Twenty years ago, video games were a niche hobby for hardcore enthusiasts tucked away in obscure forums. Today, gaming references have entered common parlance and even politics. At the end of 2024, the Oxford English Dictionary added terms like 'cheat code' and 'cutscene.' Earlier this year, the White House X account posted military strike footage interspersed with clips from Grand Theft Auto and later Wii Sports. In February 2026, Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Stephen Miller a 'World of Warcraft NPC' on X. To navigate this new world of 'slopaganda,' we've compiled a guide to gaming terms.
Any% to Camping
Any%: Beating a game by any means, including glitches to skip levels. Elon Musk's approach to Doge is a real-world example. Boosting: Paying someone to level up your character; Musk admitted to this in Path of Exile 2 and Diablo 4. Buff: An enhancement to increase power—like having two pints for confidence. Bullet sponge: An enemy that takes absurd damage; also derogatory military slang. Button mashing: Panicked random button pressing by inexperienced players. Camping: Staying in one spot for strategic advantage, often annoying other players.
Cheesing to DPS
Cheesing: Using borderline tactics like exploiting glitches. In Crash Bandicoot: Warped (1998), players could avoid damage by standing in a corner; the 2017 remake punishes this with cheese blocks. Class: A character's role (warrior, samurai, etc.), each with strengths and weaknesses. DLC: Downloadable content adding new levels, outfits, or weapons. DPS: Damage per second, measuring weapon effectiveness.
Easter Eggs to GG
Easter eggs: Hidden messages or features, originating from Atari's 1980 game Adventure. Emotes: Short gestures to show emotions, popular in Fortnite and World of Warcraft. Farming: Repeated actions to gather resources. Gank: Ambushing weaker players in a group. GG: 'Good game,' often extended to 'GG WP' or 'GG ez.' Glitch: A bug causing unintended consequences; the 'Corrupted Blood incident' in World of Warcraft led to a pandemic simulation used by scientists.
God Mode to HP
God mode: Invincibility via hacks; a USAID leader told The Atlantic: 'Doge has achieved God mode.' Griefing: Deliberately annoying players. Grinding: Repeated tasks for resources. HP: Hit points or health points, used in memes like 'minus 10 HP' for embarrassment.
In Minecraft to Kiting
In Minecraft: A phrase added to threats to avoid legal repercussions, though it backfired in 2023 when a man was arrested despite using it. KDR: Kill/death ratio measuring skill. Killstreak: Consecutive kills without dying; the White House used a Call of Duty killstreak animation in Iran war footage. Kiting: Hitting an enemy from range while staying out of harm's way.
Loot to MMORPG
Loot: Items collected as rewards; loot boxes allow real-money purchases for randomized virtual items. M-maxxing: Prioritizing one attribute; originated from min-maxing and now includes looksmaxxing and Chinamaxxing. MMORPG: Massively multiplayer online role-playing game; EVE Online once hosted a battle with 7,548 participants.
Modding to NPC
Modding: Fan-created modifications; a Skyrim mod turns dragons into Thomas the Tank Engine. Nerf: To weaken a weapon or ability, from the Nerf toy brand. Noob: Derogatory term for a beginner, sometimes spelled n00b. NPC: Non-player character; increasingly used as slang for predictable people.
OP to Ragequit
OP: Overpowered, the opposite of nerfed. Pwned: Misspelling of 'owned,' meaning humiliating defeat; popularized by the website 'Have I Been Pwned.' Ragequit: Suddenly stopping out of anger; Vanity Fair accused Steve Bannon of threatening to ragequit the White House in 2017.
RPG to Smurfing
RPG: Role-playing game with storytelling and character decisions. Side quest: Optional missions; used in slang for whimsical life activities. Skins: Custom designs for characters, like Fortnite's Peely banana costume. Smurfing: Skilled players creating new accounts to play against lower-ranked opponents; originated from Warcraft 2 players PapaSmurf and Smurfette.
Speedrunning to XP
Speedrunning: Completing a game as fast as possible; 'Scientology speedruns' in 2026 saw participants filming themselves running into Scientology buildings, with one video racking up 90 million views. Tanks: Characters designed to absorb damage. Trolls: Players who annoy others for fun. Turtling: Building heavy defenses. XP: Experience points measuring skills; streamer Sykkuno said 'My XP bar is low' about dating inexperience.
