Cyberpunk 2077 has fantastically in-depth world-building devices and writing, complete with entirely new slang. This game takes place in (wait for it) 2077; imagine how lost somebody from 1970 would be if they heard modern 2023 slang.
The writers of Cyberpunk did a fantastic job of making players feel lost like this initially, while also making sure you would be able to catch on after a bit of game time in your playthrough. Still, maybe you’re impatient, or maybe you skipped one too many cutscenes and missed an important moment of enlightenment.
Either way, here are all the slang terms used in Cyberpunk, and what they actually mean.
Cyberpunk 2077 slang term meanings
Don’t worry chooms, after reading this list, you’ll have a preem understanding of Cyberpunk lingo, so you’ll never look like a gonk again. From here on out, you’ll sound totally nova. Ahem.
Anyway, here are all the slang terms used in Cyberpunk and what they mean:
- Braindance or BD—A recorded memory that somebody else can play through and experience. Basically like VR, except with all five senses instead of just sight.
- Choom/Choomba—Buddy, bro, dude, or friend. One of the most common slang terms in Cyberpunk.
- Chrome—Cyberware. You’ll often hear “chromed out” or similar iterations. This just means that somebody has a lot of cyberware implants.
- Delta—Leave, but almost always used in dire situations. You don’t delta from a friend’s place after a fun and relaxed night—you delta out at a party when the cops show up.
- Eddy/eddies—Money. Short for Eurodollars, which is the currency used in Cyberpunk. Basically, it’s like saying cash or moola.
- Flatlined—Dead.
- Gonk—Idiot. Not something you want to call your chooms.
- Nova—Great, awesome, stellar. A modern equivalent is probably “dope.”
- Preem—Top-shelf. Similar to Nova, but mostly used as an adjective. “Having preem chrome is nova.”
- Screamsheet—Newspaper.
- Scroll/Scrolling—Recording a braindance. The person who “scrolled a BD” is the one to whom the memory belongs.
- Virtu—An unedited braindance. The “director’s cut,” if you will. Judy’s job is to turn virtu’s into braindances.
- Zero—Murder. Not kill, but murder. People aren’t zeroed if they die peacefully in their sleep.
Those are all of the most common slang terms you’ll hear in Cyberpunk that truly have no similarity to real-world slang. There are some other terms you’ll hear, such as “merc” (short for mercenary), and “fixer” (a middleman between client and mercenary), but I’m leaving those off of the list because those are also used in real life.
