A to Z of Vaping: Vaping Vocab

First of all I would just like to say I know this post might be a little bit insulting to you experienced Vapers out there but you never know you may just learn something, as for the rest of you I can only guess you have come to visit to learn more about vaping and the jargon surrounding it. This article has been wrote with new vapers in mind and with an ever increasing number of new people joining the community I thought I would write this post in order to help them get up to speed as quickly as possible.

So how many of you know your Atomizer from your Cartomizer? Or how about the difference between propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerine (VG)? No...well don’t you worry your little cotton socks because below you will find a summary of the most common words spoken as well as some of the confusing abbreviations commonly used by the vaping community.

The little dictionary below will have you speaking the lingo in no time at all...

Vaping Dictionary:

Atomizer

The atomizer is essentially the heating element in the electronic cigarette that produces the vapour. They come in many different varieties including some that generate more vapour, produce a better throat hit or intensify the flavour.

Battery

Everyone knows what a battery is and if you don’t, seriously where have you been? The batteries are normally lithium ion, can be recharged and usually has a LED tip that lights up at the end.

Cartomizer

The Cartomizer is the cartridge that holds the e liquid and also has an atomizer coil built in. When electronic cigarettes were first made they were composed of three main parts which where the battery atomizer and the cartridge. The appearance of the Cartomizer simplified this down to just the battery and the Cartomizer.

Cartridge

As explained above earlier models of the electronic cigarette was made up of 3 pieces. Some people however still use the word cartridge instead of Cartomizer to avoid any unnecessary confusion.

E Liquid

E liquid is the liquid that is used in the Cartomizer. It usually has 3 key components:

1. An agent that produces vapor (PG or VG)

2. Nicotine

3. Flavourings

E Cig

An electronic cigarette. That was nice and simple.

Propylene Glycol (PG)

One of the agents used in e liquid that creates the vapour. PG is the commonly used base liquid as it is clear, flavourless and therefore mixes well with other flavours.

Vaper

This term relates to an individual that uses an electronic cigarette. Since there is no smoke from e cigs as nothing is burning the e cig creates vapour...and thus the word vaper was born.

Vegetable Glycerin (VG)

This is another agent used in e liquid that again creates vapour. VG is sweeter than PG and usually produces a thicker longer lingering vapour.

Say What?

Don’t you hate it when you go online to try and sort some help from your fellow vaping cohorts and even though you can see they are talking in English they may as well be speaking Swahili.

Dave: Hey I am off the analog and got myself a new PV

Sarah: Well done, what strength Nic you using?

Dave: 24mg. Love the TH just wish the mAh would last longer

Sarah: You should totally try a PT

If the above convo looks all too familiar to you, don’t panic, below are the main abbreviations used by vapours:

Vaping Abbreviations

Analog: A regular cigarette

Atty: Atomizer

Batt: Battery

Cart: Cartridge

CuttOff: How long the battery will activate the atomizer before turning off

Dripping: Vaping by the process of adding some drops of e liquid directly into the atomizer as appose to using the cartridge

Draw (or Pull): Sucking on the mouth piece of the e cig to inhale vapour into your mouth

E Cig: Electronic Cigarette

E liquid (E Juice): The liquid you fill up the cartridges with.

Filler: Found inside the cartridge that holds the e liquid

mAh: Battery capacity – basically how long the battery will last from charge to charge.

Mod: A homemade e cig device or a modification of existing device that improves its function.

Nic: Nicotine

NRT: Nicotine Replacement Therapy

PPC: Portable charging case

PG: Propylene Glycol

PT: PassThrough – A USB cable that plugs into a computer, charging the e cig whilst the user vapes.

PV: Personal Vaporizer, aka electronic cigarette

TH: Throat Hit – the feeling at the back of your throat whilst vaping

Top Up: Adding more drops of e liquid to the current cartridge

Vape / Vaping: Using a electronic cigarette

VG: Vegetable Glycerin

So there you have it, hopefully next time you get a little confused when checking out a forum or a blog post you can drop by here and look up the words/abbreviations that where troubling you. If there is any that I have missed off or if there are any you would like to know please tell us and we will add them to the list.

Share or like if you have learnt something from this article or if you feel it would be a help to fellow vapers.