For the seasoned Counter Strike fans amongst us, you’ll remember the days when it was just straight up Counter Strike. Now it’s Counter Strike Global Offence, typically shortened to CS:GO. Counter Strike was originally launched in 1999, yep that long ago! If you’re a recent fan or you’re following games for betting reasons we’re pretty sure that words come up that you are just too embarrassed to ask, “WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?”. Well that stops now. Read our glossary and you’ll be right up to date with everything CS:GO.
Ace
When a player single handedly kills all members of the opposing team.
ADADAD’ing
Repeatedly pressing keys A (walk left) and D (walk right) in a zig-zag motion to escape an opponent.
ADS
Abbreviation for ‘Aiming Down Sights’ which means to use the scope of a weapon to search for enemies or scout out the area. Weapons like AUG/Ballpup or the Krieg 552 have scopes.
AFK
Abbreviation for ‘Away From Keyboard’. Players use this term to let their teammates know that they won’t be in the game for a while.
Aimbot
A game hack which makes the user automatically aim at opponents; usually in the head for a one-hit kill. Also known as ‘triggerbot’.
Anti-eco
When a team knows that their opponents are going eco, they go ‘anti-eco’ and spend a lot of money on the best guns and equipment in order to beat them.
Autosniper
A shortened term for semi-automatic or automatic sniper rifles likes G3SG1 or Scar-20.
Bait
Two meanings:
- Terrorists playing aggressively so that the Counter Terrorists finish all of their grenades and possibly all of their ammunitions. This is the bait. When the bait is successful, the Counter Terrorists have nothing to defend themselves with and will lose the game to the Terrorists.
- If one player makes a wrong move and gives a tip to the opposition, it is considered bait.
Boosting
When a player jumps or steps on their teammates to reach a higher location in the game.
Buffed
Sometimes when the game gets a patch or updated, weapons will be given a ‘buffed’ status. This means that they are more powerful than previously. Buffed is the opposite of nerfed.
Bunny Hopping
Jumping repeatedly instead of running in order to move faster.
Burst-Fire
Firing small bursts of shots to improve accuracy instead of shooting non-stop.
Callouts
Maps have specific callouts which means that when the team shouts a callout it can identify where their enemies are currently located. A callout could also refer to a meet-up point for players. In all maps there is always a callout where the players spawn, namely ‘CT Spawn’ for Counter Terrorists and ‘T Spawn’ for the Terrorists’.
Camping
Camping refers to a player hiding in the same place for a long time or even the entire duration of a round. It can also be the act of waiting in the same place until the opponents ‘bait’ themselves.
Choking
If a team has a big advantage over their opposition but then give away the lead as a result of suddenly getting caught up in statistics, it is called choking.
Clutch
When an outnumbered player wins the round on his own the situation is commonly referred to as a clutch.
Comp
Abbreviation of competitive: The most-played game mode in the game.
Cooldown
The amount of time that a player is banned from playing competitively is often referred to as the cooldown period. Players can be made to cooldown due to leaving a match, getting votekicked too often or doing too much teamdamage.
Crossfire (setup)
When two players of the same team position themselves at different angles to cover the opposing team’s firing lines. The minimum number of players to form a crossfire is two and they typically make a cross line when firing, hence the term crossfire.
Crouch Jump
A jump that starts with crouching in order to jump higher.
CVAR
Short for console variable which is a text-based command within the game. The command changes the environment or gameplay conditions like the gravity or the total time per round.
Deagle
Short for the Desert Eagle, a pistol in the game.
Dink
Originates from the ‘dink’ sound which is made when a player successfully makes a headshot in the game.
Double Kill
This is the term used when a player kills two opponents in quick succession.
Dropshot
The term refers to a player crouching right after shooting the enemy in anticipation of them shooting back. The stance is used for protection as it decreases the chances of being shot in the head.
Dual Elites/Dualies
The nick name for the dual wielding pistols Dual Berettas.
Eco
Spending very little or no money in a round to be financially economical.
Entryfrag
The term for the first kill of a round. Frag also means kill in CS:GO.
Exit frags
The kills that a player makes when the opposing team retreats are known as exit frags.
Fake
Terrorists may fake a scenario by making noises and movement at one bombsite whilst actually camping out and planting bombs at another. The tactic tricks the Counter Terrorists into focusing on the bombsite where the noise is coming from. Counter Terrorists can also fake defuse bombs to encourage Terrorists to give up their positions.
