For newcomers there are a lot of different things to learn about the space. One of the first things they will realize is that there are a lot of specific abbreviations used within the space which all have its own kind of meaning.
From everyone saying „GM“ and „GN“, joking about McDonalds or shouting „WAGMI“ in Twitter Spaces or Discord Groups, there is a lot to keep up with.
In this blog post, we will cover the most important phrases & abbreviations, explain them so that everybody even newcomers can understand them and/or give a concrete example of how it can be applied.
Your NFT glossary
- GM a.k.a „Good morning“
We say good morning to each other because we are a friendly happy optimistic global community and it is nice to say good morning to your friends as you start your day.
- GN a.k.a. „Good Night“
We say good night to each other because we are a friendly happy optimistic global community and it is nice to say good night to your friends as you end your day (20 hours after you say gm and 4 hours before you say gm again)
- Ser a.k.a. „sir“
It is a way to respectfully introduce oneself or perhaps share an alternative point of view.
- Fren a.k.a. „friend“
Because we are all friends here on a happy mission quest together.
- GMI / WAGMI a.k.a. „gonna make it“ / „we all gonna make it“
The happy future state when everyone understands our JPGs the way we do. "I just bought a punk. WAGMI"
- NGMI a.k.a. „Not gonna make it“
Best used in a self-deprecating way about one's own personal bad decisions. "Sold a Fidenza for 5ETH. NGMI"
- McDonald's
Our backup career plan in case the NGMI scenario comes true. "Sold a Fidenza for 5ETH. Applying now to McDonald's"
- PFP a.k.a. „Profile Picture“
The punks, apes, cats, dogs, skeletons and so on, that we all use in our proto-metaverse of Twitter and Discord."That golden rat PFP is sick"
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Looks rare
Rarity is often a driver of value in this space. Used ironically. [posts picture of steak] "Looks rare"
- FOMO a.k.a. „the Fear of Missing Out“
Buying an NFT because you are afraid of missing out on the next big thing. "I FOMOed into Lazy Golden Rats Club and I am not sure why"
- IRL a.k.a. „In Real Life“
Otherwise known as the world beyond OpenSea, Twitter and Discord. It is not recommended to spend too much time there. IRL does not have sufficiently good JPGs.
- Probably Nothing
Actually means "probably something". It is the polite way to FOMO, with just barely some plausible deniability. "Visa bought a punk. Probably nothing"
- Liquidity
Available ETH to buy JPGs. This is an impossible state of being. Any available ETH converts into JPGs immediately so everyone is a state of perpetual illiquidity.
- Mint
The act of initially issuing a piece of art on the blockchain, either by the artist or the collector. "Wow, beautiful picture. Mint it!"
- 1/1 of X
The way to think about PFP and gen art collections. Punks are 1/1 of 10,000. Fidenzas are 1/1 of 999. Each one is unique, but they belong to a coherent whole collection in contrast to 1:1 art.
- Right Click Save As
Every non-NFT person's first "gotcha" move when learning about NFTs - demonstrating their vast technical capacity to download an image from a web browser. Civilian: "I Right Click Saved your NFT and now it is my PFP". You: "Go right ahead"
- Floor Price
The lowest available asking price on OpenSea / Larvalabs / etc either for a collection as a whole or for a subset of the collection. "Lazy Golden Rats have hit a 3ETH Floor, but Golden Rats with Nerd Glasses are 12ETH floor this morning"
- OG
OG means original gangster. First become popular through 1990s hiphop, the super-Lindy term just flows through community after community. It means the folks who were here early and earned respect. "He is an OG punk holder"
- Alpha
Alpha is a term from the investing/hedge fund community representing the outperformance generated by the skill of the asset manager vs beta (the market's performance). In the NFT world, „alpha“ refers to sharing information that is valueable because not many know it yet. However, most people's alpha IRL and in crypto is beta in disguise. "She dropping serious alpha today"
- Delist
Delist your NFTs from Opensea (no longer offer them for sale) because prices are rising rapidly and they might get sold and market expectations of their value has changed. "Golden Rat 5ETH floor. Delist!" Also related to: "Hide your JPGs".
- Discord
A messaging platform heavily used by NFT Twitter for NFT project communities. Discord is all of: a) useful b) overwhelming c) full of scammers d) will eat all your CPU cycles e) default set to annoy everyone within miles with notification beeps.
- Roadmap
The set of activities an NFT project (usually PFP) will plan to do to add value to a community. Roadmaps are viewed as desirable in PFP projects and insulting to ask for in art projects. Needs some care to not accidentally violate securities laws.
- LFG
Let's F***ing Go. Used when you are excited about something. Best used with rocket emojis.
- Gas or Gas wars
Gas is the price paid in cryptocurrency for making a transaction on a blockchain.
Gas wars are the state of chaos that ensues when all of NFT twitter tries to mint the same project at once, driving up gas prices for the whole Ethereum network. The hardest unsolved problem in computer science - there is a Nobel Prize in this for someone.
