EN World Glossary Needed

[fusangite]

Given the massive response to my last message I thought I'd see if I could keep this going. People are using the term "nerfed"; I can't exactly pick up what it means except to get a very general idea from context. But I'm not just interested in its literal meaning, I'd love to get the story of how it originated.

It took me quite a while to figure out that IMC means "In my campaign" (oh God -- I hope I'm right). And I realize there are a whole bunch of terms, both slang and acronyms that many people on ENWorld don't necessarily understand. So I thought I'd put out a call for a glossary of terms. If there are pieces of general gaming slang or ENWorld-specific terms, please post them, their etymology and definitions here. Or, admit your ignorance like me and post a list of terms and abbreviations whose meanings you're unsure of.

 

[Tiefling]

The ENWorld FAQ has some acronym explanations, though nerfed, of course, isn't in acronym. Neither is "sic," which is the one that stumped me for the longest time.

 

[Arnwyn]

Definitions I know (very paraphrased):

"Nerf" = made weaker
"IMC" = In My Campaign
"IDHTBIFOM" = I Don't Have The Book In Front Of Me
"Broken" = doesn't fit one's game (multiple reasons)
"Crunchy" = an idiotic mangling of the english language and inappropriate metaphor used by people with poor vocabulary skills to refer to "rules-based information".
"Fluffy" = opposite of crunchy; refers to "story-based information"
"Buff" = power-up, make stronger (usually refers to the effect of some spells)

There's loads more, but I can't think of them.

 

[RangerWickett]

IANAL = I am not a lawyer.
YMMV = Your mileage my vary.
TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

IANAL = I am not a lawyer.

I ANAL = not a lawyer???

Sorry for the bad joke, and if i'Ve offended any lawyers out there

Maitre D

 

[Tiefling]

IYKWIMAITYD: If You Know What I Mean, And I Think You Do.

 

[Jeph]

Austrian: Hong

 

[Steve Jung]

Given the massive response to my last message I thought I'd see if I could keep this going. People are using the term "nerfed"; I can't exactly pick up what it means except to get a very general idea from context. But I'm not just interested in its literal meaning, I'd love to get the story of how it originated.
/snip/

Nerf comes from the trademark for a brand of toys made of foam rubber. Nerf balls or Nerf darts can't hurt anyone because they're too soft, unlike their regular counterparts. So "nerfing" means to change something into a less harmful or effective form. IMO (In My Opinion)

 

[Impeesa]

Nerfing originates from Everquest. Balance patches would change the effectiveness of items, classes, etc. Those that were reduced in power were 'nerfed', after Nerf foam weapons - meant to imply that the subject of the nerfing was now utterly infeffective at harming anything (or whatever else its purpose was).

--Impeesa--

 

[Welverin]

Re: Re: EN World Glossary Needed

Nerf comes from the trademark for a brand of toys made of foam rubber. Nerf balls or Nerf darts can't hurt anyone because they're too soft

Quite untrue, my good man.