ward vs pink
Two wards that do not do the same job. A ward sees; a pink sees and stops the enemy from seeing. The first is free and invisible, the second costs 75 gold, can be seen, and kills the enemy wards around it.
ward
Ward, the vision ward: the trinket one, free, invisible, revealing an area for a limited time before it expires. It is the generic word, also used as a verb: "ward baron", "warding". "vision" names what it gives you.
open the page →pink
Pink, the control ward: bought in the shop for 75 gold, one active per player, visible to the enemy, with no timer as long as nobody kills it. It reveals and disables enemy wards in its radius. "buy pinks" is the most useful shop call in the game; "pink drake" asks to secure the pit.
open the page →Why they get mixed up
A pink is a ward, so "ward" covers both and "pink" only one. The trap is answering with the wrong one: when an ally types "pink baron", a trinket ward is not enough, they want the enemy vision in the pit cleared. And a pink does not hide: it goes in a bush, not in the middle of a path, or it dies before it has done anything.