is punching. Usually executed by jumping at the right moment or weaving at the right moment, or a combination thereof and essentially making the other player miss their hit.


 * Jump Rock
 * A Tank technique of pressing jump and rock-throw at the same time, this causes the Tank to jump closer to the Survivors and begin the rock-throw at the same time which can cause timing issues for the Survivors.

K

 * Kai / Kai Pouncing
 * A Hunter technique of jumping across a wall without landing on the floor or recharging their attack. This move is done by jumping into a wall as a hunter then holding the key that is pushing into the wall while clicking and moving your crosshair slightly with the right timing and essentially doing small controlled wall kicks off the wall. Kai Hunters are harder to skeet and are a great way to make distance as a pre-spawned Hunter, distract the Survivor team or set up for a damage pounce. Term created by kaizoku who discovered the technique.


 * Kite
 * Running away from a tank while shooting it and dodging its attacks. So named because the formation (a tank with four survivors on each side) resembles a kite from above.

L

 * Land
 * A special infected is said to "land" if they cannot be cleared without the help of another survivor. Thus, in L4D1, if all four SI land, a quad cap occurs. Can also refer to a tank landing punches on survivors.


 * Level a charge
 * A single-hit killing a charging Charger with a melee weapon.


 * Line of Sight / LOS
 * Keeping "line of sight" is often used by Survivors that are facing a Tank at a distance. If a Tank cannot see the Survivors or inflict damage, his rage meter decreases and will either be passed to another player or go AI if it has already passed once. This is an important strategy for Survivors because it forces the Tank to either expose himself and get chipped or commit an attack with the risk of being killed. In normal Survivor play keeping LOS with your team mates also means keeping in sight with your team mates incase of an attack that will need cover from your team.


 * Long Arms
 * Sometimes due to ping differences, lag or manipulated network settings from the player’s Left 4 Dead 2 client can cause the Tank to have extended range with his punches. As a Survivor you’ll often feel like you were out of range from the Tank’s arms only to be hit even if the tank seemed farther away on your screen.

M

 * M1
 * Mouse 1, Shoot or Primary Attack.


 * M2
 * Mouse 2 or Shove Attack. Often people who spam it a lot in situations that don't warrant it are made fun of with “m2 more!” or something along the line.


 * Meat Shot
 * A single shot that delivers great damage because of the area that was targeted. Generally meant for Survivors that cause damage to the Infected team, but commonly used with Survivor to Survivor damage.


 * MM2
 * Message Mode 2, as in team chat. Equivalent of telling someone to shut up.


 * Moon Rock
 * A rock thrown by a tank with a very high vertical angle, which goes up "to the moon". These are used on maps with very high skyboxes, with the hopes that the survivors will not be paying attention to the rock when it finally descends from its heights. Some players loosely use the term to refer to rocks which are thrown from very far distances. Example


 * Mumble
 * An open source voice communication program where players can join different channels and servers while in game. The main purpose is to have better communication with the team as the sound quality is much better than the in-game chat.


 * Mustachio
 * In Dark Carnival 4 there is a “Test Your Strength” game where Survivors can take an adrenaline shot and hit the game to alert a horde or more commonly used for a Tank to alert a horde to bring pressure to the survivors. Often, teams make an agreement on whether or not to use Mustachio prior to the map starting to be fair.

O

 * OP
 * "Over Powered". Typically used when describing unfair situations when one team or player has a huge advantage whether based off of skill, weapon etc.

P

 * Pause 4 Dead
 * Term used by players and casters when a match keeps getting interrupted with pauses due to crashes, lag issues, or for no apparent reason.


 * Phantom Bash
 * Term made by Bowflexin` about the one hit melee shove kill on the Jockeys.


 * Pop
 * “Popping” a Boomer means killing a Boomer after he has spawned, but before he has vomited on anyone. This generally refers to rocket spawned boomers, though it can refer to static spawns as well. Note that popping a boomer may still cause survivors to be boomed if they are too close.


 * Pre-Spawn
 * When a Special Infected spawns before attacking. Pre-spawning can be used to create distractions for the Survivor team as each Special Infected makes a distinct noise when alive. The hunter has no idle noise, but will make noise while [{#S|scratching]].


 * Proxy-Boom
 * When a Boomer gets the Survivors by exploding around them.


