This practical guide provides an orientation in the nanocarbon terminology jungle. It explains in simple language why not all carbon nanotubes are metallic, relates bucky bamboo to multi-wall nanotubes and onions to fullerenes, and answers whether graphene pseudospin is related to magnetism (it is not). Simple formulas to estimate size, energy and spectroscopic data of carbon nanostructures as well as linked primary key literature citations come handy to researchers. The simple glossary format with over 300 entries, over 100 figures and over 2000 cross-references helps to quickly identify (in contrast to a web search) relevant information for most topics related to nanocarbons. The compendium is rounded off with tables including the time lines of fullerenes, nanotubes and graphene, illustrating the growing interest in the field of carbon nanostructures. Supplementary information, linked to each entry, is a dynamically growing resource containing multimedia material, additional references and links.