Glossary
QAnon vocabulary, defined and sourced. Each term comes with the number of drops using it and its first occurrence in the corpus.
- 17 / 17anon
- Since Q is the 17th letter of the alphabet, '17anon' serves as an alternative spelling of QAnon to evade moderation algorithms. The pattern does not count the bare number 17, which is too ambiguous (dates).
- Adrenochrome
- A real chemical compound formed by the oxidation of adrenaline. Followers falsely claim elites harvest it from trafficked children to stay young. Absent from the drops, it circulates among followers.
- Anons
- Short for 'anonymous', used first for anonymous imageboard users, then for Q followers who dissect the drops. Q often addresses them directly.
- Bakers / Bread
- 'Bakers' are followers who assemble Q's 'crumbs' into 'dough' or 'bread', i.e. a coherent reading of the narrative. The pattern excludes singular 'Baker', which in the drops refers to James Baker, the FBI's former general counsel.
- Boom
- Q term, often capitalised, announcing a revelation or a blow to the Cabal, real or imaginary. It sits alongside 'fireworks' and 'pain'.
- Cabal
- Shadowy group of elites said to control the world and commit paedophile and satanic crimes. Ubiquitous among followers, it is absent from the drops themselves.
- Calm before the storm
- Phrase used by Donald Trump in October 2017 in front of military leaders, taken up by Q from the earliest drops as a coded announcement of 'The Storm'.
- Castle Rock
- Code ('CASTLE_ROCK') appearing in two drops of 4 June 2020 amid pseudo-military messages. No reliable source establishes its meaning.
- Clowns / Clowns In America
- Q's nickname for the CIA ('Clowns In America', sometimes written 'C_A').
- Comms
- Short for 'communications', used by Q notably to assert that no communication outside the board is genuine ('no outside comms') or to urge followers to 'learn our comms'.
- Crumbs / Breadcrumbs
- Another name for the drops, used by Q, for fragmentary clues that followers are meant to piece together.
- Dark to light
- Q phrase announcing that the elite's hidden crimes will be revealed, one of the 13 slogans tracked by DFRLab to measure QAnon's online presence.
- Deep State
- In QAnon, the powers allegedly entrenched within U.S. institutions that act on behalf of the Cabal and cover up its crimes. Q also writes 'DS' or '[DS]', which the pattern counts.
- Deltas
- Time gaps between a drop and a Trump tweet, read by followers as proof that Q and Trump were coordinating. Q itself used the word ('Delta relevant', December 2017). No coordination has been demonstrated.
- Disinformation is necessary
- Q's justification for its failed predictions, presented as deliberate. It illustrates the theory's 'self-sealing' quality, in which counter-evidence becomes evidence. The pattern also counts the variant 'Disinformation is real' (November 2017).
- Do you believe in coincidences?
- Recurring rhetorical question in the drops, pushing readers to interpret chance connections as intentional signs.
- Drops
- Name for the posts Q made on 4chan, 8chan and then 8kun, later reposted on aggregator sites and social media. They are often rhetorical questions or cryptic statements.
- Enjoy the show
- Frequent Q sign-off inviting followers to watch the 'plan' unfold passively.
- Expand your thinking
- Frequent Q injunction urging readers to look for hidden links and patterns beyond the obvious reading of events.
- Frazzledrip
- Rumour that emerged in 2018 of an alleged video found on Anthony Weiner's laptop showing Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin committing a ritual child murder. No such video exists.
- Future proves past
- Q catchphrase holding that future events will retroactively confirm the drops, which allows verification of claims to be deferred indefinitely.
- GITMO
- The Guantánamo Bay detention camp, where, according to QAnon, Trump's supposed enemies would be sent or face military tribunals during 'The Storm'.
- Godspeed
- Q sign-off, often paired with pseudo-military codes or addresses to 'patriots', found from November 2017 to February 2020.
- JFK Jr.
- Belief among some followers that John F. Kennedy Jr., who died in 1999, faked his death and is Q or will return. In November 2021 hundreds gathered in Dallas expecting him.
