Ever wonder what your AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO®) is talking about? This glossary covers the acronyms, slang, and shorthand the LEGO® community uses every day.
ABS — "Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene". The type of plastic LEGO® uses for all of its bricks.
AFFOL — "Adult-Female-Fan-of-LEGO®". (See also FAFOL and SHEFOL.)
AFOL — "Adult Fan Of LEGO®".
Baseplate — A flat LEGO® plate filled with studs, available in various sizes. Generally used as the starting point for most builds.
Bigfig — A supersized LEGO® minifigure.
Bignette — A scaled-up version of a Vignette. (See Vignette.)
Billund — A town in Jutland, Denmark, where LEGO® headquarters and the primary design centre are based.
BL — "Bricklink". The go-to website for LEGO® fans — dedicated to the buying and selling of LEGO® spare parts, minifigs, etc.
Bley — "Bluish grey". The current LEGO® grey, in both medium and dark stone shades. The older version is referred to as "Old Grey".
BOLOCs — "Built Of Lots Of Colours". Generally refers to a junior LEGO® build where the builder uses any colour they can find, resulting in a rainbow look.
Brick Built — When the LEGO® builder uses a variety of elements to create a part instead of a preformed LEGO® part.
Brick(s) — The core of LEGO®.
Build — The collective name given to a set or MOC.
BURP — "Big Ugly Rock Piece". A single moulded piece of pre-fab rock wall.
CC — "Café Corner". A very popular LEGO® set with adult fans. Also "Classic Castle", a LEGO® castle fan site.
Cheese Slope — LEGO® brick 50746. A 1×1 tile with a 33-degree slope, two plates (or 2/3 of a brick) high. Also called a cheese wedge or cheese block because the shape resembles a wedge of cheese.
Clone Brands — LEGO®-replica construction toys that are often compatible with LEGO®. Generally not well thought of within the LEGO® community and despised by LEGO® purists.
CMF — "Collectable Minifigure". Individually sold LEGO® minifigures that may stand alone or be part of a collectable series.
Cracklink — A nickname for the Bricklink website bestowed by the LEGO® community, referring to its addictive nature.
CSF — "Classic Space Forum". An online LEGO® space fan community.
Custom — A LEGO® creation or individual element that uses non-LEGO® parts or modified parts or accessories not officially produced or endorsed by TLG. Generally not favoured by LEGO® purists.
Customizer — A LEGO® fan who is not afraid to modify LEGO® parts. Not supported by LEGO® purists.
Dark Ages — The time AFOLs spend away from LEGO® between childhood and rediscovery later in life.
Design ID — The identification number TLG uses to catalogue a specific part. (Covers the mould shape, not the colour variant.)
Diorama or Dio — An extra-large LEGO® scene, larger than a Bignette or Vignette. (See also Bignette and Vignette.)
Draft — A common activity at LEGO® club meetings, where fans each bring a copy of a set, sort out all the elements, and take turns picking the parts they want. An easy way to get the parts you want in larger quantities without buying multiple copies of the set.
DSS — "Dreaded Sticker Sheet". (See also STAMP.)
Duplo — Oversized LEGO® designed for small hands or 'baby builders'. DUPLO blocks are also still compatible with traditional LEGO® bricks.
Element (and Element ID) — The element identification TLG uses to catalogue a specific part, or the official name for each unique LEGO® piece. Unlike the Design ID, the Element ID also captures the colour variant.
Erling Brick — The "headlight brick". A staple SNOT element.
FAFOL — "Female-Adult-Fan-of-LEGO®". (See also AFFOL and SHEFOL.)
FFOL — "Female-Fan-Of-LEGO®". Another acronym for female fans. (See also AFFOL, FAFOL and SHEFOL.)
Greebles — Detailing added to a LEGO® creation's surface to enhance its appearance. Frequently seen in LEGO® space and mecha creations.
Half-Stud Offset — A LEGO® building technique that allows building without regard to the standard alignment of studs on a plate — usually achieved with a jumper plate.
Illegal — LEGO® building techniques that break the "rules" for connections between elements used by official LEGO® set designers — particularly connections that stress the elements.
IMHO — "In My Humble Opinion".
Inventory — The list of parts included in a LEGO® set.
Jumper Plate — A 1×2-stud LEGO® plate with only one stud in the centre. Useful for half-stud offset building.
KFOL — "Kid-Fan-of-LEGO®". TLG's primary target demographic.
LDD — "LEGO® Digital Designer". A CAD program that mimics the process of building LEGO® to create virtual models. Provided free of charge for PC or Mac.
Legal — LEGO® building techniques that follow the guidelines used by official LEGO® set designers.
LEGO® — If you don't know what this is, you are clearly lost.
LEGOS — The incorrect plural form of LEGO®. The official plural is "LEGO® brand building bricks" — however, always refer to one or more bricks as just "LEGO®".
