Cyberpunk 2077 slang refers to the made-up street language spoken in Night City, the game’s setting. Words like “choom” (friend), “preem” (excellent), “gonk” (idiot), and “delta” (to leave) come from the tabletop game the video game is based on. It’s fictional slang, not real-world internet slang.
Key Takeaways
- Cyberpunk 2077 slang is fictional in-universe street talk, built for the game’s world, not everyday internet culture.
- The words started in the 1988 tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020, created by designer Mike Pondsmith, long before the 2020 video game existed.
- Most terms are neutral or friendly, though a few (like “gonk” or “borg”) are meant as insults inside the story.
- Fans still use this slang today in Reddit threads, Discord servers, and social posts about the game.
- The exact roots of some words, like “gonk,” are openly listed as unknown even in the official rulebook.
If you’ve spent any time in Night City, you’ve probably heard a character call you “choom” or brag about something being “preem.”
At first it can sound like a different language. That’s the point. Cyberpunk 2077 slang is part of what makes the game’s world feel lived-in and real, even though every word was invented for the story.
People search for this slang for a few different reasons. Some are brand-new players who just met a character who said “gonk” and want to know if it’s an insult. Others are trying to write fan fiction or chat with friends in the game’s style.
And some fans simply enjoy collecting the vocabulary the way they’d collect lore from any big fictional universe.
This guide covers where the slang came from, what each major term means, and how fans actually use it in conversation, texts, and social posts today. By the end, you won’t need to open the in-game glossary again.
What Does Cyberpunk 2077 Slang Mean?
Cyberpunk 2077 slang is the invented street vocabulary used by characters in Night City. It’s not one word with one meaning. It’s an entire mini-language covering people, money, tech, and attitude.
Some words describe people: “choom” is a friend, “gonk” is a fool, and “borg” is someone heavily modified with cybernetic parts. Other words describe things: “eddies” is money, “chrome” is cybernetic hardware, and “iron” can mean a gun.
A few are reactions or exclamations, like “preem” for “great” or “nova” for “awesome.” Because the language was built to sound like real slang, a lot of it works the same way English slang does, one word doing several jobs depending on tone and context.
Quick Meaning Box
| Meaning | Simple Explanation |
| Choom | A close friend or buddy |
| Preem | Excellent, premium, top quality |
| Gonk | An idiot or fool |
| Delta | To leave quickly, to bail |
| Eddies | Money (short for Eurodollars) |
| Nova | Awesome, impressive |
| Chrome | Cybernetic implants or augmentations |
| Flatline | To kill someone, or to die |
| Ripperdoc | A back-alley surgeon who installs cyberware |
| Netrunner | A hacker who operates in the Net |
Pronunciation
Most of this slang is pronounced exactly how it looks, which is part of why it’s easy to pick up while playing:
- Choom: “CHOOM,” rhymes with “boom”
- Preem: “PREEM,” rhymes with “team”
- Gonk: “GONK,” rhymes with “honk”
- Delta: “DEL-tuh,” same as the Greek letter
- Eddies: “ED-eez”
There’s no tricky or invented pronunciation system here. The words are meant to roll off the tongue like real slang, so voice assistants and text-to-speech tools read them the same way you’d expect from their spelling.
Where Does Cyberpunk 2077 Slang Come From?
Cyberpunk 2077’s slang comes from the original Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop role-playing game, not from the video game itself.
Designer Mike Pondsmith built this vocabulary for the tabletop game in the late 1980s, and CD Projekt Red carried it over decades later when adapting the universe into Cyberpunk 2077.
Some of the word origins are documented, and some are genuinely unclear, even according to the people who made the game. The Cyberpunk 2020 rulebook itself lists “gonk” as having an unknown origin, and it may be loosely tied to the older English word “gonk,” a slang term for a fool.
“Choom” is more traceable. Multiple longtime tabletop fans note that “choom” is short for “choomba” or “choombatta,” a term some fans link to frican American vernacular, and possibly a reflection of Pondsmith’s own background as the designer.
That connection is worth naming honestly, but it isn’t something CD Projekt Red has confirmed in an official statement, so it’s best treated as a plausible, fan-supported origin rather than a settled fact.
Other words have more obvious roots. “Preem” almost certainly comes from “premium.” “Delta” borrows the math and science meaning of “change” and applies it to leaving a place fast. None of this slang grew organically online the way real internet slang does. It was written, on purpose, as worldbuilding.
History of the Term
The slang existed years before Cyberpunk 2077 was announced. It first appeared in the Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop books, where an entire in-world dictionary, sometimes called “streetspeak,” was included to help players talk like Night City locals during tabletop sessions.
