Second Life® Glossary
Virtual worlds like Second Life® have a vocabulary of their own, sometimes using words you will not have encountered before and at other times using words you know in new ways. Here is a sampling of the common vocabulary used.
AV, AVI, AVATAR
- Your body; who you are. The appearance of your AV can be changed almost infinitely. Some avatars are a “shape” with a “skin” added to it ... the shape provides the body shape, the skin provides the appearance.
CAMERA
- Think of what you see on your screen when you are in SL as the “Camera” view. This concept is important because you can change your viewpoint in SL without moving your avatar, and that is very different from the real world!
CHAT
- The Chat button is at the lower left of your screen and when you click it, it opens a small window where you can type a message. Press the Enter key on your keyboard after typing and the message you typed appears on your screen and on the screen of everyone near you (Chat has a 20 metre range in all directions). This is the simple way of communicating in SL, and it is public (anyone nearby can read/respond).
GRIEFER
- Griefers are primarily those who create a role that focuses on disruption to others and/or their surroundings.
HUB, TELEHUB, TH
- A telehub is a teleport destination. When you choose to TP somewhere, you will arrive at the nearest HUB to the destination, and then you can fly or walk the rest of the way.
HUD
- heads up display A HUD is an animation that will enable you to emote your avatar, engage in various activities, and/or provide information. HUD’s are commonly attached to your screen.
IM
- instant message The IM button is at bottom left of the screen. Use this to send a private message to someone, or to a group of people, on line or off line. If your IM button is flashing, someone is sending you a message.
L$ and US$
- Linden Dollars and US Dollars.
LM
- landmark A LM is a place located in a sim. PRIM, primitive A PRIM is a basic building block in SL and by default looks like plywood.
PST
- Pacific Standard Time This is the Real Life standard time used in SL. It is located at the top right side of the screen.
REZ
- To create something. If you take something out of your inventory, you have “rezzed” it.
RL and FL
- Real life and first life.
SCRIPT
- A script is a programmed set of commands that, when attached to objects, will enable predetermined actions and activities of an object.
SIM
- simulator A SIM is a (roughly) 65,000 square metre region of the world. The mainland of SL is made up of many sims placed side-by-side. An island in SL is one (or more) sims surrounded by water.
TP
- teleport People will often ask you to offer them a TP to your location so they can join you. Find this option in the person's profile. You can ask someone to TP you to them. You will see TP buttons in buildings and elsewhere that will move you to a new location, like a different floor or different place.
TERRAFORM
- This term is used to describe the shaping of SL land.
TEXTURE
- An image file, usually in Targa (tga) or JPEG (jpg) format that is applied to a surface. A texture can make a prim look like a rock, a brick wall, a glass window, a feather ... anything! Most buildings and objects in SL are prims with textures applied to their surfaces.
