tl;dr

See also: TLDR, and TL;DR

English

Alternative forms

• tldr, tl/dr, tl dr, TLDR, TL;DR, TL/DR
• TLDNR, TL/DNR, TL-DNR

Etymology

Initialism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tiː ˌɛl diː ˈɑː(ɹ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Phrase

tl;dr

1. (chiefly Internet slang) Initialism of too long; didn't read.
   1. Used to indicate that one did not read a (long) text.
   2. Used to introduce a short summary of an overly long text.

      Synonyms: BLUF, summary

      • 2016, John Halstead, Godless Paganism:

        How I got to be an atheist is a fairly long and winding story, so I'll give you the “tl;dr” version—I was finally honest about myself that “the gods” just “weren't there.”

      • 2018 May 30, Hadley Freeman, “The meaning of beige tights: they show what the Windsors will do to Meghan”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

        Incidentally, my absolutely favourite headline about the Duchess of Sussex’s new coat of arms was: “Will Meghan Markle’s new California-inspired coat of arms convince millennials to embrace traditional heraldry?” Tl;dr, no!

Related terms

• TL;DL, tl;dl, TLDL (audio counterpart)
• TL;DW, tl;dw, TLDW (video counterpart)

Translations

too long didn't read

• Dutch: tl;hng
• Esperanto: tl;nl
• Finnish: lp;el
• French: tl;nlp, TLDR (fr), gépalu (fr)
• German: zl;ng
• Hebrew: אמ;לק
• Italian: tal;nhl
• Polish: zd;nc
• Portuguese: dt;nl,
• Russian: см;нч (sm;nč)
• Spanish: mt;nl m
• Ukrainian: зд;нч (zd;nč) (slang)

Noun

tl;dr (plural tl;drs or tl;dr's)

1. (slang) A summary; the long and short, the gist.

   I know that was quite a long ramble, but the TL;DR is that I got fired.

Verb

tl;dr (third-person singular simple present tl;dr's, present participle tl;dr'ing, simple past and past participle tl;dr'ed or tl;dr'd)

1. (transitive, intransitive, slang) To provide a short summary of (a text or event).
   • 2014 June 17, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, “Here's How To Teach The Liberal Arts To High Schoolers”, in Forbes‎^[2]:

     Extracts or overviews should be substituted as needed. But insofar as possible, the whole books should be read. First of all, because many thinkers simply cannot be tl;dr'd. Second of all, because wrestling with, and immersing yourself in, and just reading through whole books is part of the education.

   • 2018 June 16, