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.’