Damage Per Second (in gaming), or Department of Public Safety, depending on context.
Modern acronym formed from initial letters of constituent words. In gaming contexts, emerged with the rise of computer role-playing games in the 1990s where precise damage calculations became important.
DPS represents how gaming culture has created its own precise vocabulary for measuring performance, turning abstract concepts like combat effectiveness into concrete metrics. The acronym shows how specialized communities develop efficient communication tools for complex ideas.
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