Licensed Theme — A theme based on licensed material that LEGO® has been granted the rights to reproduce in LEGO® form (e.g. Star Wars, Disney, etc.).
LUG — "LEGO® Users Group". Local or regional clubs that meet, build, and socialise together, officially supported by TLG.
LURP — "Little Ugly Rock Piece".
LXF — A file generated from LDD that can be uploaded to sites such as Bricklink to help order parts for virtual models created in LDD.
Macaroni Brick — Round Corner 2×2 with a stud notch — as the name suggests, it looks like a piece of macaroni.
MF — "Minifig".
Microfig — Smaller minifigs — generally half the size of regular minifigs, from the LEGO® Games series.
Microfigure — Tiny figures used for trophies, and a staple of the LEGO® Architecture theme.
Micropolis — A collaborative building standard developed by TwinLUG, based around a 16×16 stud module which equals a quarter of a city block.
Microscale — Builds that are smaller in scale than minifigures.
Midi Scale — Sets between miniature and minifig scale. They don't include minifigures but are more detailed than mini sets. So far only Star Wars sets have had midi versions.
Minidoll — A variant of the minifigure tailored for female-centric themes such as LEGO® Friends, Elves, and Disney.
Minifig Scale — A LEGO® creation built to the scale of standard minifigures.
Minifigure / Minifig — The standard or blueprint for most set scales — there are literally thousands of variants and designs, and they are highly collectable.
MISB — "Mint In Sealed Box".
MOC — "My Own Creation". A custom LEGO® design without official instructions — often built with the help of software such as LDD.
Mocular — A fan-built MOC that follows the rules laid out by LEGO® in its Modular series.
Modulars — A series of sets designed around a 32×32 baseplate aimed at AFOLs. Multi-storey buildings fully enclosed and built to minifigure scale. Each floor lifts off to reveal internal detail. The series launched in 2007, with each new Modular connecting to the others to form a street scene. Some of the older sets fetch quite a price on eBay and Bricklink.
MSRP — "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price". The official price for a LEGO® set as established by TLG for a particular market. Individual retailers may set their own prices higher or lower than MSRP, and MSRP may vary from country to country.
MURP — "Mini Ugly Rock Piece".
NLP — "Non-LEGO® Person" or "Non-LEGO® Parent".
PAB Wall — "Pick-A-Brick" wall at LEGO® stores.
Plate — Unlike the thinner one-sided baseplate, a plate is a third of the height of a brick and allows bricks to be connected both underside and topside.
Polybag — Usually promotional plastic bags used to push certain themes, often with unique minifigures or small sets.
POOP — "Parts Out of Other Parts". Term used for large single-moulded pieces that builders often consider ugly and prime for being constructed from smaller existing parts.
Purist — A LEGO® fan who only uses official LEGO® elements. Also a LEGO® creation that contains only official LEGO® elements with no modifications or custom parts. Contrast with Custom.
Rainbow Warrior — Same as BOLOCs — builds that use every colour available.
RLFM — "Registered LUG Fan Media". A term used by TLG to denote an officially recognised online LUG or media outlet that covers LEGO® reviews, news, etc. Often used for prominent LEGO® bloggers.
RLUG — "Registered LEGO® Users Group". A term used by TLG to denote a local LUG that is officially recognised by LEGO® via the LEGO® Ambassador Network.
Set — A product released by TLG containing parts, instructions, and most of the time, minifigures.
SHEFOL — "She-(Female)-Fan-of-LEGO®". (See also AFFOL and FAFOL.)
Sig-fig — An AFOL's minifigure version of themselves, used physically and as an avatar in online communities.
SNOT — "Studs Not On Top". A technique that hides studs by connecting LEGO® elements on their sides or upside down.
STAMP — "Stickers Across Multiple Pieces".
Stud — The iconic round bump that forms part of the patented LEGO® connection system. Studs are also used as a measuring system — e.g. 32×32 stud baseplate used for the Modular theme.
Technic — A LEGO® variant like DUPLO, introduced in 1977. Technic is compatible with LEGO® and has bled across into traditional LEGO® sets extensively. Technic adds parts such as axles, gears, and rods, enabling more technical and mechanical models.
TFOL — "Teen-Fan-of-LEGO®".
Theme — The name given to a range of LEGO® sets that share a theme, such as Nexo Knights, Star Wars, City, etc.
Tile — A LEGO® piece that is smooth with no studs, the same thickness as a plate.
TLC — "The LEGO® Company".
TLG — "The LEGO® Group". The parent company of all things LEGO®.
UCS — "Ultimate Collector's Series". A series of large LEGO® Star Wars sets designed for older teens and adults. Larger than minifig scale.
USP — "Unique Selling Point".
Vignette or Vig — A LEGO® creation depicting a moment in time. Usually built on an 8×8 stud baseplate.
WIP — "Work In Progress".
YFOL — "Young-Fan-of-LEGO®".