Pikmin community terms
As with any franchise, the Pikmin series has online groups of fans which have coined many community terms for articles in the series. Typically these are abbreviations of longer official names, or are other internet slang. These shortened terms also have relevance in speedrunning discussion, as technical discussion of elements of the Pikmin games frequently use longer names, such as Garden of Hope or Burrowing Snagret, where it is desirable to reference these terms in a briefer manner.
Due to the ever-changing and disorganized nature of online communities, this article cannot guarantee or provide a comprehensive list of methods and terms.
Term origins
There are several methods by which community terms originate. Mostly, these are forms of abbreviation.
Initialism
Initialisms are phrases created by combining the first letters of words in a term in order. This is common for area and cave names. However, these often also use contracted names.
Example: Garden of Hope → GoH
Contraction
Contractions are phrases formed by reducing the amount of letters or words in a term. This is common for enemy and treasure names. Particularly, they are used where no other terms that could be contracted to form the same phrase would be relevant. Certain names, such as the Man-at-Legs, may use initialisms instead (in this case often being "MaL").
Example: Yellow Wollyhop → Wollyhop
Conjectural terms
Conjectural terms are terms created by fans due to lack of an official term, multiple conflicting official terms, or ignorance of official terms.
Examples: Bramble gate, nectar weed, dirt block.
Notable community terms
Games
Pikmin series games are often initialized due to the straightforward naming scheme of the main series, and the similarly simple titles of most spin-off releases. For example, Pikmin 4 is often notated as "P4" or even simply "4". Although Pikmin has no explicitly associated number (with the exception of Pikmin 1 (Nintendo Switch)), it is often written as "P1".
New Play Control! Pikmin and New Play Control! Pikmin 2 releases are commonly referred to as "NPC 1/2" or "Wii 1/2", and the Nintendo Switch releases as "P1/2S". Pikmin 3 Deluxe is usually written as "P3D", "3D", or "3DX".
Pikmin
Pikmin types are often notated as simply their type names, such as "Reds" and "Yellows". Winged Pikmin are typically called "Wings", but "Pinks" is not an uncommon term. Mushroom Pikmin are commonly called "Puffmin" or "Shroomin", as they are created by the Puffstool and have mushrooms atop their heads.
Areas and caves
Areas and caves are often initialized, as outlined above. However, they are also often contracted to a single word. For example, Distant Tundra may become "Tundra", or Glutton's Kitchen may become "Kitchen" or "Glutton's".
Collectibles
Collectibles, including ship parts, treasure, and fruit are typically contracted, especially in speedrunning. In the case of fruit, they may also be referred to with the names of their real-life counterparts.