Lore is the backstory: everything you need to know about a person, situation or fictional world to understand what's going on. In games and TV series, it's the history of the fictional universe, and in texting it jokingly means a friend's past or the story behind a shared joke. In an email to a teacher, an essay or IELTS Speaking, say the story behind or background instead.
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the lore behind + thing; someone's lore; What's the lore here?; the lore of + game/series
- Wait, why does everyone call him Captain? I need the lore.
- You can't just mention your ex and not explain the lore!
- I've played this game for years, but I still don't get the lore.
What changed
First versionDear Dr Evans, I'd love to hear the lore behind your research project.
RevisionDear Dr Evans, I'd love to hear the story behind your research project.
Dr Evans is an academic, so the email should be formal, while lore meaning backstory is slang from games and social media. In an email like this it sounds like a joke about the project's lore. The story behind means the same thing and suits a polite request.
Lore also has an older, neutral meaning: traditional stories, folk beliefs and knowledge passed down through generations: According to local lore, the lake has no bottom. In slang, the same word refers to a specific person or story: What's the lore behind your nickname?
Your turn
Everyone in the group chat keeps joking about 'the Paris trip', and I have no idea what happened. Can someone fill me in on the ___?
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lore — The speaker doesn't know what happened in Paris and asks for the backstory behind the jokes, which is lore. Hype is buzz and excitement, and nobody is talking anything up here.
Explain to someone new in your group where one of your friends' in-jokes came from. Say when and where it all happened.
Okay, here's the lore: last summer in Rome, Anna ordered pizza in Italian and got fish soup instead.
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