If you’ve played a single game of Overwatch, you’ve likely seen the chat box in the corner fill up with all sorts of archaic nonsense. DPS diff, MTD, C9, tank gap, zzzzz are all terms players will casually say, usually to either boast about their dominance in the game or to complain about how godawful their teammates are.
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If you’re picking up Overwatch 2 for the first time, taken a break, or have been playing for years but still aren’t sure what the hell is going on in chat, here’s a table that will help break everything down.
All Overwatch Chat Slang Explained
| Term | Meaning |
| ____ Switch | The call to “____ switch” is usually used by a member of your own team to request (or demand) that a certain player switch their hero. This might be because they’re being aggressively countered or because your team needs to counter an oppressive enemy hero. Or it can be used as a roundabout way of saying that ____ is doing poorly. |
| _____ diff | Fill in the ______ with either tank, damage, support, a specific hero. Diff is short for difference, and it’s meant to imply that one team’s class or hero is better or worse than the other. For example, if the opposite team loses and spams “tank diff” in chat, it means that they believe that their tank was worse than the winning side. |
| _____ gap | This is another way of saying “_____ diff”. Essentially, there is a skill gap between either the role or the hero. |
| Backcap | When a person goes behind the defending team to secure the objective, either by claiming the point in a control map or by pushing the payload to its destination. |
| Bait | Refers to trying to lure out enemy hero ultimates or leading an enemy hero into a bad play |
| Boop | Refers to when either a Lucio, Pharah, Kiriko, or Zenyatta knocks you off the map |
| Boosted | This has two means. If there is a Mercy, it can be that a certain hero is benefitting from her blue beam, which provides a damage boost. But in competitive matches it refers to a player being in a rank above what they should be. Usually by being “boosted” by a friend. |
| C9 | This is used during objective based matches. Originally, it referred to when one team pushed so far forward that they left the objective unprotected (usually on a push or hybrid map), allowing a member of the opposing team to backcap. Now, C9’ing can refer to a team that forgets about the objective and allows the clock to run out without securing it, leading to the opposing team’s victory. |
| Carry | A Carry is essentially a person who single-handled won the match or was so good they may as well have. |
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| CC | Shorthand for crowd control, which refers to certain abilities or Ultimates that restrict hero movement. |
| Chokepoint / Choke | Each Overwatch map has certain bottlenecks, which are the easiest locations to defend if your team is on defense. An example of a chokepoint is the first bridge on the Rialto map. Your team may call to “defend choke” or “break choke” depending on whether you’re on defense or offense. |
| Counter | This is either a request that someone on the team switch to a hero that counters a member of the opposing team. For example, calling for a McCree when there is an oppressive Pharah on the opposite team or a callout that a teammate is getting “hard countered” by a member of the opposing team. For example, a Junkrat against that same Pharah. |
| Death Ball | Refers to when a team is moving together in a tight formation and, usually, aggressively pushes the enemy team |
| Dry Push | This is a strategy which calls for your team to push the objective aggressively without using Ultimates. This is usually to bait out the opposing team’s Ultimates. |
| ELO Hell | This refers to the belief that you’re stuck in a particular rank in competitive and unable to climb into higher rankings because of the poor decisions and gameplay of your teammates. |
| EZ | Easy. Usually spammed by the winning team to let the losing team know that they’re not very good. |
| Feeding | This refers to when either an individual player or team goes into a skirmish dies, essentially “feeding” the enemy team Ultimates. |
| Fill | Can refer to either joining a game already in progress (“filling” the empty slot) or the ability to play any role. |
| Flank | Each Overwatch map has its main corridor and one or two side corridors. Flanking can refer to taking one of these side corridors or it can refer to a hero attempting to get into the enemy team’s backline. |
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| Focus | This is a callout used to direct all team fire on a certain enemy. For example, a Zenyatta might put a Discord Orb on the opposing D.Va and request that the team “focus” her and pour as much damage into killing her as possible. The call for “focus” may also be because one particular hero on the opposing team is dominating and thus needs to be dealt with. |
| GG | Good game |
| Hit-Scan | This refers to certain heroes whose bullets hit wherever they’re aiming, without any delay. Cassidy and Soldier 76 are both examples of hit scan heroes. If there is a call for “hitscan” then it means there’s usually a Pharah on the opposing team who’s presence is oppressive. |
| KYS | Kill yourself, a reportable comment. |
| MTD | MTD stands for Main Tank Difference. This isn’t as relevant in Overwatch 2 these days, but you’ll occasionally see it. If the opposite team loses and spams “MTD” in chat, it means that they believe that their tank was worse than the winning side. |
| One | Refers to an enemy having one HP |
| One Trick | While this is less of an insult these days, many players were called a One Trick for having significantly more hours in one character than others |
| Overextending | This refers to when a teammate or team extends beyond a safe area (usually choke) and opens themselves up to either damage or death. |
| Peek | This is a call usually made by healers on your team who are struggling to heal another player because that player is out of line of sight. |
| Peel | If the supports or back line are getting harassed by a diving hero, like Tracer or Sombra, the damage heroes or tank will be requested to “peel”. Peeling means killing or preventing the diving enemies from harassing the back line. |
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| Pick | Another word for kill |
| This refers to a healer who is primarily focusing on one hero. This is most commonly seen with Mercy, who will fixate the majority of her attention (both healing and damage boosting) on a particular damage hero on a team. | |
| Push | This is usually a callout to have the entire team push forward, usually onto point. Often happens after getting a successful flank or pick. |
| Reset | This refers to killing yourself (in-game) so you can rejoin your team for a fresh push. |
| Rolled | Defeated quickly |
| Spawn Camp | This refers to when a team kills the opposing team just as they leave spawn. |
| Stagger | This refers to killing the opposing team either one by one or by stalling the death of one enemy team member. By staggering the opposing team, you ensure they lose valuable time waiting for the last member of their team to respawn. This happened frequently to de-meched D.Va in Overwatch 1, which is why she now does damage when she summons down her mech. |
| Stall | This refers to staying on the objective for as long as possible, usually to either run out the clock or keep the match in overtime, allowing the rest of the team to respawn and get back on point. You’ll usually see Hammond, Lucio, or Mei doing this. |
| Throw | Refers to when a member of a team or entire team gives up on the match and either allows themselves to die or goes idle |
| Tick | In control or hybrid maps, certain objective areas must be claimed by clearing out the defending team and standing on the point for an allotted amount of time. This time is displayed at the top of your screen and is divided into three segments. Each segment is referred to as a “tick” once it’s filled. |
| Trickle | This refers to when a team doesn’t group up and instead immediately goes back to the fight without waiting for the rest of the group |
| Wipe | This can refer to two things. The first is when every member of your team is killed. The second is, if one or two players survive, that they kill themselves quick in-game so they can rejoin the rest of their team for the next push. |
| Zone | “Zoning” refers to briefly taking control of an area, usually with an ultimate. For example, using a D.Va or Torbjorn Ultimate to clear the payload during overtime. But zones can also be used defensively, like preventing a Genji with his ultimate from diving into your team. |
| Zzzz | Zzzz can be either short for EZ, or easy, or imply that they practically slept through the match because of how easy it was. |
Related: Counters Chart for Every Overwatch 2 Hero
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