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"TLDR" is unnecessary

douglastarr.com

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Re: "TLDR" is unnecessary

#41

Post by riffic »

btipling wrote: post #20

Didn't tl;dr start as an insult? What the article is describing is a response to the insult that is tl;dr.

Yes, tl;dr (too long; didn't read) was originally used on the somethingawful forums as a dismissive reply to a long wall of text post. Eventually, an OP would preemptively include a TL;DR line in a post to give a warning/summary.

http://www.quora.com/TL-DR/What-is-the-origin-of-TL-DR seems to offer a decent history of its early usage.

Re: "TLDR" is unnecessary

#44

Post by geuis »

A TLDR already has a name, a "summary". Not only a mere extra 4 characters, it's not an acronym for a phrase but a word that says what it is. Amazing, really.

The biggest problem I find with TLDR is that people that use it do so incorrectly. You don't put your summary at the end of the article. You put it at the beginning.

I also find many writers who use TLDR explicitly are rather poor writers. Lots of spelling and grammar mistakes, and the inability to make concise, cogent points. And not knowing what cogent means.

Re: "TLDR" is unnecessary

#45

Post by mjs »

gpcz wrote: post #28
pmorici wrote: post #11

The US military frequently uses the abbreviation "BLUF" (Bottom Line Up Front) for the same purpose as TLDR at the beginning of an email. It's not like the idea of tldr is some perversion born of the Internet.

One of my favorite pieces on writing is "Effective Writing for Army Leaders," available at http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/p600_67.pdf . They have hilarious side-by-side comparisons of poor and good writing, such as pg. 13 and 14 (pg. 7 and 8 by page number). I found this during a brevity kick I had after reading David Sirlin's "Writing Well."

That's pretty awesome! Although I think the elements of the "poor" example that draw attention to some potentially pertinent information shouldn't have been removed. (For example, the fact that the applicant is not mission-essential during a training cycle, and that given he has not previous cold-weather injuries, he may be less susceptible to them.)

Re: "TLDR" is unnecessary

#47

Post by city41 »

TLDR mostly shows up in places like Reddit. The communication that happens on Reddit is unlike anything we've ever had, millions of people all gathering to casually talk with each other. There is no expectation of depth (anymore, anyway), nor do people put much stock in Reddit comments. Thus TLDR helps people's ideas get across and also probably improves readership of comments (people read the TLDR, and then realize they should go back and read the whole thing). It's a new construct that has evolved for a new form of communication.

Re: "TLDR" is unnecessary

#48

Post by nswanberg »

jacobolus wrote: post #42
edw519 wrote: post #32

TLDR: Write like Hemingway, not like Faulkner.

Hemingway is not the example you’re looking for: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceberg_Theory

I agree but edw519 is a smart guy and I would give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he attempted to capture the essence of a "tl;dr" comment: short, vaguely corresponding to the material, and ultimately misleading.
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