Modern Trading Terms Explained

Lambo, to the moon, BTFD, and rugged – the same way a sports broadcaster might yell something like “boo-yah!” when a great play is made, traders and investors yell “to the moon!” when a stock, crypto or any other asset is rising.

Let’s say you own a stock that just keeps going up. Or let’s say you just bought a crypto and you feel good, so good you’re just feeling like this thing is only going higher. But where would it go to? What’s the best possible outcome? Sending that price and chart to the moon:

If you run in certain circles, you already know what BTFD and STFR mean. You can stop reading. This might be too easy for you. But if you don’t, and want to up your whole look, this post is for you.

BTFD stands for Buy The F’ing Dip.

STFR stands for Sell The F’ing Rip.

I created a full guide to buying dips here. Give it a read if you really want to dive in.

To explain BTFD and STFR I will show you two charts. The first is for BTFD. In this beautiful world, everything is in an uptrend. It’s a bull market, life is good, bees are pollinating, and people are buying. Money is raining from the heavens. Dips are your best friend. Like Jeff Bezos once told a founder before he bought his company outright, dips are “the octopus I must have!”

So BTFD is buying dips in an uptrend, and looking for the best moments to add or lower your cost basis. Your mindset is focused around one thing and one thing only: dips are life. Say that with me five times fast.

But no market or crypto or stock goes up forever.

Sometimes the asset you’re watching starts to drop, fade, or go sideways. It falls out of demand, or it messes something up. It’s at that point when you must adjust your mindset. Maybe now is the time to harvest gains, or to add some exposure by shorting. This is when STFR begins. Sell the f’ing rip!

Of course these charts make it look a little too easy. And yes, everything is perfect in hindsight. But we’re not here to debate the laws of reality. We are instead talking about the mindsets that govern markets when they’re going up or down. BTFD when things are trending up, STFR when things are trending down. But, this is also just the start! Below I have compiled a library of modern terms for all traders:

Wen Moon: A sarcastic cry asking when the price will finally skyrocket.

Diamond Hands: Holding onto your position through thick and thin, no matter how wild the market gets. You’ve got nerves of steel.

HODL: “Hold On for Dear Life.” Originally a typo, now a battle cry for refusing to sell, especially in crypto.

Paper Hands: The opposite of Diamond Hands—selling at the first sign of trouble. Weak knees, big losses.

Lambo: Short for “Lamborghini.” The dream of hitting it big in trading and rolling up in luxury.

BTFD: “Buy The F***ing Dip.” Snagging assets when prices drop, betting on a rebound.

STFR: “Sell The F***ing Rip.” Cashing out when prices spike, locking in those gains.

Mooning: When an asset’s price shoots up insanely fast. “To the moon!”

Bagholder: The poor soul left holding a worthless asset after everyone else has sold.

FOMO: “Fear Of Missing Out.” Jumping into a trade because everyone else is, usually at the peak.

FUD: “Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.” Negative chatter meant to spook traders into selling.

Rekt: Getting wrecked—losing big on a bad trade.

Whale: A big player with enough cash to move markets single-handedly.

Pump and Dump: Artificially inflating a price (pump) then selling off (dump) for profit, leaving others high and dry.

DYOR: “Do Your Own Research.” A reminder not to blindly follow the crowd.

Ape In: Going all-in on a trade, usually impulsively, like a crazed primate.

Tendies: Profits, gains, or the sweet reward of a good trade. (Yes, it’s from a meme about chicken tenders.)

Shilling: Hyping up an asset to trick others into buying it.

Rug Pull: When a project’s creators bail with the money, leaving investors with nothing.

NGMI: “Not Gonna Make It.” A jab at someone doomed to fail in trading.

WAGMI: “We’re All Gonna Make It.” The optimistic flip side—everybody wins!

Copium: The delusional hope that a losing trade will somehow turn around.

YOLO: “You Only Live Once.” Throwing everything into a risky trade because why not?

Dead Cat Bounce: A brief price recovery after a big drop, before it falls again.

Sats: Short for “satoshis,” the smallest unit of Bitcoin. Stack those sats!

I hope that helped. That’s what I’m here for. I like to give everyone a chance to learn about markets, both the ridiculous and thoughtful. Even if you spend your entire day playing Fortnite, I can help. Check out some of my other posts by looking through my profile here on Medium.

Ready to put these terms to work? Learn what every trader should know before starting, master how to use a stop loss, and explore everything there is to know about candlestick trading.