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Audrey Chan

What does GG stand for? Good going? Greta Garbo? Golden Globes? Good grief, are you still scratching your head?
GG is most often used these days to mean “good game” – although when it comes to abbreviations, there are no wrong answers. How generous!
We have the world of online gaming to thank for this usage – “GG” is a compliment paid as a multiplayer game draws to a close, according to a 2020 Finnish linguistics study.
Often sent in chat groups, a pithy “GG” acknowledges that the game played was either good, fair, or both.

Saying “GG” is also a display of sportsmanship, 2022 research from Indonesia notes. It’s like a ritualistic handshake at the end of a match well played, especially a close one.
(Of course, that’s true only if the term is used sincerely. “GG” can also be used sarcastically or as a statement of disappointment. There’s no stopping someone sprinkling in a derisive “GG” to mock poor performance during gameplay.)
This contemporary usage of GG has bled into realms of conversation beyond gaming. Authors of the Finnish study we mentioned scoured Twitter (now X) for a data sample of 121 tweets, and found “GG” was used 1.5 times more frequently outside the video game context than within it.
Frequently asked questions: how long is Chinese New Year?
“GG” can convey gratitude or praise, be a place holder for the traditional “congratulations”, and express feelings of personal success.
For all you coping comics out there, it’s also a way of slotting humour into otherwise frustrating situations: “Stubbed my big toe again. GG.”
Since “GG” is said at the end of a game, it has also been adapted to work as a farewell. Think of it as an alternative to sayings like “Thanks for the ride!” or “Cheers, it’s been great.”
Frequently asked questions: how to eat using chopsticks?
More sombre uses of GG that signal death aren’t uncommon, either.
If you’ve made it this far, there’s only one thing left to say: this time, there’s only one right answer.


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Video gaming

Frequently asked questions: what does GG mean and when should I say it?

Visitors play a video game during the Thailand Game Show 2023. The abbreviation “GG” is often seen in chat groups at the end of a multiplayer game. Photo: Getty Images

No, GG is not commonly used as a short form of actress Greta Garbo’s name. Photo: Getty Images

Frequently asked questions: who celebrates the lunar new year? China, Vietnam, both Koreas, Mongolia, and diasporas in Southeast Asia and around the world

A street vendor pushes her bicycle past a shop selling decorations in the old quarter of Hanoi ahead of the Lunar New Year, or Tet, holiday. The lunar new year is marked with festivities in cultures across Asia, and in their diasporas around the world. Photo: AFP

A child dressed in traditional red Chinese costume receives a lucky red envelope from his grandparents for Chinese New Year. China is far from being the only country in Asia where Lunar New Year festivities are held. Photo: Getty Images

Tibetan people hang prayer flags to pray for the Tibetan New Year on a mountain in Lhasa, capital of China’s Tibet autonomous region. Photo: Getty Images

Malaysian-Chinese children play with firecrackers inside a temple ahead of Lunar New Year in Pulau Ketam, Malaysia. Photo: Getty Images

Niangao (year cakes) made from glutinous rice flour and served with cups of tea at Chinese New Year. Photo: Getty Images

Tangyuan are eaten at Chinese New Year. Photo: Getty Images

A stallholder in a market in Vietnam sells red and golden decorations and gifts for Tet, the Vietnamese lunar new year. Photo: Getty Images

South Koreans wearing hanbok enjoy traditional folk games during lunar new year at the Gyeongbokgung royal palace in Seoul. The Lunar New Year holiday is the biggest of the year in South Korea. Photo: Getty Images

A Chinese Lunar New Year parade in Singapore on February 3, 2023. Photo: AFP

A street vendor prepares tikoy (sticky rice cakes) in Chinatown, Manila, ahead of Chinese New Year festivities. Photo: Getty Images

Frequently asked questions: is smoked salmon cooked?

Smoked salmon with dill and lemon. Not all smoked salmon is cooked, and that means it needs handling with care and that some people should avoid eating it, according to food safety experts. Photo: Shutterstock

Hot smoked salmon fillet is flakier than cold-smoked salmon and has a smokier taste. Photo: Shutterstock

Smoking salmon in an electric smokehouse. Photo: Shutterstock

Salmon can be cold smoked or hot smoked. Photo: Shutterstock

Lifestyle

Entertainment

GG in modern informal usage is an abbreviation first seen in chat groups at the end of online multiplayer video games
These days GG has applications outside the world of gaming


How an abbreviation first used by participants in an online multiplayer video game has spread beyond the world of gaming.


Frequently asked questions: what does GG mean and when should I say it?

GG in modern informal usage is an abbreviation first seen in chat groups at the end of online multiplayer video games These days GG has applications outside the world of gaming

GG in modern informal usage is an abbreviation first seen in chat groups at the end of online multiplayer video games

These days GG has applications outside the world of gaming