While pagers are extinct, the abbreviation certainly is not, and has evolved into the shortened HMU. What about another abbreviation you probably use all the time without realizing: Does the I in iPhone stand for something? Also stylized as "TL;DR," this acronym stands for too long; didnt read. Its an internet slang word for those who are so pressed for time that they cant even comprehend having to type out these 4 words. Join 425,000 subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. TL;DR (also sometimes seen without the semicolon as TLDR) means too long; didnt read. Its an abbreviation that youll frequently find at the end of internet communications, usually ones with a lot of text. Initially it was used as a snarky reply to someone who'd posted a wall of text; then it became a way of signposting the summary of a long post, provided for the purposes of people who would otherwise say tldr and skip it. Where is the Savannah River nuclear plant? Learn more. Japanese. As a rule of thumb, dont throw around TLDR anywhere you wouldnt say LOL. The pager would light up and/or make noise to indicate that youd been hit up. The phrase was all over the 90s hip-hop sphere, and it stuck around when texting abbreviations began to dominate: HMU became the prevailing way to say it in the late 2000s. To summarize a long passage. There's nothing wrong with a lot of well-formatted text that isn't overly wordy. TLDR (or TL;DR) is a common internet acronym for Too Long; Didnt Read. At face value, the phrase seems pretty easy to understand. If your friend of a friend shares every last detail of their bout of food poisoning on the socials, the simple three-letter response TMI! says it all. As mentioned earlier, coming up with a clever or sarcastic TLDR as a commenter is often a crowd-pleaser. Just tell them LMK when you knowand hopefully they will in good time. So what does TL;DR mean? Usually the author of a long post gives a tl;dr, a summary . TL;DR falls under the initialism category, so you pronounce it "tee el dee are". YOLO! A good Saturday [crossword puzzle] clue, in my opinion, will make your heart sink a little. What does TLDR mean as an abbreviation? What Is 'TTT' and Is It the Same as 'Bump'? The primary function of TLDR is to provide a summary of a longer post that people can read instead of the entire content. But if you really want to useTLDR in a professional environment (its big among programmers, marketers, and writers), consider saying TL;DR instead. Well, in the days before smartphones, and even before keyboard phones, texters were working with a limited number of characters160, to be exactand before unlimited plans became the law of the land,each text cost money to send. But it's possible to use this term constructively so everyone gets efficient information. Both uppercase and lowercase versions of TL;DR (tldr) mean the same thing and are perfectly acceptable. That's certainly the case with the TLDR acronym, as many have wondered what TLDR is. Next time someone says they cant make it to your party, you can text back NBDeven if youre silently fuming. The meaning of RELATIONSHIP is the state of being related or interrelated. It stands for "too long; didn't read". BTW, I saw you went to the beach yesterdayit looked amazing! Understanding the internet shorthand used to describe content that's not suitable in professional settings, 'OP' can mean 2 different things online. briefly. Consider FWIW one of the most snarky-but-still-polite text abbreviations out there, because it's a great opener, translating to "for what it's worth.". Its also helpful if you read all the text but want to make sure you understood it correctly. In a professional setting, you dont want to be the person who has to ask what does FWIW mean? Likewise, you dont want to embarrass others by forcing them to ask what does TL;DR mean?Even though TL;DR isnt rude, its better email etiquette to avoid it in formal settings. A lot of the time, this is done by the original poster (OP) as a courtesy to others. Like mostinternet jargon, the expression is not suitable for initial business dealings. See additional information. The abbreviation can come off as rude, so it's best to avoid using TLDR as a response in professional settings. Like a word with multiple meanings, TLDR is used in several different ways: TLDR is an informal acronym and as such, you should be very careful using it professionally; consider your audience and its comfort level with internet slang. TLDR This is the most updated version, available for Chrome and Firefox. Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way. Or, if you are adding a link to a third-party article, you could parenthetically add TLDR with a short summary, such as "Please see this article (TLDR: It's a summary of how APIs work).". It's either a summary of a longer page or it's an indication that the sender didn't find the information worth reading. Indeed, TLDR means your content was too long and wasn't worth reading. As a real casual variation, you might even just see LY (or ly). TLDR Meaning . TLDR is an acronym that stands for "too long, didn't read." It's commonly used online to indicate that someone has read a long piece of text but doesn't have the time or patience to read it all. Sort. Next time you see your cousin upload a muffin-baking video that ruins Grandmas recipe, you can definitely comment Youre not supposed to put that much baking powder in the bowlSMH if your cuz is the type to take it in stride. If you're unfamiliar, check out our introduction to Reddit to learn more about its culture. Another form of TLDR comments comes from someone who offered a summary if the OP didn't do so. The abbreviation doesnt necessarily mean you didnt read the text before it. SMH means shaking my head, which is what were all doing at least half the time we scroll through our Facebook newsfeeds and see crazy political rants from long-lost relatives. The abbreviation OMG, for oh my God (or gosh, or goodness, or your expression of choice) vastly predates texting. While some instances of TLDR can appear rude or snarky, it is often a helpful suggestion that a user should consider revising and abbreviating their thoughts. The abbreviation is all over the internet, usually accompanying long paragraphs of text. Too Long, Didn't Read + 2 . Jack Kelly It was 70 years ago that poet W.H. IIRC stands for if I recall correctly and is the social media equivalent of you bringing receipts. THX might remind 80s and 90s kids of that bizarrely intense, loud movie intro, which showed the logo for the THX Ltd. audiovisual company. Since 2004, Google searches for the term TLDR or TL;DR have slowly climbed. The original post isn't particularly long, though it is poorly formatted. That's where TLDR comes from. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. TLDR is commonly used to summarize lengthy content and can signal a sort of executive summary at the start of news articles or emails. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced searchad free! We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer), This Hydrating Hand Sanitizer Sells Every 6 SecondsHeres Why, Word Power Vocabulary Quiz: Words with Accent Marks, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. But words and phrases can change depending on their context, and TLDR is no exception. Our best guess is that the phrase originated from discussion boards like the Something Awful Forums and 4Chan during the early 2000s. FTW means for the win, and is a slangy, upbeat way of celebrating something via social media commentary. Is TLDR rude, though? Define TLDR at AcronymFinder.com. This could look like, TL;DR: Kids made a huge mess, and Im going to be late.. ! Its a pretty catch-all exclamation or reaction. Typically, people comment TL;DR to say that the original post is too long, and they didn't feel like reading it. Rather than referring to physical violence, hit me up simply means contact me or call me. It dates back to the days of pagers in the 1990s, when people would send phone numbers to each other via one-way message. In her free time, she loves crafting, cooking, traveling and learning (or forgetting!) While people overuse this term, its proper meaning is a long and rambling block of text with little to no formatting. It can encourage other peoples doing of such things or commemorate your own doing of them. It is also used as a signifier for a summary of an online post or news article. If you just cant keep up, dont worrywe sometimes feel that way too. Break up your paragraphs so there's not too much in any of them. Soft, Hard, and Mixed Resets Explained, How to Set Variables In Your GitLab CI Pipelines, How to Send a Message to Slack From a Bash Script, The New Outlook Is Opening Up to More People, Windows 11 Feature Updates Are Speeding Up, E-Win Champion Fabric Gaming Chair Review, Amazon Echo Dot With Clock (5th-gen) Review, Grelife 24in Oscillating Space Heater Review: Comfort and Functionality Combined, VCK Dual Filter Air Purifier Review: Affordable and Practical for Home or Office, LatticeWork Amber X Personal Cloud Storage Review: Backups Made Easy, Neat Bumblebee II Review: It's Good, It's Affordable, and It's Usually On Sale. Walls of text are difficult to read and parse. Credit: TLDR News Seeing the gap in the market, 23-year-old computer science graduate Jack Kelly created his own YouTube channel, TLDR News, to help young viewers make sense of the stories dominating the news cycle. summarily. This stands for too long; don't care. Instead, stick with the more professional "In summary" or "Synopsis" if you want to offer a TLDR-like line. Youre most likely notliterally rolling on the floor laughing when you use this abbreviation, but its still a bit stronger an indicator of mirth than LOL. Usually, its a standalone response to something funny. Shes the GOAT!) or a superstar in a particular field (Saw the GOAT himself, John Williams, conduct an orchestra last night!). Placing a TLDR-summary at the beginning of an article or email can save the readers time or serve as a quick introduction, but it can also give the reader a reason to skip the details of your text. Printer friendly. They text with emojis instead of words and dont read books. Download: TLDR This for Chrome | Firefox (Free). But like any abbreviation, theres a time and a place for it; there are different etiquette rules for formal and less formal situations. He's been covering tech tutorials, video game recommendations, and more as a professional writer for over nine years. To long, didn't read. It means in real life (as opposed to online or over the phone), and is great for saying things like Would love to see you