LEGO Terminology
22/10/10 14:59 Filed in: LEGO | Terminology
When you really start to build things with LEGO bricks, you notice that there is a certain terminology that goes along with the parts. It may not really matter at first or when you are just building your own items, but it will matter when you are trying to find specific pieces in your collection or online. That is when you realize that you must learn at least the basics of how the LEGO world communicates.
First let’s discuss the naming convention, which is not all that important to building but is something you notice as you go along. As you see on this site and others, we never really call our bricks Legos, even though that is what I called them when I was growing up. One of the first things I learned when I decided to go into this business was that LEGO should always be capitalized, and that it was really an adjective. So the correct way to reference things is either LEGO bricks, LEGO blocks, LEGO system etc. Like I said, not an important point, but you may be interested.
Second, let’s talk about the basic design of the LEGO brick. On the top you have what are called “studs,” those round pieces that stick up and connect to other bricks. Underneath of a brick you will see little cylinders that are called “tubes.” So basically you have a stud and tube system, sometimes called the stud-and-tube coupling system. Again, not really that important but it might interest some of the people reading this. You might also hear the term “SNOT” which stands for Studs Not On Top. It is a building technique there the studs do not show on top like they normally do. This will be explained in a future post.
When referring to individual LEGO pieces, the main sizes are usually named by the number and layout of their studs. A brick with just one stud on top is called a 1x1.
If it has two studs, it is a 1x2.
Three studs is a 1x3
and four studs can either be a 1x4
or a 2x2 square.
The most basic brick we have all seen is the 2x4.
In addition to bricks, there are also plates, tiles, and an entire line of specialty pieces. For this article, I will focus on the brick, plate and tile. Bricks are the pieces everyone is familiar with. Plates are 1/3 the height of bricks, and have studs on top. So three tiles stacked on top of each other would equal the height of a brick. A plate is similar to a place, but has a smooth surface on top with no studs.
Those are the basic terms for now. Much more coming in future articles.
First let’s discuss the naming convention, which is not all that important to building but is something you notice as you go along. As you see on this site and others, we never really call our bricks Legos, even though that is what I called them when I was growing up. One of the first things I learned when I decided to go into this business was that LEGO should always be capitalized, and that it was really an adjective. So the correct way to reference things is either LEGO bricks, LEGO blocks, LEGO system etc. Like I said, not an important point, but you may be interested.
Second, let’s talk about the basic design of the LEGO brick. On the top you have what are called “studs,” those round pieces that stick up and connect to other bricks. Underneath of a brick you will see little cylinders that are called “tubes.” So basically you have a stud and tube system, sometimes called the stud-and-tube coupling system. Again, not really that important but it might interest some of the people reading this. You might also hear the term “SNOT” which stands for Studs Not On Top. It is a building technique there the studs do not show on top like they normally do. This will be explained in a future post.
When referring to individual LEGO pieces, the main sizes are usually named by the number and layout of their studs. A brick with just one stud on top is called a 1x1.
If it has two studs, it is a 1x2.
Three studs is a 1x3
and four studs can either be a 1x4
or a 2x2 square.
The most basic brick we have all seen is the 2x4.
In addition to bricks, there are also plates, tiles, and an entire line of specialty pieces. For this article, I will focus on the brick, plate and tile. Bricks are the pieces everyone is familiar with. Plates are 1/3 the height of bricks, and have studs on top. So three tiles stacked on top of each other would equal the height of a brick. A plate is similar to a place, but has a smooth surface on top with no studs.
Those are the basic terms for now. Much more coming in future articles.