Our LEGO glossary will change and update from time to time, so be sure to check back once in a while.
Online, the LEGO community has developed its own way of speaking, which can be a bit hard to follow. In case you need an update, refresher or are new to the scene, the list below are some of the more LEGO specific acronyms and words that people and articles use.
A
- AFOL – Adult Fan Of LEGO.
- AFFOL – Adult Female Fan of LEGO
- AHOL – Adult Hobbyist of LEGO
- ALE – Adult LEGO Enthusiast.
- ALH – Adult LEGO Hobbyist.
- Ambassador – A member of a LUG who represents the group to The LEGO Community
- Anti-stud – The indentations on the bottom of bricks, plates and tiles into which a stud will connect.
- AZMEP – Aus Zwei mach Eins Plättchen (out of two make one plate)
B
- BI – Building Instructions
- Bignette – A scene that is bigger than a vignette, but smaller than a diorama
- Billund – The small town in Denmark where LEGO was founded. LEGO Headquarters and primary design center are located there, along with LEGOLAND.
- BOGO – Buy One Get One – Buy the first item and the second is either discounted or free
- Brick – A generic name for a any LEGO piece.
- Brick-built – Built using ready-made parts, like a figure made out of bricks. This contrasts with something made using mostly custom made components.
- Bricklink – Bricklink.com, a place for buyers and sellers of LEGO. Great for finding large quantities of a single piece, and sometimes older sets.
- Brickset – Brickset.com, a huge database of LEGO sets including pieces, photos and more.
- BURP – Big Ugly Rock Piece which is usually found in LEGO castle sets. Frowned upon by experienced builders who promote Brick-Built landscaping. See also LURP and POOP.
C
- Cheese Grater – A LEGO element sloped at an angle with bars, looking like a cheese grater.
- Cheese Slope – Piece without studs that are about a 33° slope, like a slice of cheese.
- Clone (brands) – Sets of construction toys that appear similar too, and may be compatible with, LEGO, but are created & sold by other companies to compete with LEGO. Considered by most to be inferior to LEGO. All hail LEGO.
- Cracklink – Refers to the addictive nature of the site BrickLink.com
- Custom – Modified LEGO with non-LEGO paint work or 3rd party pieces. Sites like BrickArms and BrickForge offer such pieces.
- Cuusoo – The original name for what is now LEGO Ideas.
D
- Dark Ages – The time during an AFOL’s life where they had stopped paying attention to LEGO and focused on other activities (School, dating, etc).
- Diorama or Dio – A large scene built out of LEGO
- DSS – Dreaded Sticker Sheet – the sheet of decals (stickers) that comes with many sets and need to be applied by hand as you build.
E
F
- FAFOL – Female Adult Fan Of LEGO
- FFOL – Female Fan of LEGO
G
- Greebles – parts added to create the appearance of detail, without actually representing anything
H
- Half-stud Offset / Offsetting – Breaking the LEGO geometry and building between studs, often accomplished with a jumper plate.
I
- Illegal – Breaking the normal rules of connecting LEGO pieces and putting stress on them. For example sticking a plate sideways between studs on a brick.
- Inventory – The list of LEGO elements included in any official set
J
- Jumper Plate – A 1×2-stud plate with only 1 stud in the center.
K
- KABOB – Kid with A Bunch Of Bricks
- KFOL – Kid Fan Of LEGO, generally boys 5-12 years of age. Some grow up to be AFOLs, some are children of them.
L
- LDD – LEGO Digital Designer is software for Windows and Mac that lets you build models digitally.
- Legal – the practice of using LEGO pieces more or less as they are designed and not following illegal practices.
- LEGOs – the unofficial name for more than one element of LEGO. The official name is “LEGO® brand building bricks” (note the S) but most people call them LEGOs.
- LIC – Lego Imagination Center
- LLCA – LegoLand CAlifornia
- LS@H / LSAH – Lego Shop At (@) Home
- LUG – LEGO User Group
- LUGNET – LEGO User Group NETwork
- LURP – Little Ugly Rock Piece – Smaller piece of “rock” that LEGO supplied as a custom molded piece
M
- MF – Minifigure
- MIB – Mint In Box
- MISB – Mint In Sealed Box
- MISP – Mint In Sealed Polybag
- Midi Scale – Midi scale are sets that are bigger than miniature and smaller than minifigure scale.
- Minifig Scale – A LEGO creation built to the scale of the standard Minifig. For example, a car in which a figure fits, or a building they can be placed in.
- MOC – My Own Creation
- MOCFodder – Describes a set purchased strictly to scavenge the pieces for building your MOCs.
- MOT – My Own Train
- MSRP – Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price
N
- NLF – Non-LEGO Friend/Fiancé(e)
- NLP – Non-LEGO Person or Non-LEGO Parent
- NLS(O) – Non-LEGO Spouse (Significant Other)
- NPU – Nice Part Use, an overused term to praise a MOC or official LEGO set
O
P
- PAB – Pick A Brick (wall) in LEGO stores. The wall in the LEGO stores where you can pick various brick individually as you need them.
- Parts Pack – An official LEGO set with lots of great elements, but no real overall design plan. Just good parts.
- POOP – Parts Out of Other Parts – large custom molded pieces that could have been made from existing LEGO elements.
- Purist – A creator who build MOCs without any custom or modified parts.
Q
R
- RRP – Recommended Retail Price
S
- S@H / SAH – Shop @ Home, the online LEGO Shop
- SHEFOL – SHE Fan Of LEGO
- SIGFIG – A signature minifig that represents a user in online communities.
- SHIP – Significantly Huge Investment in Parts. Generally used by LEGO Space fans, it’s a construction over 100 studs long, thus using a large number of parts.
- SNIR – Studs Not In a Row
- SNOT – Studs Not On Top
- SPUD – Special/Single Piece/Purpose Ugly/Useless/UnLEGOish Design/Decoration
- STAMPs – STickers Across Many Parts – stickers that come with sets and are applied across multiple bricks. This renders it nearly impossible to deconstruct a set and reclaim each piece individually.
- Studlessness – A technique that hides the studs by using non-studded pieces.
- Swooshable – The ability to have a LEGO construction “swoosh” through the air, like a child holding a plane.
T
- TFOL – Teen Fans Of LEGO – teens who are past the regular demographic for LEGO, but not yet AFOLs.
- TLC/TLG – The LEGO Company or The LEGO Group
- TRU – Toys “R” Us – Maligned by some for inflated prices, but often beats other retailers to having sets available.
U
- UCS – Ultimate Collector Series
V
- Vignette – A small scene built with like, generally 8×8 up to hand size.
W
- WIP – Work In Progress
X
Y
- YFOL – Young Fan Of LEGO
Z
We hope you found the LEGO Glossary helpful. Sprinkling the terms in when speaking to friends and other in the LEGO community will make you seem more knowledgeable without going over the top. Understanding the acronyms will also help you understand what the heck people are talking about!
The terms and definitions in this LEGO Glossary are pulled from all over the internet. If you find a mistake or omission, please contact us and we’ll issue an update ASAP (As Soon As Possible).
