Opening

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An opening consists of the cards purchased in the first two turns. The starting deck of each player consists of 7 Coppers and 3 Estates or Shelters. Therefore, under ordinary circumstances, if your first hand has 4 Coppers, your second hand will have 3 Coppers, and vice versa. This is called a 4/3 or 3/4 split, respectively. A 5/2 (or 2/5) split means you have a first hand of 5 Coppers and second hand of 2 Coppers (and vice versa).

Openers

An opener is a card that a player buys on his first or second turn. Some cards are better openers than others. Trashers and cursers tend to be good openers, and opening with a Silver or a terminal Silver is also usually a good idea in order to build up buying power early. Some cards, like Moneylender, Coppersmith, or Baron, are usually either bought as an opener or not at all, due to their interactions with cards in the starting deck. Usually, Villages are poor openers because there are no terminal actions in your deck at first.

Unusual openings

Some cards from Hinterlands alter the usual 4/3 or 5/2 split when bought on the first turn:

Inn – can be shuffled into your deck and if so will likely be drawn next turn, giving you a 5/3 split.
Mandarin – puts the five Coppers you played back top of your deck, giving you another turn before you reshuffle, turning a 5/2 opening into a 5/5/2 opening.
Noble Brigand – when bought by your opponents on their first turn makes you discard the top two cards from your deck, resulting in various possible unusual openings.
Nomad Camp – goes on the top of your deck, which can result in a 4/5 or 4/4 split.