50+ Twitch Slang Words You Need To Know in 2023

December 2, 2023

Twitch is a really popular website where people can watch live videos and talk to each other. At first, it was all about people playing video games and showing others how they play. Twitch is quickly gaining popularity among teenagers and is one of the top alternatives to short form media. What’s unique about Twitch is that viewers can chat with the people streaming and use fun pictures called emotes to express themselves. Similarly to TikTok, Twitch has developed its own special way of talking and doing things, which makes it a fun place for everyone who joins. It’s not just a place to watch videos; it’s a community where people can hang out, share their interests, and make friends.

What is Twitch Chat?

Twitch chat is a chatbox on the side of a Twitch stream where viewers can talk to each other and interact with the streamer. It’s like a big group chat where everyone watching can type messages. People use it to react to what’s happening in the stream, ask questions, or just chat with others. Twitch chat can get out of hand sometimes, so some streamers have moderators in chat to make sure everyone’s being nice and following the rules. The majority of Twitch slang originates from Twitch chat.

List of Twitch Slang Terms

7tv: A tool that lets you use special images (emotes) on Twitch and YouTube.

Andy: A name used for typical streamers.

Botting/Viewbotting: Using fake viewers to make a channel seem more popular. It’s against the rules.

Brigading: When groups from Twitch go into other chats or places to joke around or cause trouble.

Cmonbruh: When you’re confused or see someone saying something not cool.

Chad: Refers to someone who is confident and successful, often used in gaming and streaming communities to describe a dominant personality or skilled player.

Clip Chimp: Someone who takes clips from a stream to make the streamer look silly or bad.

COPIUM: Pretending to use a made-up drug to deal with losing or failing, shown with a frog cartoon.

Collab: Short for working together with someone.

DansGame: Shows you’re annoyed or grossed out, with a streamer’s face.

Derail: Changing the topic in a chat.

Dono: Short for giving money to a streamer.

F: Pressing ‘F’ to show respect or sadness, from a video game.

FPS (First Person Shooter): Video games where you see through the character’s eyes, often with guns.

GachiGASM/Kreygasm: Expressing a lot of happiness or finding someone really attractive.

Hate Raid: When a group of people flood a chat with mean messages.

Hot take: Sharing a bold opinion to get people talking.

Hype/Hype Train: When viewers all support a streamer together, sometimes getting rewards.

IRL: Stands for “In Real Life.”

Jebaited: Tricking someone or falling for a trick.

Kappa: Used to show you’re joking or being sarcastic.

KEKW: Laughing, based on a funny video.

L: Showing you lost or failed at something.

LUL: Laughing out loud.

Mald (Malding): Getting so mad that it’s like you’re losing hair.

Mod: Short for moderator, someone who helps manage a chat.

MonkaS/MonkaGIGA/MonkaW: Showing you’re nervous or really scared.

Pepe the Frog: A famous cartoon frog used in many different emotes.

PepeHands: Pretending to be sad or actually feeling sad, with a frog face.

PJ Salt: Being upset or bitter about something.

Pog/Poggers: Being really excited or happy.

Pogchamp: Showing surprise or excitement, but it’s not used anymore.

Prime: A special Twitch feature that gives you extra stuff if you have Amazon Prime.

Raids: Sending your viewers to another streamer’s channel.

Rerun: Showing a stream again that was already live before.

Sadge: Feeling sad or let down.

Scuffed: When a stream doesn’t look or work well.

Smooth Brain: Used to describe someone making an unwise or silly decision, implying a lack of wrinkles (or ‘folds’) in the brain which are associated with intelligence.

SourPls: Being really happy, shown with a dancing guy.

Staff: People who work at Twitch, sometimes called “Clowns” as a joke.

Stream Sniping: Watching someone else’s stream to get an advantage in a game.

Subathon (Subscription marathon): A long stream that gets extended when people subscribe.

Swat (Swatting, SWATing): Making a fake serious report to get the SWAT team to someone’s house. It’s dangerous and illegal.

Threadjacking: Changing the main topic in a chat or forum.

Troll: Someone who messes with people online for fun or to be mean.

Trihard: Getting really excited about something coming up.

Twitch Affiliate: A streamer who meets specific criteria on Twitch, allowing them to earn money through subscriptions and bits.

Twitch Partner: A higher status for Twitch streamers with more benefits, given to those with larger, more engaged audiences.

VOD (Video on Demand): Past streams you can watch anytime.

W: Showing you won or did well at something.

W L Community: A group that talks about wins (W) and losses (L), like in games.

Whisper: Sending a private message to someone on Twitch.