The mother and father left baffled by teenage ‘sport communicate’… however do YOU know your NPCs out of your AFKs?

Teenagers’ gaming terms such as NPC, AFK, Nerf and Buff are forcing parents to search online to find out what their children mean.

Researchers found there are over a million searches a year for NPC, meaning a non-playable character.

Another 926,232 searches are for AFK, meaning away from keyboard, while 745,932 search for Griefing (to sabotage another player) and 689,928 for Grinding (to play steadily).

Buff, meaning a character’s skills are boosted, is looked up by 494,292 parents and Nerf, when a player weakens another, by 388,416.

A further 635,376 have to look up Overpowered – when a gamer or character has too much strength and 574,836 need to look up Meta – most effective tactics available. 

Another 364,920 parents a year need to look up Tank – which describes a character who can absorb punishment and another 348,768 look up DLC – meaning downloadable content.

Experts say while the terms may seem strange, they create a sense of community for gamers (Stock Image) 

Parents have been left scratching their heads over some of the terms their children use (Stock Image) 

Researchers found there are over a million searches a year for NPC, meaning a non-playable character (Stock Image)

Gaming experts CSDB.gg analysed ‘what does this word mean’ searches in 2022 and 2024 to reveal the findings.

Spokesman Cory Sims said: ‘Gaming is a social activity and as such it has its own language.

‘Parents who feel like their children are speaking a different language when talking about gaming can use these terms as a way to connect and better understand their interests.

‘While some terms may seem strange outside of the gaming community they create a shared understanding among players.’