Just recently got into sneakers or keep seeing certain terms but have no clue what they mean? We’ve got you covered.
We put together a list of sneaker terms that you are bound to come across while shopping for sneakers, browsing Reddit or searching desperately for where to buy that next pair of Air Jordan 1‘s.
Let’s get started.
A
ACG (All Conditions Gear)
Nike’s own line of outdoor focused clothing and footwear to be prepared for all conditions mother nature throws at you.
B
Backdooring
The term backdoor, comes from an employee literally standing at the backdoor of the store selling a pair of sneakers to someone. Although not done this blunt, the term is used for when employees at retailers will put limited stock aside usually to sell for profit.
BC Sizing (Baby Crib Sizing)
Made for babies, usually with soft outsoles for better treatment of babies’ cute but still developing tiny feet.
Bid
Straight forward, the start price for bidding (see BIN below).
BIN (Buy It Now)
Usually found on forums or sneaker trading/selling communities and is the lowest price for selling directly, exactly what people born in the 90’s or earlier remember from when eBay was the key place to go to.
BNIB (Brand New In Box)
Pretty straight forward, could also be NIB for “New in Box”.
Bots
Sneaker bots are automated scripts for purchasing sneakers faster than manual visitors by mimicking a purchase (Add to Cart, Credit Card info, Checkout) through HTTP requests. They are often sworn at by sneakerheads who just want a fair chance to buy, and a main reason for many sneaker raffles being used by retailers.
C
Cooking / Cook Groups
Cooking, not limited to sneakers and also found in streetwear, refers mainly to the reselling community buying (cook) very limited items with the goal of reselling for profit. You’ll find a lot of “cook groups” posting release links and info on Twitter and touting their “lightning fast monitors”, although the pages can be quite useful for helping to find out about links to cop a new release.
Copping Sneakers
To cop is to buy, simply put.
CW – Colorway
The colorway of a sneaker would usually be one of the identifying traits of the sneaker. For example the Bred Jordan 1 has the Bred, or Black/Red colorway.
D
DS (Deadstock)
The term “Deadstock” has originally been used to describe items that can no longer be found in retail stores, i.e. sold out and limited. These days sneakerheads refer to the condition of shoes as deadstock being brand new, unworn (not even tried on), with the original box and with factory lacing. A deadstock sneaker is the same as one you would get when buying from the original retail store.
DSWT (Deadstock with Tags)
An alternative variant of DS that you may come across on forums or sneaker trading/selling communities. As you can deduce, it becomes a bit redundant.
F
F&F (Friends & Family)
Certain sneaker releases can be Friends and Family (F&F) exclusives, such as the Travis Scott Jordan 4 in Purple making them extremely limited and saught after.
FCFS (First Come, First Served)
The early bird gets the worm. Used for releases at shops with the classic line-up without any raffle system.
FSR (Full Size Run)
A full-size run is exactly what it would sound like, a release with all sizes available for a shoe. Honorable mention to the every member of the FSRMY, Sole Collector/Complex’s show Full Size Run currently hosted by Brendan Dunne, Matt Welty and Trinidad James.
G
GR (General Release)
These days GR’s will be those sneakers you find being added straight to a shop’s inventory without any raffles needed due to general availability and higher stock numbers.
GS Sizing (Grade School Sizing)
Sizing made for Grade School children, which can also provide heat pairs for women (or men with smaller feet). For example 6Y in GS sizing is equal to US 7W / US 5.5 M / EU 38.
H
HS (Hyperstrike)
Any Nike sneaker with HS in the name is one you don’t want to miss out on (if you have the chance). HS shoes are extremely limited and likely going to be nearly impossible to get.
HTM (Hiroshi Fujiwara x Tinker Hatfield x Mark Parker)
HTM collabs first started around 2002 and have spurred some innovative creations like the Flyknit technology. Hiroshi is the brains behind Fragment Design which has released multiple hype releases along with Parker (CEO since 2006) and Tinker who are the key designers at Nike.
I
ID (Individually Designed/Literally ID!)
Could refer to the NikeID sneakers (custom designed sneakers) or the identifier of a sneaker/socks, i.e. via Reddit:
“ID on those socks?” – “They are Stance Socks!”
J
JB (Jordan Brand)
The legendary brand under Nike based off the Air Jordan jumpman logo by/for Michael Jordan himself, although it doesn’t really need an introduction. Check out our price comparison of over 4500 Jordan Brand Sneakers
JTH (Justin Timberlake x Tinker Hatfield)
The JTH Jordan 3’s that were designed by Justin Timberlake and Tinker Hatfield.
K
KOTD (Kicks of the Day)
Used widely on Twitter (#KOTD) for showing off the kicks you’re wearing.
L
L (Loss)
These days sneaker hype is real and it gets tough to get your hands on new releases, which is why you are bound to take a lot of Ls.
LC (Legit Check)
Regularly found on forums or Reddit from sneakerheads that want a second opinion and verify that their sneakers are legitimate and authentic.
