The Vaypr Translator – 80 Common Vaping Terms

Getting to grips with your brand new e-cigarette is exciting and easy once you know how, but understanding all the terminology is a whole different ballgame! With the growing popularity of electronic cigarettes it’s no surprise that these terms are slowly becoming second nature for vapers. It’s only a matter of time before they are part of the English dictionary – in fact, vape is already in it. If you don’t believe us, look it up!

We thought it would be fun to give you a detailed glossary on as many different common terms we’ve heard in the vaping world. You might find that some terms differ depending on which hemisphere you live in. Kiwi e-cigs certainly have a few of their own terms so we’ve tried to include as many as we can. Once you’ve got this nailed, you’ll be able to join all those vaping conversations and drop some in of your own vape-vocab yourself, whether you’re vaping in Wellington, cloud chasing in China or sub-ohming in the USA.

Here are 80 vaping terms that we hear:

1. AEROSOL this is another word for vapour and refers to the liquid drops that live in the air once you’ve inhaled and exhaled your e-cig
2. ADV (All Day Vape) this is a particular flavour of e-juice that someone enjoys all day long or for an extended period of time
3. ANALOGUE this is reference to a regular cigarette (AKA an old cigarette)
4. APV (Advanced Personal Vaporiser) this is a second generation vaporiser with a bigger battery and more interesting advanced features
5. ATOMISER this is the heated coils that warm up your e-liquid. Sometimes this is shortened to “Atty”
6. AUTOMATIC this is a small e-cig with an activated switch and no manual button. It looks a little like an ANALOG cigarette and is usually disposable
7. BATT this is the rechargeable battery that provides power to your e-cig. It is usually made out of lithium
8. BCC this is the coil at the bottom of a clearomiser
9. BLANKS these refer to your cartridges which contain dry filler material inside and need to have e-liquid added to use the e-cig. It’s another word for a cartridge without filler material, so just used as a mouthpiece when introducing liquid via the dripping process
10. BONUTS this is a mod for an atomiser and increases the e-juice that is released into it for a more intense vaping experience
11. CARTOMISER or CARTOS this is a combination of an atomiser and cartridge and these together hold the liquid and heating element. These can be used about five or six times before they need replacement
12. CARTRIDGE this is a small plastic tube which has a sealed end on one side and an open end on the other side. Inside it contains wadding and liquid
13. CHARGER this is your charger for your e-cigarette battery and generally features a plug with a wire. More modern chargers can fit to a laptop, car or other electronic equipment using a USB cable
14. CHIMNEY this is the central air tube inside your clearomiser or tank
15. CIGALIKE this is a slang name for the mini e-cigs that look like regular tobacco cigarettes
16. CLEAN NICOTINE DELIVERY SYSTEM this is reference to your e-cig.
17. CLEAROMISER OR CLEARO this is a transparent cartomiser that allows you to see exactly how much liquid is left and how much you are putting inside
18. CLOUD CHASING this is a term for vape enthusiasts trying to achieve maximum clouds of vapour, they use high powered sub-tanks and sub-ohms
19. COIL this is a wire coil that lives at the bottom of your tank and heats up the liquid to produce the vapour
20. CORE this is a replaceable cartridge in your tank system
21. CRACKING this refers to a cracked area on your clearomiser that has been damaged
22. CUT-OFF this is the reference made to when the battery cuts-off after a period following use and prevents overheating
23. DCC OR DUAL COIL CARTOMISER this is an extra-long cartomiser which gives greater vaping performance
24. DIPPING this is when an exposed atomiser coil is dipped into e-liquid
25. DIRECT INHALE this refers to inhaling directly into the lungs
26. DISPOSABLE this refers to a throw-away e-cig
27. DOA OR DEAD ON ARRIVAL this refers to an e-cig that has died!
28. DOUBLER this refers to a liquid that has no nicotine and is used as flavouring. It can be added to a nicotine flavour to reduce the strength yet keep the flavour strong
29. DRIPPING this refers to dripping liquid into the e-cig
30. DRIPSHIELD this is a piece that goes over an atomiser and prevents leakage