- Kraken
- Lawyer Sidney Powell's catchphrase 'Release the Kraken' (from the film 'Clash of the Titans') for her lawsuits contesting the 2020 election, widely picked up in QAnon circles but absent from the drops.
- Military Intelligence (MI)
- In the early drops, 'Military Intelligence' is cast as the only uncorrupted actor, set against the FBI, CIA and NSA, although there is no single agency of that name. The abbreviation 'MI' can occasionally mean Michigan.
- Mockingbird
- Reference to 'Operation Mockingbird', described as a CIA operation to influence the media. Q uses it to discredit mainstream media, mostly in 2017 drops.
- News unlocks map
- Q phrase holding that news events decode a 'map' of corruption networks. Followers produced graphic maps of these supposed links.
- Nothing can stop what is coming
- Recurring Q phrase meant to sustain certainty of final victory over the Cabal. It is echoed in the URL of The Atlantic's 'The Prophecies of Q'.
- Panic in DC
- Recurring Q phrase (December 2017 - October 2020) claiming that its opponents in Washington are panicking over announced revelations or arrests.
- Patriots / Digital soldiers
- Terms used by Q and followers for themselves. The phrase 'digital soldiers' borrows a 2016 Michael Flynn line about an 'army of digital soldiers' that elected Trump.
- Pizzagate
- Baseless 2016 conspiracy theory claiming Democrats ran a child-trafficking ring out of the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington. Regarded as QAnon's forerunner, it led a man to fire a rifle there in December 2016.
- Q clearance
- A real U.S. Department of Energy security clearance granting access to classified nuclear data. Q claimed it ('Q Clearance Patriot') to establish credibility.
- Q+
- Signature appearing on some drops. Some followers take it to be Donald Trump himself, whom they nickname 'Q+'.
- Red October
- Q phrase first tied to the film 'The Hunt for Red October', then used in autumn 2018 to call for a Republican ('red') wave in the midterm elections, and again in October 2020 ahead of the presidential election.
- Red pill
- Borrowed from 'The Matrix', 'taking the red pill' means embracing QAnon, and to 'red-pill' someone is to expose them to the drops to convert them.
- Save the Children / #SaveOurChildren
- Hashtag hijacked in 2020 from a legitimate anti-trafficking campaign. It served as a gateway into QAnon and complicated platform moderation.
- Sealed indictments
- Sealed court indictments whose number in federal courts was touted as proof of imminent mass arrests, based on a misunderstanding of how sealed filings work.
- Sheep no more
- Q slogan, frequent from summer 2018, calling on followers to break free from 'fake news' and 'awaken'.
- The Great Awakening
- The expected moment when the public 'wakes up' to the truth about the Deep State. It also refers to Q's dissemination of information since October 2017, seen by followers as an intelligence operation to awaken Americans.
- The Plan
- The supposed plan by Trump and 'patriot' allies to defeat the Cabal, into which every event, even unfavourable, is absorbed. The pattern also counts ordinary uses of the phrase.
- The Storm
- The central anticipated event of QAnon lore, namely the mass arrest of Democratic officials and members of the 'elite', supposedly based on sealed indictments. None of these arrests took place.
- Think mirror
- Q decoding instruction inviting readers to read events or clues 'in the mirror' (in reverse). The phrase is rare, found in a few drops from November 2017.
- Tick tock
- Q phrase signalling that time is running out for targeted opponents, found in a few drops from December 2017 to April 2018.
- Trust the plan
- Q's injunction to trust the secret 'plan' against the Deep State even when events seem to contradict it. It serves to absorb setbacks and failed predictions.
- White hats / Black hats
- 'White hat' denotes a Trump ally within the state apparatus, 'black hat' someone in league with the Deep State.
- WWG1WGA Where We Go One, We Go All
- The movement's most widespread slogan and hashtag, used by Q as an acronym from April 2018 (the full phrase appears as early as January 2018), expressing community solidarity. Q attributed it to John F. Kennedy, but the line appears to come from the 1996 film 'White Squall'.