General Terminology

Ingame commands

Gank- Gang or ambush with several teammates, usually from behind.
Backdoor- To attack enemy towers and structures by bypassing creep waves. Not illegal but is an unfavorable tactic.
missing- Used to warn other players that an enemy hero has been missing from your lane.
HP- Hit Points, Health
GG- "Good Game". Implies a player owned another player.
AOE- Area of Effect, circular radius.
FFS- For Fucks Sake
b – back. Used in battle. Often exaggerated with "bbbbbbbb".
Push mid- Gather up all heroes to destroy center towers.
Solo- To take a lane by yourself. Usually this is the Scourge top lane or Sentinel bottom lane.
KS- Kill Steal: when a hero dealt much damage to the enemy, and another allied hero gets the last hit and earns the kill credit instead. This term should not be used, since DOTA is a team game.
FTW- For The Win
Nuke, Nuking- A spell that deals constant damage, such as, Laguna Blade.
Rax- Barracks, which refers to "Ancient of War" and "Ancient of Wind" for sentinel, and "Crypt" and "Temple of the Damned" for Scourge.
Tank- Vb- To absorb, take all the hits of enemy damage. Noun- One who tanks, usually a High HP Strength hero.
Ultimate- The level 6, 11, and 18 move of the hero.
Windwalk, ww - A move that allows a hero to turn invisible.

Other terms

Noob, Newb, Nub - A beginner. Derived from "newbie."
Owned Pwned - To get beaten by.
Imba- Imbalanced, usually means "too good"
Gl hf- Good Luck Have Fun.
Pub- Public Game- a game with random people
IH- Inhouse- game with people you know
Leaver- Someone who leaves games consistently.

Hero Abbreviations

AM- Antimage
BH- Bounty Hunter
CM- Crystal Maiden
CK- Chaos Knight
ES- Earthshaker
LoA- Lord of Avernus
NS- Night Stalker
QoP- Queen of Pain
PA- Phantom Assassin
PL- Phantom Lancer
SA- Stealth Assassin
SB- Spiritbreaker
SK- Sand King or Skeleton King. Usually Sand King because Skeleton King is usually referred to as Leoric.
TB- Terrorblade
VS- Vengeful Spirit


Item Abbreviations

MKB- Monkey King Bar
BKB- Black King Bar
DE- Demon Edge
BoS- Boots of Speed (usually referred to as “Boots”)
BoT- Boots of Travel
RoR- Ring of Regeneration
RoH- Ring of Health
HoT- Heart of Tarrasque (usually referred to as “Heart”)
GG Branch- Ironwood Branch