Three generations have grown up with video games since home consoles with swappable game cartridges were first released in the mid-1970s. These systems brought versions of popular arcade games, such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man, into people’s living rooms.

At about the same time, tabletop fantasy role-playing games, such as Dungeons & Dragons, made their appearance. This fantasy genre would also lead to the development of card-based games, such as Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon.

At the turn of the millennium, simulation games such as The Sims and Animal Crossing became popular. And about twenty years ago, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), such as EverQuest and World of Warcraft, made their debut. These were followed by a dizzying array of other online franchises, such as Minecraft, Roblox, and the family of battle royale games.

As with any significant cultural development, gaming and gaming culture has had an impact on the vocabulary of English. Many terms that started out as gamer slang are now firmly entrenched in the speech of Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. Some of these words or phrases have even reached the pinnacle of respectability: They can now be found in the dictionary.

A well-known........

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