Game jargon – CS:GO

Two fictional police men from CS:GO holding guns

Game jargon – CS:GO

Bryony-Hope
10 min read | 19 Oct 2022

Want to play more Counter Strike, but are confused by some of the in-game terminology?

We spoke with Team Endpoint’s Community Manager Tom ‘TomTom94’ Coles to learn more about CS:GO, and its terminology.


A:

One of the bomb site names, which are played in a standard game.


Ace:

When one player kills the entire enemy team in a round.


Anchor:

When a Counter-Terrorist defends a bomb site whilst their teammates rotate to the other site.


Anti-flash:

Looking away from an angle to avoid being blinded by a flashbang.


AWP:

The name for one of the sniper rifles in the game.


AWPer:

A professional player who predominantly uses the AWP sniper rifle in play.


B:

One of the bomb site names, which are played in a standard game.


Bomb:

The C4 explosive that players either plant or defuse in a match. Once planted, the Counter-Terrorists have 40 seconds to defuse it.


Boost:

Using and jumping on teammates to reach normally unreachable positions in the map.


Bunny Hop (bhop):

Strafe-jumping repeatedly to increase movement speed.


Clutch:

When a player wins a round while being the only player alive.


Collateral:

When a player kills two or more enemies with a single bullet from an AWP.


Contact play:

When a team takes fights directly on a bombsite, rather than using any utility such as flashes or smokes.


CS:

Shorter way of saying ‘Counter Strike’.


CS:GO:

Shorter way of referring to ‘Counter-Strike:Global-Offensive’.


Deagle:

Colloquial way of referring to the Desert Eagle.


Drop:

Refers to buying or requesting a weapon at the start of a round.


Entry / Exit Frag:

Entry frag refers to a kill that allows for a team to push onto a bombsite, whilst exits refers to the kills that are achieved in the time between where a round is finished, and the next is going to begin. Exit frags are usually to deal economic damage to the opposing team.


Fake:

Making the Counter-Terrorists believe the Terrorists are going to one site, when in actual fact they are going to the other. This is a way to draw away the attention from where you plan to plant the bomb.


Force buy:

When a team does not have enough money for a full buy, but uses all their money for purchases anyway, usually to catch the opponent by surprise and stall their momentum and economy.


Full buy:

When a team buys a good loadout to go into a fight with.


Full eco:

When a team does not buy anything in the buying phase, in order to save their money for a buy in the next round.


Gun round:

When both teams have enough credits to purchase a full loadout (armour, helmets and rifles).


Kit:

Can refer to the Defuse Kit – which shortens the bomb defusal time from 10 seconds to 5 seconds.


Lurk:

A player on the Terrorist side who remains stationary while their team-mates attack a bombsite, allowing for surprise kills and flanks.


Ninja:

Short for ‘ninja defuse’, it is where Counter-Terrorists are able to defuse the bomb while the Terrorists are alive – but fail to notice or stop them doing so.


Pistol round:

The first round of each half of Counter-Strike is referred to as the pistol round as only pistols, armour and utility can be purchased.


Pop-flash:

Timing a flashbang to go off when a player comes round a corner, or is just about to attack.


Rush:

Having all members of the team push in on the enemy at the same time. But is most commonly used in relation to ‘Rush B’ – a callout given for the team to all aggressively push onto the B site.


Save:

Retreating or hiding nearing the end of the match to try and keep all of your weapons for the next round.


Smoke the molly:

When you use a smoke grenade to extinguish a molotov or incendiary grenade.


Unicorn round:

When nobody from either team dies in a round.


Big thank you to Tom ‘TomTom94’ Coles for his help on this guide!

These are just some of the many things you may come across during a game of Counter-Strike, so let us know on the British Esports Twitter what titles you would like to see guides for in the future. 

You can check out some of our other Game Jargon guides for Overwatch, Valorant, and Rocket League on our website.


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