- Ded
Ded is short for dead. Also, see "deceased" "I sold my Fidenza for 5ETH. I am deceased."
- Rug
Rug is short for rug pulled. It came from Crypto Twitter and particularly DeFi where a lot of projects pumped and dumped on retail. Not 100% sure if rugs as a concept make sense in the context of JPGs, but it is used for devs who run away from their project +/-
- IYKYK a.k.a. „If you know, you know".
This is a polite form of FOMO in most, but not all usages. "I bought a punk. IYKYK"
- Derivative
Projects derived from the original project, first popularized with a wide variety of "alternative" punks. The intelligent view on derivatives is that they are fine, enhance the brand of the original and everyone should stay cool about them.
- Noob/Pleb
Newbie and Plebian. The opposite of OG. The polite way to use these terms is only about yourself. "He is such a noob. I can't believe he forgot to mint the Lazy Golden Rat Club"
- Buying on secondary
When you fail to mint a project and have to buy on OpenSea. Comes from finance world - primary stock sales are directly from company; secondary is what you trade day to day. Almost all action is secondary. "Missed the mint, gotta buy on secondary"
- Wen moon
This one comes from CryptoTwitter and refers to the price of your NFT ascending to the moon which is very far away. Less popular in NFT Twitter because we are a bit less financial over here. Used more ironically. "Bored Ape Yacht Club x Lazy Golden Rat Club collab" "Wen moon, ser?"
- DYOR a.k.a. „Do your own research“
The person telling you this is (correctly) disclaiming responsibility regarding the question of if an NFT is right or wrong for you. "I aped Lazy Golden Rat Club, but DYOR"
- Ape in
The action of hastily purchasing a new NFT without doing enough prior research to understand the project. Also often viewed as taking on a large position relative to one's own portfolio size. "I aped Golden Rats, but DYOR"
- Degen
Meanwhile, “degen” (short for “degenerate”) describes a person who makes these risky and bad bets.
- NFA a.k.a. „no financial advice“
It is related to DYOR. Again, someone shares an idea, but it is your job to decide if it is for you. "I aped Golden Rats. NFA"
- Airdrop
Sending coins or tokens to specific wallets, sometimes for free. Projects airdrop NFTs to existing holders to build a stronger community and add more value and utility to the existing NFTs. For example: You'll only receive an airdrop as long as you hold an asset.
- Blue Chip
Stable, strong, and well-recognized projects. An example of what we can consider a blue chip can be CryptoPunks by Larva Labs. This is one of the most relevant and earliest NFT projects with prices ranging from 80 to 159 ETH.
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DAO a.k.a. "Decentralized Autonomous Organization"
A DAO has no central leadership; it's transparent and encoded on the blockchain. As described by Ethereum DAOs are: Member-owned communities without centralized leadership. A safe way to collaborate with internet strangers. A safe place to commit funds to a specific cause.
- Diamond Hands
People who decide not to sell or hold their assets even under pressure or high volatility of the market. „I am never going to sell my Golden Rat. Diamond Hands, baby!“
- Drop
Common way of saying a new digital collectible is out or will soon be available.
- Fiat
Fiat money is the traditional money as we know it. Cash with a specific value that has been established by the government or by a particular regulation. An example of fiat currencies is the euro.
- Holders
Owners—people who own an NFT.
- Paper Hands
People who sell too early because the value of their assets is too low or the market is too risky.
- Sweep the floor
When someone sweeps the floor, they'll buy all the NFTs at the floor price of the moment.
- Snapshot
A snapshot records the information in the blockchain ledger at a specific time. For example, the record includes fees and transactions.
- Whales
Someone who has a significant amount of NFTs, Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other cryptocurrency. And when they make a move, we all see it.
- BTD or BTFD a.k.a. "Buy the (f*cking) dip)
BTD is short for “buy the dip” while BTFD refers to “buy the f*cking dip”. It means to purchase an NFT after its price has dropped. This is often considered a bargain as the asset is likely to recover or increase in value over time.
- Burn
When someone burns an NFT, they’re essentially eliminating it. The NFT is removed from circulation by sending it to a black hole address (a wallet owned by nobody), effectively destroying the token.
- Flipping
Used frequently in the context of buying and selling properties, flipping refers to buying items at low prices and selling them quickly for a profit. In the NFT space, flipping means the same thing, where people buy and sell NFTs to make a quick profit, especially during the early stages of projects when there is higher demand.
- FUD
FUD stands for “fear, uncertainty, and doubt”. The acronym is usually thrown around when the price of an NFT project drops, or when there is some sort of negative news or rumours around it. People tend to sell their assets hastily when there is FUD.
- P2E
P2E stands for play-to-earn games. These are blockchain-based games that use tokens or NFTs to reward players.
- Raids
Raids is a term describing NFT projects that conduct flash campaigns on social media to keep communities engaged and promote their NFTs. Community engagement and support is key to keeping an NFT project going, particularly since collections are released in phases over durations of time.
With these 53 NFT terms you should be well equipped to continue your learning journey in the NFT space.
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