When CD Projekt Red developed Cyberpunk 2077, releasing it in December 2020, they folded this existing slang into the dialogue, side quests, and even loading-screen tooltips.
Nonplayer characters use it constantly, and the game includes an in-game glossary players can check if they get stuck on a term.
The slang saw a second wave of attention when the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime released on Netflix in 2022. New viewers who hadn’t played the game were suddenly hearing “choom” and “preem” in the show, which sent a fresh group of people searching for what the words meant.
How People Use It Today
Fans keep this slang alive mainly in gaming spaces rather than everyday internet slang.
On Reddit, especially in the game’s dedicated subreddit, people use words like “choom” and “preem” casually in comments the way you might use “dude” or “awesome.”
On Discord servers built around Cyberpunk 2077 or its anime spinoff, members lean on the slang as an inside language, a way to signal you’re part of the fandom.
It shows up less on general platforms like TikTok or Instagram, since it’s tied closely to the game itself rather than to a wider trend. When it does appear there, it’s usually inside fan edits, cosplay captions, or clips from the anime.
Cyberpunk 2077 Slang Words: The Core Vocabulary
The core cyberpunk 2077 slang words are the ones you’ll hear within the first hour of playing. “Choom,” “preem,” “gonk,” “eddies,” and “delta” cover most everyday dialogue.
Beyond those five, a handful of others come up often enough to be considered essential: “nova” (awesome), “flatline” (kill or die), “chrome” (cyberware), “biz” (business, especially shady jobs), and “iron” (a firearm). Learning these ten words alone will let you follow almost any conversation in Night City without needing subtitles or a glossary open on a second screen.
Cyberpunk 2077 Slang List: Organized By Category
Grouping the cyberpunk 2077 slang list by theme makes it easier to remember than reading a flat alphabetical dump.
People: choom (friend), gonk (idiot), borg (heavily augmented person), netrunner (hacker), ripperdoc (back-alley surgeon).
Money and business: eddies (currency), biz (a job or deal, often illegal).
Reactions: preem (great), nova (awesome).
Tech and violence: chrome (cyberware), iron (a gun), flatline (to kill or die).
Movement: delta (to leave fast).
Organizing it this way shows the slang wasn’t randomly generated. It maps onto real categories of daily life in Night City, the same way real slang clusters around money, people, and status.
Cyberpunk 2077 Slang Meaning: Why Context Changes Everything
The meaning of a lot of this slang shifts depending on tone, not just definition. “Gonk” is the clearest example.
Said sharply during an argument, “gonk” is a genuine insult, calling someone foolish or careless. Said with a laugh between friends, it can land closer to “you idiot” in an affectionate way, similar to how people use “dummy” with someone they like.
“Choom” works the opposite direction: it’s almost always warm, but sarcastic characters can flatten their tone to make it sound distant or dismissive. Reading the scene, not just the word, is the real skill in understanding this slang.
Cyberpunk 2077 Slang Meme: How the Fandom Turns Words Into Jokes
Cyberpunk 2077 slang becomes a meme mostly through repeated, exaggerated use in fan-made image posts and short clips rather than through any single viral moment.
A common joke format takes an everyday sentence and translates it entirely into slang, stacking “choom,” “preem,” and “gonk” into one exaggerated line for comedic effect.
Another recurring bit pokes fun at how often NPCs say “preem” in the game, turning it into a running gag about the word being overused in dialogue.
These jokes stay contained mostly to fan communities that already know the game, since the humor depends on recognizing the vocabulary.
Cyberpunk 2077 Slang Guide: Tips For Picking It Up While Playing
The fastest way to learn this slang as a new player is through repetition and context, not memorization.
A few practical habits help: pay attention the first few times a word is used and note the situation around it, check the in-game glossary the first time a completely unfamiliar term shows up, and don’t worry about understanding every word immediately, since the game repeats its core slang constantly during the opening hours.
Most players report picking up “choom,” “preem,” and “gonk” naturally within the first couple of missions simply from hearing them so often.
Cyberpunk 2077 Slang Translator: Turning Regular English Into Streetspeak
There’s no single official translator tool built by CD Projekt Red, but fans can approximate one by swapping a handful of common words for their slang equivalents.
For example, “My friend is broke and needs money” becomes “My choom’s dry and needs eddies.” “That was an awesome fight, you idiot almost died” becomes “That was a nova fight, gonk, you almost flatlined.” The swap works best with the small, sturdy core vocabulary: friend, money, awesome, idiot, and leave. Trying to force every word in a sentence into slang usually reads as unnatural, even in the game itself.
Cyberpunk 2077 Slang Dictionary: Reference-Style Definitions
Used as a dictionary, the cyberpunk 2077 slang list works best sorted alphabetically with short, exact definitions for quick lookups.
