Sometimes you’ll see in a Twitch chat that somebody has said they’re going to just be “lurking” for a bit – what are they actually up to? Relax, we’ll explain!

Twitch is the birthplace of a lot of zoomer slang, as well as jargon that is specific to the platform.

If you’re new to twitch, you might wonder what on earth is going on, especially when chatters are using words like “lurk”, which can certainly raise an eyebrow.

Not to worry though, in this article we’ve got you covered with what that word means, as well as 5 other words that you’re likely to come across.

What Does Lurk Mean On Twitch?

“Lurking” on Twitch simply means that you’re watching and listening but not contributing to the conversation in chat. Most Twitch viewers are lurkers, however it’s only usually regular chatters that will say something like “ok I’m finna lurk for a bit”.

I think I used “finna” correctly there.

There are no rules stating that you have to announce that you’re there and lurking, however there are some unwritten rules about streamers or other viewers calling out your name from the viewer list when you are lurking.

Not everybody will stick to this though – particularly in streams with fewer viewers.

More Twitch Jargon You Might Hear

Twitch is full of viewers from all kinds of generations from all kinds of backgrounds, so it’s extremely likely that you’ll constantly see brand new words popping up that you’ve never seen before and certainly aren’t in the dictionary (yet).

Here are 5 more words you may encounter on Twitch alongside their definitions:

1. MonkaS

MonkaS is an emote that is used to express moments of anxiety, such as when something scary is said or there is some gloomy music playing. The emote is Pepe the Frog with wide, anticipating eyes and a bead of sweat.

2. Bot

“Bot” on Twitch can refer to several different things. Most commonly it’s used to refer to a player that isn’t very good at a game. Sometimes it’s used to refer to viewer bots and sometimes it can refer to the chatbot which helps moderate the channel.

3. Clip

A clip is a short snippet that viewers, followers and subscribers can create in order to showcase memorable moments of a stream.

Streamers can then use them to create content for other platforms like YouTube and social media in order to advertise their gaming skills or personality to potential new viewers.

4. F

“F” pretty much stands for “fail” and will be spammed in a chat when a streamer loses, crashes or does something generally stupid or silly. Most streamers will see the lighthearted side of this, however, some may take it personally.

5. Prime

“Prime” is short for Twitch Prime, which is a type of subscription that viewers can offer a streamer if they have Amazon Prime. It’s a free 30-day sub that Twitch prime users can use on any channel they like to get ad-free viewing and exclusive channel badges and emotes.

You may often hear streamers reminding viewers to use their Twitch Prime sub, as it costs nothing extra to Prime users and still provides the streamer with a regular sub’s value in revenue.