Community Glossary
This page is a collection of terms coined or used by the community. While some are mostly popular inside the community only, others are used in other gaming communities, or originated in Splatoon but were made popular throughout the internet as memes.
Gameplay
Loadout
A loadout is a combination of a weapon set and abilities, the latter which includes all three mains and nine subs. It is possible to form optimal loadouts based on the weapon used, the role on a team, the stage, or the type of ranked mode.
Main and Sub
A main is a large ability slot. A sub is a small ability slot. Judd calls the big slot "main ability", but calls small slots "unlockable abilities" and "additional abilities", so there is no official way to refer to them. Players may also call big slots "primaries" and small slots "secondaries", so that there is no confusion with Main Weapons, Sub Weapons, Ink Saver (Main), and Ink Saver (Sub).
Pure
Pure is the term used when the a piece of gear's abilities are all the same (e.g. 3 sub slots of Ink Saver (Main)), thus strengthening that particular ability's effect. The piece of gear must have three slots for this to happen, which can be obtained by having Murch use Super Sea Snails (if the gear doesn't have three ability slots from the start).
To obtain pure gear, it is recommended to equip gear that has the desired ability as the favoured ability, and use a drink ticket for said ability. However, if one wishes to have pure gear with the same main ability as the sub abilities, they cannot use the brand that has the desire ability as the favoured ability, as none of the brands have gear as such (for example, the brand Skalop has no gear that has Quick Respawn as its main).
Nerf and Buff
Nerf and buff, used in competitive speech, refer to any attribute that became weaker or stronger respectively, when compared to a previous version of the same attribute. For instance, the 
Tenta Missiles were improved to deploy all ten missiles onto single targets or five missiles on each of two targets in patch 3.2.0, meaning it was buffed. Conversely, the 
Rapid Blaster's radius of damage by exploding shots was nerfed in patch 3.2.0.
Social
Griefing
Griefing is a blanket term for players who negatively impact the game, usually at the expense of another player's progress or enjoyment. This includes, for example, staying at the spawn point all match or not actively participating; or following another player around and squidbagging or spamming signals. Players that are doing this can sometimes encourage other players to do the same, which could eventually lead to the entire room missing out on a fight altogether and start a Squid Party. Doing so in Ranked Battles can be extremely harmful to other players who wish to play normally, as it gives the opposing team an unfair number advantage and may damage the teammates' ranks. As such, many players in the community generally reacts in outrage and/or disappointment to such actions.
Salt
A player that has salt or is being salty is considered to be exhibiting bad sportsmanship, usually about a perceived unfairness about something, like lag or situations where another player had the advantage in combat. Salt can take the form of anger, whining, or calm but unjustified complaining. This term can be found in several other communities as well.
Sploon
Sploon is referred to playing Splatoon, or to the game itself, a short name that is used sometimes by the community. It was originally used by PeanutButterGamer in his Splatoon review video.
Squid Party
The term Squid Party was first used by the player known as "DogPooMan" who invited everybody via a Miiverse post with a peace sign on and a caption "Squid Party, Don't Kill". It's when most or all Inklings in a room decide to party using taunts, instead of fighting against each other. One may also occur at the end of a successful Salmon Run shift. This usually happens as a chain reaction started by one pacifist player (or a player that intended on griefing). Players in a party generally interact peacefully with the opponents, use a lot of taunts, perform flashy moves, showcase tricky jumps, shots, and glitches, and/or perform actions that players normally wouldn't, such as staying in squid form on dry land. The Octoling variant of this is called an "Octo Party", and in the case of combined characters, a "Cephaloparty". Other examples of a "squid party" include but are not limited to, throwing bombs into water or other similar areas, super jumping to nearby team members repeatedly, or throwing bombs straight up in the air.
Taunt
Taunting is a type of action meant to convey victory or to anger opponents, and usually does not affect gameplay in any way. Players have used game mechanics in ways not originally intended to create various taunts:
- Bowing: a more uncommon taunt that involves players lowering their heads using the
button or tilting down on the GamePad with motion controls. This action is used either respectfully or sarcastically, depending on whether it's used on a teammate or an opponent. A more demonstrable way of bowing is holding the 
which will put the player's hand up at the same time (as if they were about to throw a bomb) and then bowing. After a player is splatted, another player that wishes to bow will place a Squid Beakon on the place the player died, as if it were a grave, and then bow their head downwards. This can serve to mock an enemy's death, or to communicate a message of encouragement, companionship, or vengeance to a friendly Inkling. - Headbanging: Headbanging is a somewhat uncommon taunt and can be an alternative to the Bowing taunt. The player who wishes to headbang must hold and look up and down rapidly. This is often used either in a friendly manner, often in a squid party, or as a way of mocking the opponent's death.