 * Pub
 * "Public Game". This is a game where anyone in the game can join into. Typically pub games are filled with lower skilled players, but the skill level of players still varies from low to top tier players.


 * Pubstomp
 * "Pubstomping" is when a group of four friends start a game against a four strangers. It is generally frowned upon in the competitive community, but still viewed as fun to some. See "Reverse" for another variation.


 * PUG / Pick Up Game
 * A PUG is a game where different players with different skills can join a game and split into teams to compete in a game. This is a great way for players to meet new people at different skill levels as the teams are often picked one by one by captains to create a "fair" game.


 * PZ
 * Short for peace. As in pz nerd instead of peace nerd.

Q

 * Quad Cap
 * An attack with 3 Hunters and a Smoker, or rarely 4 Hunters in L4D1. Achieved after killing Boomer last. Or in L4D2, a three-cap with the Tank, usually the Tank getting the first incap before SI roll in.

R

 * R? / R
 * "Ready? / Ready" A quick way to ask or indicate if a team is ready to unpause.


 * Rage / Rage Quit / RQ
 * A “rage quit" is when someone disconnects from the game before the game ends, usually due to unbalanced teams or trolling from the opposing team. This word has no practical meaning in public games, where quitting in the middle of a match is the norm, not the exception.


 * Recharge
 * The duration of time it takes for a Special Infected to attack again. Each class has it’s own “charge timer” but in some special cases, the recharge time can be reset instantly. Can also be used to describe a Charger being able to charge again.


 * Reverse
 * The opposite of a pubstomp is when another group of four friends seeks out pubstompers in order to beat them instead. This is called a "reverse pubstomp" or a “reverse”.


 * Ringer
 * A ringer is someone who plays in the place of another person on a team. Similar to a substitute, but the term is typically used for scrims or matches exclusively.


 * Rocket Boom
 * A “rocket boom” is a special technique of taking advantage of the faster movement speed of an un-spawned Boomer. Note that it is possible to rocket-spawn with other Infected classes as well, but the Boomer is by far the most useful class to use this technique with. See "Rocket Spawn" for more information on technique.


 * Rocket Spawn
 * A special technique of taking advantage of the faster movement speed of an un-spawned Special Infected. You choose a place where you want to rocket from, run with the un-spawned Special Infected and at the last moment, before gaining line of sight with the Survivors, click jump and spawn in rapid succession. You will maintain the speed from the ghost mode and land with great speed among the Survivors. The most important factor of this technique is the speed.


 * RUP
 * “Ready Up”. A quick acronym to ask a player or the other team to ready up and begin the game.


 * Rush
 * Some teams take advantage of “rushing“, meaning they move with great speed through the map. The Survivors are normally seen rushing after baiting out an attack or when the Special Infected spawns are down.

S

 * Sack / Sacking a Hit
 * A technique that the Special Infected team uses when trying to dispose of an undesirable spawn. Typically the Infected team will be seen sacking attacks for Tanks or choke points. The point of sacking a hit is to get rid of the spawn as quickly as possible. Damage is always a good thing to aim for, but the main key is to be killed quickly.


 * Sack order
 * A technique that the Special Infected team uses when trying to set their next hit. If a non-cap SI is killed last, the next spawns should include 3 cap, and 1 noncapper.  Whatever is killed last should not be available for the next hit.


 * Scrim / Scrimmage
 * When a team of four wants to go against another team of four. Scrims are meant for gaining experience with your specific team and strengthening your game play or trying out new and techniques and attacks. Generally these games are more serious than pugs as the main goal is to improve as a team.


 * Scratching
 * Secondary attacking as the special infected. May also be called "punching" (charger) or "clawing" (hunter). Often used to incapacitate survivors who are at low health, as the special infected do not need to land in order to incapacitate. Also used as a way of reducing health bonus late in the map where the chance of a death is low.


 * Scrub
 * A term used for players often picked last in pugs. Also used to describe players who boast about tournament achievements without actually playing a single match or contributing to their team's success.


 * Separation / Sep
 * When a survivor has distanced themselves from other survivors. Used by infected players to call out targets for attacks.


 * Silent Jockey
 * The occasional and mysterious occurrence of getting jockeyed by a jockey that makes no sound whatsoever.


