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Completely off-topic but I've this a few times now in different places. I'll come to the end of what I'm reading and there'll be a tl;dr at the frickin' _end_ o

Completely off-topic but I've this a few times now in different places. I'll come to the end of what I'm reading and there'll be a tl;dr at the frickin' _end_ of it! Isn't it supposed to be right up front so that if I am incredibly lazy and trusting I can just slurp the tl;dr and move on? When placed at the end is its meaning changed to something like "to summarize" or "in summation" ???

mischanix 13y ago
This construction {{point}}; {{elaboration}} tl;dr: {{point}} is about as redundant as it gets. For what it's worth, I take that form of "tl;dr" as emphasis, not as a literal tl;dr.
- kshatrea 13y ago
  > For what it's worth, I take that form of "tl;dr" as emphasis, not as a literal tl;dr. This. I've been inured to using it in that way as well. I see the criticism above as a valid one though.
  - erre 13y ago
    I've always found that construct weird. I tend to use "tl;wr" (the "w" standing for "won't", instead of "didn't"), at the top.
    - babebridou 13y ago
      Also known as "executive summary"...
- wiredfool 13y ago
  Cngratulations, you've unlocked the Jr High essay achievement. * tell me what you're going to say * say it * tell them what you said
losvedir 13y ago
"tl;dr" goes at the end; that's just the way it is. The "d" is for "didn't", not, for example, "won't". I first noticed it on reddit years ago, appended to a lengthy comment. However, it seems that it may have originated in Wikipedia article discussions (according to Wikipedia...) as a shorthand _response_ to a lengthy comment. Perhaps, there was a transition period where someone wrote a lot of text, realized that the response would be a "tl;dr", and then just added it themselves instead.
JonnieCache 13y ago
It used to be an insult. You would post it, and it alone underneath someone's 2500 word paragraphless wall of text as a way of saying "your verbosity is massively out of proportion to the significance of your thoughts, and in general you are so uninteresting that I can't even be bothered to use entire words." It was often to be seen on SA under some teenaged nerds verbose essay about how much the people at their high school sucked. In that way, it was the original "cool story bro." This original meaning is why the following image is funny: http://c.cslacker.com/3910l.jpg http://c.cslacker.com/3910l.jpg The joke doesn't work with the new usage. At some point it flipped around and became a way of expressing one's tiny attention span.
skue 13y ago
Only on HN would you get a bunch of hackers going off on a tangent about the proper use of tl;dr right in the middle of a discussion about whether hackers and activists should be considered potential terrorists. :-)

mischanix 13y ago

This construction {{point}}; {{elaboration}} tl;dr: {{point}} is about as redundant as it gets. For what it's worth, I take that form of "tl;dr" as emphasis, not as a literal tl;dr.

kshatrea 13y ago
> For what it's worth, I take that form of "tl;dr" as emphasis, not as a literal tl;dr. This. I've been inured to using it in that way as well. I see the criticism above as a valid one though.
- erre 13y ago
  I've always found that construct weird. I tend to use "tl;wr" (the "w" standing for "won't", instead of "didn't"), at the top.
  - babebridou 13y ago
    Also known as "executive summary"...
wiredfool 13y ago
Cngratulations, you've unlocked the Jr High essay achievement. * tell me what you're going to say * say it * tell them what you said

losvedir 13y ago

"tl;dr" goes at the end; that's just the way it is. The "d" is for "didn't", not, for example, "won't". I first noticed it on reddit years ago, appended to a lengthy comment. However, it seems that it may have originated in Wikipedia article discussions (according to Wikipedia...) as a shorthand _response_ to a lengthy comment. Perhaps, there was a transition period where someone wrote a lot of text, realized that the response would be a "tl;dr", and then just added it themselves instead.

JonnieCache 13y ago

It used to be an insult. You would post it, and it alone underneath someone's 2500 word paragraphless wall of text as a way of saying "your verbosity is massively out of proportion to the significance of your thoughts, and in general you are so uninteresting that I can't even be bothered to use entire words." It was often to be seen on SA under some teenaged nerds verbose essay about how much the people at their high school sucked. In that way, it was the original "cool story bro." This original meaning is why the following image is funny: http://c.cslacker.com/3910l.jpg http://c.cslacker.com/3910l.jpg The joke doesn't work with the new usage. At some point it flipped around and became a way of expressing one's tiny attention span.

skue 13y ago

Only on HN would you get a bunch of hackers going off on a tangent about the proper use of tl;dr right in the middle of a discussion about whether hackers and activists should be considered potential terrorists. :-)