- Squidbagging/Octobagging: rapidly changing between either squid/octopus and kid forms with the
button, deriving from the popular first person shooter community term "teabagging". This action is usually performed by a player after they have splatted an opponent, sometimes over the splatted player's spot of death. Because splatted players must briefly watch their killer's actions while waiting to respawn (unless looking at the map), this taunt is typically used to signal victory and mock the defeated Inkling or Octoling. Squidbagging and Octobagging is also common in squid parties. - Twirling: twirling in place, sometimes with a charger and looking in the air. It is an alternative to "squidbagging" and is also a carry over of "teabagging".
Competitive
For the terms used as callouts in competitive teams, see Callouts.
Camping
Camping is a term used in several communities, and refers to when a player stays in the same place over a long period of time, as if they had made a camping site there. Players can do this for a number of reasons. Charger users may camp in one spot, as they are most effective attacking at long range and not so much when moving about, but because this is intended, "camping" is normally used when referring to other scenarios: at times, players will stand next to a incoming Super Jump marker or squid beakon, waiting to get a kill right as the opponent lands. Players can also stay in place near the opposing team's spawn in order to attack them right as they leave safety; this is known as "spawn-camping".
Sharking
Sharking is a form of camping in Splatoon involving hiding in a stranded puddle of one's own ink. Because of Splatoon's mechanics, hiding in ink makes camping more effective. In contrast to just hiding in a largely inked area, sharking is less obvious, and can be effective when one is severely damaged or in a tight situation with no form of getaway. This tactic can be used for a variety of purposes, from ambushing the Rainmaker carrier to intercepting a would-be defender.
Cap
Cap or capping is short for "capture" or "capturing". It's used in a number of competitive games, and refers to when a team is in the middle of capturing an objective and in Splatoon's case, this could be taking over a Splat Zone.
Carrying
Carrying, used in the context of "carrying the team", is what some players say when they feel like they were the best players of their team, and if it wasn't for their efforts, the team would've gotten a much lower score. This is an analogy to carrying the other members of the team on one's back, while that person does all the work.
Feed
Feed is giving the enemy team the upper hand, whether it is by getting splatted and giving them a number advantage or giving them ground to paint for filling up their special gauge to get their special weapon.
Lockout
In Splat Zones, after a team has taken control of the zones and usually gained a numbers advantage, it will begin a lockout of the opposing team to prevent them from taking back the zones by cutting out all routes to them. The team that is locked out will have to execute an effective means to push their opponents back and reclaim the zone before either the countdown timer or game clock runs out.
Map control
Map control is a term used for having the majority of turf covered in the map. Map control helps in movement and control over the map and cutting the enemy's paths.
Phases
Games in competitive play can be divided into three phases:
- Attacking phase: a team is pushing forward into enemy territory, such as pushing either the Tower or the Rainmaker towards the goal
- Neutral phase: neither team has a push, yet both teams are still busy: players are turfing, collecting clams (in Clam Blitz), and even engaging in some one-on-one battles around the stage
- Defensive phase: a team is trying to stop a push by the enemy
Pity Clam
A Power Clam, "lovingly dubbed" the Pity Clam, will spawn by the goal of the team who was scored on after barrier got broken, and will not time out until picked up. Competitive teams will usually keep the Pity Clam untouched until a Super Jump opportunity to toss it into the enemy's goal presents itself.
Roles and Positions
Organized competitive Splatoon/Splatoon 2 teams often assign roles or positions to their players. While the positions of frontline, midline, and backline are self-explanatory in their relative locations, each role–slayer, support, and anchor–has its own specific responsibilities and usually alligns with each respective position (i.e. slayers with frontline, support with midline, and anchor with backline):
- Slayer: charged with engaging the opposing team and creating space by either pushing back or splatting opponents, allowing their teammates to push the objective (e.g. tower or Rainmaker). They must be very skilled in various 1v1 matchups to either maintain a push or stop an opposing push. The ability to chase out or eliminate anchors is also important. Short- to mid-ranged, mobile weapons, such as the
Tentatek Splattershot, the 
Enperry Splat Dualies, and the 
Custom Blaster, are generally favored by slayers, and Special weapons, such as the 
Inkjet and the 
Baller, are preferred as they are the most capable of pressuring opposing defenses. - Support: expected to turf to either take or maintain map control (see above), provide support fire for teammates, and use certain sub and special weapons that benefit the entire team, usually
Point Sensor, 
Squid Beakon, 
Ink Armor, 
Bomb Launcher, or 
Ink Storm. Mid-range weapons with certain Sub weapon/Special weapon builds, such as the 
N-ZAP '85, the 
H-3 Nozzlenose D, the 
Custom Dualie Squelchers, and the 
Rapid Blaster are the most commonly used weapons by support players, but the 
Zink Mini Splatling 
Tenta Brella also have supportive builds. - Anchor: responsible for controlling turf in the center, providing support fire, and maintaining a safe super jump landing spot for their teammates. Long ranged weapons, such as the the
Custom Jet Squelcher, the 
Splat Charger, the 
Explosher, and the 
Heavy Splatling, are popular choices for a backline player, depending on the Stage and Mode. 