31. DRY HIT this is when you inhale on your electronic cigarette once the liquid has run out – you get a “dry hit” and your device needs refilling
32. E-LIQUID OR E-JUICE this is the liquid that you fill your electronic cigarette with. Here at Vaypr we call it vLiquid! 
33. E-CIGAR this is an e-cig that looks like and tastes like a cigar
34. E-CIGARETTE/ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE this is the term for an electronic cigarette/cigarette that is tobacco free and is ignited through electricity
35. E-SMOKING this is an old term for vaping (smoking an e-cig)
36. EV this is a short term for a vaporiser and is sometimes used instead of the word e-cig
37. FDA the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration
38. FILLER this is the material in cartridges that is responsible for holding the e-juice
39. FLOODING this is the reference used when you overfill your e-cig
40. GURGLING this is the sound your e-cig makes if too much liquid has been added
41. HEAD this is the area on your tank or atomiser that is attached to the battery and holds the refill liquid
42. INDIRECT INHALE this is mouth to lung inhaling
43. LEAKING this is when your e-cig leaks it’s e-liquid
44. LI-ION this refers to the lithium battery used in an e-cig
45. LEDs or light-emitting diodes can be used for tip lights on mini e-cigs.
46. MAH this relates to milliampere hours and measures your battery’s capacity
47. MANUAL this refers to a battery with an on and off button as opposed to an automatic battery that operates via air pressure
48. MANUAL SWITCH similar to above, this is a switch used to turn the e-cig battery on or off
49. MC these are the menthol crystals used to create an e-juice
50. MECHMOD this refers to vapers who use a mechanical tube format without wiring inside, it is a battery holder with a switch
51. MOD this is an abbreviation for modification
52. MODDING this refers to reworking an e-cig
53. NIC this is an abbreviation for nicotine
54. NICOTINE this refers to the chemical found in tobacco cigarettes also present in e-liquids.
55. NOOBS this refers to new vapers
56. OHM this is the measurement of resistance. The higher the resistance, the less vapour is produced, the lower the resistance, the more vapour is produced
57. PASSTHROUGH this is something used instead of a battery that connects to a USB and in turn, creates power
58. PCC this is an abbreviation for a personal charging case
59. PG the short name for the safe chemical Propylene Glycol found in e-liquid
60. POLYFIL this is what the material inside a cartridge/cartomiser is made of
61. PRIMER PUFF this is the first puff of a mini e-cig taken before the main puff and is an action required because the battery needs to engage properly before the e-cig works at its best.
62. PV LIQUID this refers to the juice used in an e-cig that creates the vapour smoke
63. SPITBACK this is a little popping sound when a small amount of liquid drops back into the mouth after the first puff on an e-cig
64. SPORT VAPERS this refers to smoke rings and cloud chasers, basically vapers who create interesting patterns with their e-cig usage
65. STEALTH VAPING this is when someone vapes in a place that does not allow the use of e-cigs
66. SUB-OHM this is vaping with a mechmod and multi coils in an atomiser, these devices create huge vaping clouds but they are hotter than other e-cig devices
67. SUB-OHMERS this relates to people who use SUB-OHM devices as per above
68. TAILPIPING this refers to users who inhale on their e-cig without using a mouthpiece
69. TC OR TEMPERATURE CONTROL this is the reference to atomisers with a temperature control setting
70. THROAT HIT this refers to the “hit” felt in the throat following inhaling
71. TOPPING OFF adding more liquid to your e-cig
72. VAPE PEN another name for an e-cigarette or e-cigar
73. VAPER this is the name for someone who vapes
74. VAPER CLIQUES these are groups of vapers who enjoy vaping together
75. VAPING this is the term for inhaling on an e-cig
76. VAPOUR this refers to the cloud of smoke the e-liquid creates when exhaled
77. VG this refers to the safe chemical Vegetable Glycerine used as a natural sweetener in e-liquid flavours
78. VV or VW this refers to variable wattage
79. WATTS this is the unit of power used in an e-cig
80. WICK this is the material used in the wick area and where the liquid sits. It is usually made out of cotton but there are other formats If there are any we’ve missed out or you’ve discovered some new terminology, we’d love to add your vape-vocab to the list. Just email us and let us know!