Know your LEGO® lingo
AFOL:
“Adult-Fan-of-LEGO”. Pronounced to rhyme with “hay-foal”.
Billund:
Billund, Denmark. Headquarters and primary design center for The LEGO Group.
Brick-Built:
a LEGO creation that is composed of basic LEGO elements, instead of more specialized elements. (For example brick built figures, animals, or objects.)
BURP:
“Big-Ugly-Rock-Piece”
Cheese Slope:
a LEGO part with a 33° slope, 1×1 stud wide and 2 plates high. It is named after the fact that yellow pieces look like a wedge of cheese.
CMF:
Collectible Minifigure
Custom:
a LEGO creation or individual element that uses non-LEGO parts or modified parts, or accessories from third-party vendors
Dark Ages:
the period in a LEGO-fan’s life when he/she sets aside LEGO in favor other, non-LEGO pursuits.
DSS:
“Dreaded-Sticker-Sheet”
Greebles:
Pseudo-technical detail added to a LEGO creation to enhance its appearance, frequently seen in LEGO space and mecha creations.
Jumper Plate:
a 1×2-stud LEGO plate with only 1 stud in the center. Useful for half-stud offset building.
KFOL:
“Kid-Fan-of-LEGO”. The LEGO Group’s primary target demographic – boys aged 5-12.
Legos:
Don’t you say that! The official plural form for more than one LEGO element is “LEGO® brand building bricks”. That’s ridiculous, though, so most LEGO-fans refer to one or more bricks as “LEGO”, following the grammatical convention of “fish” and “sheep.”
LUG:
“LEGO-Users-Group”. Local or regional LEGO clubs that meet and interact primarily in an offline or “real world” context, although many of them now have online presence as well.
LURP:
“Little-Ugly-Rock-Piece”.
MF:
Minifig.
Microfig:
small figures (half the size of regular minifigs) from the LEGO Games series
Minifig Scale:
a LEGO creation built for the scale of standard LEGO minifigures.
MOC:
“My-Own-Creation”. A LEGO creation designed and built by a LEGO-fan without instructions. Pronounced as “mock.”
PAB:
“Pick-A-Brick”. Buy individual bricks in the quantities you want form LEGO’s online store or brick-and-mortal stores.
PAB Wall:
Pick-A-Brick wall at LEGO stores.
S@H or SAH:
LEGO Online Store (Shop at Home)
Sigfig:
the minifig version of a LEGO-fan that he/she uses in online communities as an avatar, or “signature minifig.”
SNOT:
“Studs-Not-On-Top”. A building technique that places LEGO elements on their sides or even upside down to achieve the shape or structure the builder wants in their creation.
TFOL:
“Teen-Fan-of-LEGO”
TLC:
“The LEGO Company”
TLG:
“The LEGO Group”. The privately held parent company for all LEGO-related brands and companies worldwide
TRU:
“Toys‘R’Us”. TRU is a great source for LEGO products. They frequently have LEGO sets earlier than any other retailer (including LEGO’s own stores), and their selection is one of the largest. However their prices are often inflated.
UCS: Ultimate Collector’s Series
A series of large LEGO Star Wars sets designed for older teens and adults. They are larger than minifig scale.