Flanking
Going behind the enemy lines to attack them in the back. Typically results in lots of kills and shifting the round advantage.
Frag
CS:GO specific term for kill.
Flick(shot)
When a player suddenly moves his scope in different directions whilst quickly shooting any opponents that get in the crossfire.
Forcebuy
When a team, currently low in cash, manages to purchase a mix of basic pistols combined with armor or grenades. This strategy can trick an opposing team that thinks they are going to have an ‘eco’ round.
Framerate
The amount of frames (images) per second. If you have a high framerate, animations run smoothly.
gh
”Good half”. Said during half-time when players switch sides.
gl hf
”Good luck, have fun”. Often said when a match starts.
gg wp
”Good game, well played”. Often said after a match has ended.
gj
“Good job”. Often said after a winning round.
Headshot
Shooting a player in the head, usually resulting in a one-hit kill regardless of the weapon used.
HP
Hit points equals the amount of health you have left. Players die once their HP reaches 0.
Juan Deag
Juan Deag famously won a match against a team of five all on his own. He defeated the last player with a single Desert Eagle headshot and now when a player kills with a Desert Eagle headshot it’s referred to as a Juan Deag.
Jumpshot
Shooting and jumping at the same time.
Killsteal
When a player is about to kill someone but one of their team mates does it first.
Knife Fight
When two or more players engage in battle with no other weapons apart from knives. Often done in a 1v1 situation.
K/D
Abbreviation of ”kill/death ratio”. This is the amount of kills per player divided by their deaths.
Krieg
Another name for the Terrorist assault rifle SG 553. This is one of the few guns capable of performing headshots no matter how far away an opposing player is.
Lag
Delay in a player’s actions due to bad internet connection/server.
Lit
Another word for damaged.
Long Jumping
A jumping technique whereby players make small left to right movements in mid-air. It allows the player to jump further.
MM
MM stands for matchmaking. This is the system used to create matches by pairing players of similar rank. MM reduces the chances of new players being paired against professional players and vice versa.
Molly
Another name for the molotov and the incendiary grenade.
N1
Nice one.
Nade
Another word for the HE (high explosive) grenade.
Nerfed
When a weapon is nerfed, it means that the creator of the game (Valve in this case) weakens a weapon that used to be too powerful.
Ninja Defuse
When a Counter Terrorist player defuses a bomb that doesn’t kill any of the Terrorists and no-one notices the bomb being defused.
No-Scope
Firing off a shot with a sniper without using the scope.
Noob/newb/newbie
Someone who is new to the game and isn’t very good. All of these terms are considered insults.
Ns
Nice shot.
OP
Abbreviation for ”overpowered”, which means that a weapon is excessively powerful.
Peek
Quickly checking if any enemies are in the area.
Pick
When both teams are playing defensively and one player successfully kills an opponent – gaining advantage – the winning kill is known as the pick.
Ping
Describes how good a player’s internet connection is. High ping means a lot of lag and low ping means not so much lag.
Pistol Round
This usually refers to the first round of each match. In these rounds no player has enough money to buy a weapon other than a pistol, hence the name.
Pop-Flash
Flashbang that explodes before the enemy can look away.
Prefiring
When a player shoots an area without knowing whether the enemy is there or not.
Pushing
When a player or team attacks or pushes the opposing team’s position.
Quad Kill
When a player kills four enemies in quick succession.
Quickscope
Firing a shot immediately after using a sniper rifle’s scope.
Recoil Pattern
While firing a weapon on full automatic, the recoil will make the targeting reticle move in a specific path or pattern rather than stay in center. This pattern is referred to as the Recoil pattern. Most weapons use the following recoil pattern: up, slightly left, right and left.
Rushing
When an individual or team aggressively plays the opposing team with minimum strategic or stealth play in order to quickly get kills and win.
Rotate
A change of strategy or going to another area of the map than originally planned. For example, if the original plan was to go bombsite A but the plan doesn’t work out a player would rotate to bombsite B.
Saving
A tactic typically carried out by a lone player playing against a team. Instead of trying to win a difficult situation they will hide somewhere to survive and keep your weapon.
Scout
Another word for the SSG 08 sniper rifle.
Smurfing
Creating a second account with a lower rank/deranking in order to play and win against lower-ranked players.
Strafe Jump
Sideways jump.
Tagged
When a player is heavily damaged they are tagged.
Wallhack
A hack that allows a player to see through walls. Also referred to as ”wh”.
Have we missed anything? Let us know in the comments section and we’ll update our glossary.