soon IRL! Were probably sending a lot of texts like this lately as things start to open up post-lockdown! tl;dr is used to call out another user on the length of their post. TLDR. Sometimes it can be tongue in cheek, a way of saying, I know I wrote a lot, and it might be too much to read. Think of it as the Cliffs Notes of internet communication! Some might call this response cut-throat, but really, its just a not-so-gentle reminder that the world is moving too fast for us to waste our time reading dragged-out Facebook statuses or news articles that dont reveal all in their headlines. As a representation of how TLDR has become established in culture, you'll find several TLDR browser extensions. Keep up with her on Twitter for more. All Rights Reserved. It's commonly used online to indicate that someone has read a long piece of text but doesn't have the time or patience to read it all. You'll often see this on videos posted to Reddit. Now that you know what TLDR stands for, let's look at the meaning of TLDR. Let's look at TLDR's meaning, how to use it, and some examples of how it works. is too long to be worth reading. Use "Summary" or "Conclusion," then summarize the email. The abbreviation can come off as rude, so it's best to avoid. If you have absolutely no idea what that means, it might be time to brush up on your texting abbreviations. It probably has no paragraph separation and contains loads of run-on sentences. It isnt an accusation that you didnt read; its a helpful summary meant to improve communication. Its OK to use it on social media, with your friends or in a quick, informal note to a coworker. To save this word, you'll need to log in. For example,ROFLwould never be spelledR.O.F.L., andTLDRwould never be T.L.D.R. If you see someone posting a funny image of a cat lounging with sunglasses captioned something like TFW youre off of work for a long weekend, know that its one of the funny text abbreviations that people are using these days. Next time you get a text from your kid asking where their favorite shirt is, reply with IDK, ask your mother/father/sibling.. It's commonly used online to indicate that a piece of writing is too long and people aren't interested in reading it. Many people think of TLDR as an acronym, but it's technically an initialism. used to say that something would require too much time to read. Which is the best 150 Ah inverter battery? Someone links you to a must-read article that has more pages in it than Tolstoys "War And Peace" or sends you a text that requires you to scroll so much that your fingers get a workout. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Besides, you dont want to accidentally offend somebody by suggesting they may not have read every word of your important email. While TLDR often appears alongside forum posts, you can also use it as a response. It isnt an accusation that you didnt read; its a helpful summary meant to improve communication. Even if it can sound a little brusque, thats not really what TL;DR means! You might wonder how you can use TLDR well in your own posts and avoid others requesting a TLDR in a snarky way. And theyve moved beyond text conversations, becoming widespread in social media captions and comments too. The Brief:TLDR stands for "too long; didn't read." DEEP DIVE TLDR (also stylized tl;dr) is used to introduce a summary to a large amount of text. Even more common than THX is TY or ty, which means thank you. And finally, youll see TYSM or tysm (thank you so much) quite frequently as well. Please consult your doctor before taking any action. TL;DR falls under the initialism category, so you pronounce it tee el dee are. So, TLDR: TLDR is a useful way to summarize details and speed up communication. The exact origins of TL;DR are unclear, but its first Urban Dictionary entry appeared in 2003. In a relationship, TLDR can be used to describe a partner who is always talking but never really says anything of substance. TLDR meaning: 1. abbreviation for too long; didn't read: used to comment on something that someone has written. Ordering a pizza when you should be ordering a salad? BTW, while most of these are textingabbreviationsor initialisms, GOAT is a texting acronymwhats the difference between abbreviation vs. acronym vs. initialism? TL;DR stands for "Too Long; Didn't Read". For example, youll find it at the end of a Reddit post in which somebody is telling a story that goes on for longer than a few lines. What does Nwh mean in texting? Language (and internet culture) continues to evolve, resulting in an ever-changing list of words that are inand words that are out. Urban Dictionary first added it to their site back in 2003. TL;DR, could you let me know the key points of this piece?, TL;DR: this piece covers why we as a society need to increase our attention spans., TL;DR, see paragraph 3 for main points.. Use all uppercase (TL;DR ) or all lowercase (tl;dr) letters, and the meaning is identical. When using TLDR as an author, your job is a little more complicated. This is for people who need fast keyboard fingers and quick replies. Proper punctuation is similarly a non-concernwith most text message abbreviations. Where did TLDR come from? That said, youll rarely see a lone TLDR in the comments for a web article (or anywhere, really). This will signify a summary that is usually humorous and snarky.