Borg: A person modified with heavy cybernetics, sometimes used as an insult.
Chrome: Cybernetic implants or augmentations.
Delta: To leave quickly.
Eddies: Money, short for Eurodollars.
Flatline: To kill, or to die.
Gonk: An idiot or fool.
Iron: A firearm.
Netrunner: A hacker who operates inside the Net.
Nova: Awesome or impressive.
Preem: Excellent or premium.
Ripperdoc: An unlicensed surgeon who installs cyberware.
Cyberpunk 2077 Slang Sentence Examples
Seeing the words inside full sentences makes the meaning click faster than a definition alone.
“This choom’s been solid since day one, I trust her with anything.” “Don’t be such a gonk, check your gun before a job.” “We need more eddies before we can afford that chrome.” “Delta, now, this whole block’s about to get hot.” “That netrunner cracked the system in under a minute, absolutely nova.”
Cyberpunk 2077 Slang on Reddit
Reddit is where a lot of newer players first ask what this slang means, usually in threads with titles like “what does gonk mean” or “is choom an insult.”
The game’s main subreddit regularly has posts from confused new players, followed by long-time fans explaining the words casually, often mixing the slang into their own answers as a small joke.
It’s also where debate over word origins tends to happen, since fans compare notes from the older tabletop rulebooks that the video game doesn’t fully explain on its own.
All Cyberpunk 2077 Slang: The Bigger Picture
Trying to capture all cyberpunk 2077 slang in one list is difficult, because the tabletop source material includes dozens of regional and niche terms beyond what the video game actually uses.
The video game sticks mostly to a practical core: the ten to fifteen words covered above show up constantly, while dozens of other, more obscure tabletop terms rarely or never appear in Cyberpunk 2077 itself.
If you’re only trying to understand the video game, the shorter list is genuinely complete. If you want the full tabletop-era vocabulary, that’s a much bigger project spread across decades of Cyberpunk 2020 sourcebooks.
Examples in Everyday Conversation
- “Choom, you didn’t tell me the job went sideways.”
- “Don’t be a gonk, read the contract first.”
- “That’s preem, exactly what we needed.”
- “We’re deltaing before backup shows.”
- “Got the eddies ready for the ripperdoc.”
- “Her chrome is next-level, barely visible.”
- “He flatlined two guards before we even got inside.”
- “That netrunner’s the best in the district.”
- “Nova plan, choom, let’s move.”
- “Watch the borgs on the east side, they’re jumpy.”
Text Message Examples
- “yo choom u up rn”
- “this preem or nah lol”
- “stop being such a gonk and just text back”
- “gotta delta, ttyl”
- “need eddies for the tickets”
- “that show was nova ngl”
- “my chrome idea, thoughts?”
- “he’s such a ripperdoc irl, fixes everything”
- “biz is booming this week”
- “iron or nah for the cosplay”
Social Media Caption Examples
- Instagram: “Preem fit, preem night 🔥”
- TikTok: “POV: your choom is also a gonk”
- X: “Deltaing out of this timeline, see y’all in 2077”
- Threads: “Netrunner arc unlocked, chrome upgrade complete”
- Facebook: “Sharing eddies with the chooms tonight”
- Instagram: “Nova energy only 🚀”
- TikTok: “Ripperdoc cosplay progress, thoughts choom?”
- X: “That plot twist flatlined me”
- Threads: “Biz mode: activated”
- Facebook: “Gonk moment of the week award goes to me”
Is It Positive or Negative?
Most cyberpunk 2077 slang leans positive or neutral, with only a few clearly negative terms sprinkled in.
“Choom,” “preem,” and “nova” are warm, friendly words used to build connection or hype something up. “Gonk” and “borg” carry a negative charge inside the story, meant as insults toward someone’s intelligence or their level of cybernetic modification.
Misunderstandings mostly happen with “gonk,” since tone in text can be hard to read; a friendly jab can look harsh if you don’t already know the friendship behind it.
Who Uses This Slang?
This slang is used almost entirely by people connected to the game itself, rather than a broad age group or general internet culture.
Gamers who’ve played Cyberpunk 2077 are the main users, often carrying the words into Discord and Reddit conversations about the game.
Fans of the Edgerunners anime pick it up secondhand, sometimes without ever touching the game. Cosplayers and tabletop RPG players familiar with the original Cyberpunk 2020 system tend to know the deepest cut terms, beyond what casual video game fans pick up.
Similar Slang Words
| Slang | Meaning |
| Choom | Friend, buddy |
| Nova | Awesome, cool |
| Preem | Excellent, top quality |
| Biz | Business, especially shady deals |
| Iron | A gun |
Opposite Words
- Gonk is roughly the opposite of “choom” in tone, an insult rather than a term of affection.