 * Shade Turret
 * The situation in where a survivor has a deagle and very low perm/temp hp, and they climb up to the top of a ladder chokepoint and then are subsequently incapped by their teammates so they can attempt to block/pick spawns.


 * Skeet
 * To skeet means killing a Special Infected while he’s flying through the air, as in Skeet shooting. It is most commonly used with Hunters but can be used with other midair kills.


 * Slowdown
 * A term used to describe an area that halts the survivors speed such as the hard rain, swamp fever or death toll waters. Also used to describe the survivors slowing down the SI or Tank by shooting them.


 * Spawn Blocking
 * “Spawn blocking” means positioning yourselves as Survivors in such a manner that the Infected team has no possibility to spawn close to the Survivors, due to them having line of sight with Survivors or being too close to them.


 * Spectate / Spec
 * A feature that allows players to join a game and view the players in either first, third or no-clip (ability to move around the map freely) mode. Players will commonly go into spectate mode if a Survivor gets stuck or an Special Infected gets glitched as it will “reset” the location of the player.


 * Stumble
 * When there is an explosion, or a Hunter/Jockey pounce, nearby players will be put into a brief stumbling animation where they have little control of their movement. This often works in favor of the special infected, since the survivors cannot shoot during this animation. Explosions can also stumble the tank or witch.


 * Substitute / Sub
 * When a team loses a player in the middle of a game, the player that replaces the position is considered a sub.

T

 * Three-One
 * A phrase used to describe the type of spawns the Infected team has. A “three-one” hit would include three pinning class Special Infected (Hunter, Smoker, Jockey, Charger) with one supporting class Special Infected (Spitter and Boomer). This can lead to “tri-cap” if all the pinning SI land successfully.


 * Tongue Cut
 * Swinging a bladed melee weapon to cut the Smokers tongue as he is about to pull a Survivor.


 * Tri-Cap
 * A “tri-cap" is when three pinning Special Infected (Hunter, Smoker, Jockey, Charger) manage to lock down three Survivors at the same time. This is very dangerous and often used with a Tank or Witch: If the Tank/Witch manages to get one of the Survivors and the other Survivors are caught by a tri-cap, the round is over.


 * Tunneling
 * When a team focuses all their attacks on a specific player. Tunneling can be used by both Survivors and Infected. For Survivors, tunneling a Tank would mean pushing forward into the Tank with attacks. For Infected, tunneling a specific player (for instance HR or HB) would be useful.


 * Two and Two
 * This phrase can be used to describe the Survivors when they split up and have two Survivors up ahead and two behind.


 * Two-Two
 * A phrase used to describe the type of spawns the Infected team has. A “two-two” hit would include two pinning class Special Infected (Hunter, Smoker, Jockey, Charger) with two supporting class Special Infected (Spitter and Boomer).

V

 * Vertical / Vert Climbing
 * A Hunter technique that allows the Hunter to pounce vertically along a wall. To do this technique, spawn as a Hunter and position your back against a wall. Angle your cross hair slightly above the middle and pounce while pressing back into the wall. Continue doing this until you gain height. This is a great way to gain the height required to land a higher Damage Pounce.


 * VOD
 * “Video On Demand”. Pre-recorded casts or streams of a match. Great way to catch up on games in case you can not view the game at the time of the live cast.

W

 * Wall Jump
 * A Hunter technique of pouncing around quickly on walls, without having to stop and recharge. When you pounce as a Hunter off of a wall, if you can reach another wall you can redirect yourself and pounce off of another wall.


 * Wall Kick
 * Silently pouncing with a Hunter by “kicking” off of a wall. It is done by turning your back to a wall as Hunter, holding your “back” directional key while clicking jump and pounce in rapid succession. If you then add crouch immediately after, you will not need to wait until you can pounce again.


 * Wipe
 * A "wipe" is when all four Survivors are either pinned by Special Infected, incapacitated, hanging from a ledge, or dead: no one is left standing and the round is over. In short, if all four Survivors go down before they reach the safe room.

Z

 * Zombie
 * Hi, welcome to Left 4 Dead.


 * ZSN Strategic pause
 * When a team pauses a game at an inopportune time, such as right when an attack is about to go in, or at a major chokepoint. Popularized by Zone Sixty Nine because of their random pauses. The true reason behind their pauses was because one of their players, Zeon, would randomly pause the game and go afk without saying anything.

Resources
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