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No, this isn’t like Kunle’s hilarious of Gen-Z acronyms and their meanings. 

Football is back and that means you’ll be seeing some words you don’t understand on the TL. Let’s help you understand them. 

1. W or Dub:

Simple. This means to win. Whether it’s a “W” tweet or a “W” player or a “dub you can see from 100 miles away”, a W or dub is generally a great thing. 

2. Idolo

This just means “idol”. If you rate a footballer, feel free to call them idolo. But don’t overuse this term. It’s only for the real legends.

3. Clear

This one just shows that one thing or person is much better than the other. So if you see a tweet like, “Messi is clear of Penaldo”, it means the person thinks Messi is better than Ronaldo. 

4. Warra

This simply means “what a…”, but in a sarcastic, mocking way. So if I, as an Arsenal fan, mocks a Chelsea fan for failing to sign good players this transfer window, they can just reply by saying, “Warra Champions League qualification for you”, and it would hurt me because my team didn’t qualify for the Champions League. 

5. FT

This just means football Twitter. 

6. L

This is an abbreviation for “loss”. If someone tells you to hold an L, it means your team has lost, or you lost an argument on the timeline. 

7. GOAT

Greatest of All Time. There is only one. But nobody really knows who it is. I do, though.

8. Bodied

To “body” someone is to win against them in an argument, while utterly embarrassing them. So if someone gives a snarky reply to a tweet and it goes viral, it means they bodied the person. And the tweets are usually phrased like, “Bodied the virgin” just for extra violence. 

9. Aired 

“Aired” just means someone ghosted the other person instead of replying to them. 

10. Ratioed

You didn’t know this famous slang came from Football Twitter? Do better. To “ratio” someone is to get more likes and retweets (RTs) when you reply or quote their tweets. Ratio-ing someone is a dub; getting ratioed is an L. Get it?

11. YKB/YDKB

Slangs for “you know ball” and “you don’t know ball”.

12. Nabbed

This means “stolen”. It’s when bigger accounts steal a tweet or tweet idea from a smaller account and gets more likes and RTs.

13. Merchant

Someone, or a team, who does something repeatedly. For example, Ronaldo has been an “L merchant” this summer because he’s been offering himself to clubs and nobody wants to sign him. Or Luis Diaz is a “pace merchant” because all he does is run. 

14. Here we go

Coined by famed football journalist and transfers king , this is the phrase for when a transfer deal is successfully completed — not officially announced by the club, but confirmed by reputable sports journalists.

15. Fraud

If someone is a fraud, it means they’ve tricked the entire world to think they’re great when they’re actually mid (i.e: average). A great example is Eden Hazard.

Also read: 14 Slangs You’ll Hear at Every Nigerian Street Football Field