Sting Ray is almost always in the hands of either an anchor or support in Tower Control or Rainmaker, but 
Bubble Blower is also valuable, depending on the mode. - Flex: capable of more than one position and role, sometimes changing between loadouts in between battles. A flex player has to be familiar with a variety of weapons. The
Slosher Deco is a good example of a Slayer/Support Flex due to its splatting ability combined with its supportive Sub and Special weapons.
Shower
A Shower is staying in the middle of a 
Splash Wall, making them invulnerable which looks like a shower. This can only be used by the thrower's teammates and the thrower themselves, because if enemies attempt to do this, they will take damage.
Stagger
A stagger is a situation in which a team's splatted players respawn in long succession, creating a trickle of individual players returning. This is often dangerous for the team who is staggering, especially if the staggering team is constantly at a numbers disadvantage (e.g. 2-4, 1-3, 1-4), as individual players rushing back into battle are easier for the opponents to pick off. One tactic to avoid staggering is for the first player spatted in succession to delay returning to the battle, pair up with teammate who was splatted after him/her, and return to battle together. Conversely, if a team can stagger its opponent, it can maintain a constant numbers advantage.
Trade
Due to the mechanics of Splatoon/Splatoon 2, it is possible for two opposing players to splat one another at or nearly at the same time, an occurrence known as a trade. Trades usually favor the team who has a numbers advantage either throughout the map or at a particular area of the map, such as where the Tower is currently at or where Rainmaker was last dropped.
Turfing
Turfing is the act of covering inkable terrain with one's ink. Besides being the objective in Turf War, it is also an important aspect for other reasons, including during any Ranked Battle:
- Establish map control, which increases both team control and mobility while decreasing enemy control and mobility
- Provide locations to refill ink and to shark
- Build up the special gauge to have special weapons ready
Wipe
A wipe is when all players on one team are splatted. Wiping the other team is usually very advantageous, especially in Turf War and Splat Zones. However, particularly on Tower Control and Rainmaker, sometimes a wiped team can set up their defense more effectively due to the fact that everyone on the team respawns nearly simultaneously but usually only if the Tower or Rainmaker was pushed deep into enemy territory before the wipe.
Short names for Game Modes
Acronyms for game modes are used by tournaments and by the community for all the modes that are currently in the games.
- TW: Turf War
- SZ: Splat Zones
- TC: Tower Control
- RM: Rainmaker
- CB: Clam Blitz
- PB: Private Battle
- SR: Salmon Run
Memes
Celebratory Memes
The Celebratory Memes, "Woomy", "Ngyes", "Veemo", and "Weyo/Oomi/Ngweh" are usually written in all-caps and are Splatoon memes.
They are each one of the celebratory sound effects of the Inkling Girl, Inkling Boy, Octoling Girl, and Octoling Boy respectively, usually heard in Inkopolis Plaza when talking or when she or he successfully delivers the rainmaker to its goal. It is believed that WOOMY gained popularity from a 4chan thread in /vg/. The sound effects for 
Woomy, Ngyes, Veemo and Weyo/Oomi/Ngweh. The Japanese audience have their own version of the Inklings' sound effect being "Manmenmi" (マンメンミ).
Splat Tim
Splat Tim is a modified Inkling Boy dressed in the Team Dogs Splatfest Tee.[2] He was first introduced on 6 July 2015 by Instagram user marble.soda[3]. This meme became so well known that many parody accounts, custom images and even a custom amiibo were made based on him. Many 'family members' of Splat Tim have also been created, including Splat Tina, Splat Tom, Splat Tailor, Cale, Mar and Captian Crunch. The tagline 'He does it!' is often associated with Splat Tim after a mockup box art of a Splat Tim game introduced the tagline.
His signature weapon is called the "Pistol", although little is known about this.
This was later acknowledged by Nintendo of Europe's Twitter account during the Splatoon 2 European Championship, held on late March 2018. One of the Russian teams, named "Splat Tim", lost against "Alliance Rogue" from France. Nintendo of Europe later tweeted "Safe to say, Splat Tim did not do it. #SplatoonEC #ESL", referencing Splat Tim's tagline.[4]
Test failed
Test failed is a phrase spoken by C.Q. Cumber in Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion whenever the player fails at specific objectives during the tests. Examples for quotes containing this phrase is "You let the 8-ball fall—test failed." and "You took damage—test failed.", whereafter the player is splatted by a detonating bomb attached to Agent 8's back. Various posts have referenced or made variations of the phrase, containing different commentary that end with "test failed".
Speed Running
The Octopark
Cool Skip is just after checkpoint two and is performed by jumping off the rail over the balloon and then performing a dualie roll to catch the rail below.
Noli Skip is just after checkpoint four and is executed by performing the 'Aggressive Squid Jump' technique onto the rail hidden in a crate. This skip bypasses checkpoint 5. The skip is named for the Splatoon 2 speed runner Noli who pioneered it to gain the then world record on this stage.