LEO (Let Everyone Order)
Used for one of Nike SNKRS app’s drop types, a live FCFS sneaker raffle designed to try to battle bots but still keeping the manual spirit. This will usually be the drop type on the app, whereas a Draw will be used for more limited releases.
LE (Limited Edition)
Used to refer to more limited sneaker releases or colorways that may only be available to certain retailers.
LPU (Latest Pick-up)
You’re bound to see this term thrown around on Twitter or Reddit, showing off someone’s latest sneaker purchase.
LS (Lifestyle)
LS sneakers are usually made for casual wear rather than any specific sport or performance.
M
Manual Cop
Manually purchasing sneakers with add to cart, and managing to overcome sneaker bots.
Monitors
Certain groups / pages provide monitors that keep track of new stock on certain websites, for example SNKRS Monitors, Off-White Monitors, SNS Monitors, etc.
N
NRG (Energy)
The Nike NRG team is responsible for building the hype machine with history of multiple limited edition collabs on sneakers. Some examples of NRG releases:
- Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG NRG Not For Resale
- Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG NRG Rust Pink
- Air Yeezy 2 NRG Solar Red
NSW (Nike Sportswear)
A line of high-end quality clothing from Nike for casual everyday wear for everyone originating from the clothes athletes wear when they’re not competing.
NWT (New with Tags)
Similar to DS or DSWT (see above).
O
OBO (Or Best Offer)
For those selling/reselling on a listing, implying they will could prioritize an offer higher than the first bidders.
OG (Original)
Originating from slang and hip-hop culture, Original Gangster, has been used in multiple contexts and spun off to refer to an original release. OG could refer to the OG release or colorway of a sneaker. For example the Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG silhouette refers to the original version of the Jordan 1 High with the Nike Air branding on the tongue that all the OG sneakerheads drool over.
P
PE (Player Exclusive)
Nike Player Exclusive shoes are those specifically made for athletes and not made for general market sales. Some PE releases have seen insane resell prices like the Oregon Ducks PE Jordan releases.
Presell
Used as a term on the sneaker reselling market to describe resell prices before a sneaker has officially been released. Presell sneaker prices often show how hyped or limited a certain release might be.
PRM (Premium)
An additional term for Nike releases where sneakers have higher quality materials. For example on Nike Air Max or Cortez you can find PRM releases with high quality leather covering the silhouette of the sneaker.
PS Sizing (Preschool Sizing)
Shoe sizing for preschool children, lower than Grade School (GS).
Q
QC (Quality Control)
Not a unique term for sneakers, but you may be unlucky grabbing a pair of sneakers that have bad QC due to large factory production lines.
QS (Quickstrike)
Quickstrike releases tend to be those of lower quantity and available for a shorter amount of time, although the term tends to get thrown around a lot for it to be very limited.
R
Raffles
Sneaker raffles are designed to battle the quite frustrating problem of sneaker bots purchasing stock before anyone has a chance to even add their product to the cart. Raffles are designed to ensure everyone has a fair chance by providing a lottery system per size to be able to purchase a pair of sneakers.
Replica Sneakers / Replicas
Term used for high quality fake sneakers, sometimes using the same materials as retail sneakers originating from the same factories. Replicas (or Reps) can often be indistinguishable to the common eye, but can have certain flaws that stand out from authentic pairs.
Retro
Releasing an older colorway of a sneaker, i.e. retro-ing the sneaker. The reference is quite common for the Retro High OG Jordan 1’s, where both OG and Retro are used to refer to either the original colorway or the re-release (Retro) of it.
S
SB (Skateboarding)
Nike SB is the division focused on skateboard shoes and apparel, driven far by the late Sandy Bodecker whose initials also coincidentally are SB. In sneaker culture, Nike Dunks differ between the SB and Non-SB releases where the Dunk SBs have a fatter tongue (specifically lows) and laces, whereas regular Dunks are more slimmed down.
SE (Special Edition)
Quite a few releases that denote special edition use this term.
SP (Special Project)
SP sneakers denote special (as you can assume) collaborations and designs with premium materials. Examples of recent SP releases are the Travis Scott Jordan 6 SP as well as the Nike Dunk Low SP Syracuse and Kentucky colorways.
T
Nike Tier 0 Retailers / Tier 0 Accounts
Tier 0 are the top tier of Nike retailers, bound to have some of the most limited releases compared to regular retailers. Some examples of Tier 0 are END Clothing. and SNS.
TD Sizing (Toddler Sizing)
Made for toddlers, the size below Preschool (PS) Sizing.
U
UNDS or UnDS (Undeadstock)
Used to describe taking a fresh pair of deadstock sneakers out of the box to wear for the first time. “I just decided to UnDS these sneakers and it made my day”
V
VNDS (Very Near Dead Stock)
A sneaker that’s been taken out the box and worn a couple of times, although without any wear to show to pass it off as close to deadstock condition.
W
W (Win)
Quite self explanatory, but catching a W on limited sneaker raffles has to be one of the best feelings for today’s sneakerheads.
WDYWT (What do you wear today)
A common term on Twitter and Reddit for showing off which sneakers you’re wearing today.