What it means
To weaken something that was too strong, usually a character or weapon in a game tweaked by the developers so it stops dominating. Beyond gaming it means to water down or take the bite out of anything: they nerfed the staff discount, they nerfed the portion sizes. The opposite of a buff.
Usage examples
"They nerfed my favourite character and now nobody plays it."
"The canteen quietly nerfed the chips, half the portion for the same price."
"Shotgun got nerfed again, mate. Thing's firing marshmallows now."
"They fully nerfed the meal deal. Same sad sandwich, less crisps, more daylight robbery."
Where it comes from
It comes from Nerf, the toy brand known for soft foam darts and harmless plastic blasters. Gamers picked it up in the late 80s and 90s for patches that made a weapon or character hit way less hard. The idea is simple: devs turned it from deadly to foam-toy energy.
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