- Borg, when used negatively, sits opposite “preem,” since it’s meant as a put-down rather than praise.
- Flatline (as in “to die”) is the grim opposite of surviving a job successfully, sometimes phrased as “coming out clean.”
Common Mistakes
People sometimes assume this slang exists in real-world internet culture, when it was actually written specifically for the Cyberpunk tabletop and video games.
Another common mix-up is treating “gonk” as always hostile, when it’s frequently used lightly between friends. Spelling trips people up too: “choom” is sometimes misspelled “chum” or “chume,” and “preem” is occasionally written “prime” by mistake, which changes the word entirely.
When NOT to Use It
This slang has no place in professional emails, school assignments, job applications, or any formal writing, since it’s fictional game vocabulary and will read as confusing or unprofessional outside a gaming context.
It’s also easy to misread in serious conversations with people unfamiliar with the game, since “gonk” can sound like a real insult without the shared context that makes it playful. Save it for casual chats with people who already know the source material.
Fun Facts
- The slang was created for the 1988 tabletop game Cyberpunk 2020, over three decades before the video game released.
- Designer Mike Pondsmith built the original vocabulary, sometimes called “streetspeak,” directly into the tabletop rulebooks.
- Cyberpunk 2077 includes an in-game glossary players can open if they get stuck on a term.
- “Gonk” has an origin the official rulebook itself describes as unknown.
- The Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime introduced the slang to a wider audience beyond players in 2022.
- “Eddies” is short for Eurodollars, a fictional in-world currency, not a random made-up word.
Frequently Asked Questions
What slang do they use in Cyberpunk?
Cyberpunk 2077 uses a set of invented words built for its world, including “choom” (friend), “preem” (excellent), “gonk” (idiot), “delta” (leave quickly), “eddies” (money), “nova” (awesome), “chrome” (cyberware), and “flatline” (kill or die).
These terms were carried over from the original Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop game rather than created fresh for the video game.
Characters use them constantly in dialogue, and the game includes an in-game glossary for anyone who wants quick definitions while playing.
What are some slurs in Cyberpunk?
The game itself doesn’t use real-world slurs; it uses fictional derogatory terms instead, like “borg” (an insult toward heavily modified cyborgs) or “bourgie” (a put-down aimed at someone seen as low-status or fake). These words are meant to reflect prejudice that exists inside the story’s world, similar to how any fictional setting might invent in-world insults tied to its own social divisions, without pulling from real ethnic or identity-based slurs.
What are some cyberpunk terms?
Beyond slang for people and attitude, Cyberpunk 2077 has technical world-building terms too, like “netrunner” (a hacker), “ripperdoc” (a back-alley cybernetic surgeon), “braindance” (a recorded sensory experience others can relive), and “the Net” (the game’s version of the internet).
These terms describe jobs, technology, and systems within Night City rather than being casual conversation slang, and understanding them helps make sense of side quests and lore.
Is Gonk a slur in Cyberpunk?
No, “gonk” is not a slur. It’s fictional slang meaning “idiot” or “fool,” used the way someone might say “dummy” or “airhead” in English.
It targets behavior or intelligence, not a real-world identity group, and it’s used both as a genuine insult during conflict and as a light, almost affectionate jab between friends in the game’s dialogue.
Is choom an insult in cyberpunk?
No, “choom” is a friendly term, roughly equivalent to “buddy” or “friend.” It’s one of the warmest words in the game’s slang, typically used between allies or people who trust each other.
It can occasionally sound flat or sarcastic depending on delivery, but its core meaning stays positive rather than insulting.
Is the term “gonk” racist?
There’s no evidence connecting “gonk” to any real-world racial slur. According to the original Cyberpunk 2020 rulebook, the word’s exact origin is unclear, and fan discussion generally links it loosely to an older English slang term for a fool rather than to any ethnic or identity-based term.
It was written as fictional in-world vocabulary for a video game and tabletop setting, not pulled from real-world slur history.
Final Thoughts
Cyberpunk 2077 slang works because it feels lived-in without needing a translation guide bolted onto every conversation.
Once you know the core ten or so words, choom, preem, gonk, delta, eddies, nova, chrome, flatline, ripperdoc, and netrunner, you can follow nearly any scene in Night City without pausing to check the glossary.
It’s a small but well-built piece of worldbuilding, borrowed from a decades-old tabletop game and carried faithfully into the version most people know today.
Whether you’re deep into the main story or just caught an episode of Edgerunners, this vocabulary is easy to pick up and, honestly, kind of fun to use.
Daniel Reed creates informative content focused on vocabulary, trending expressions, and language comparisons. His practical writing helps readers discover new insights on slangwordz.com
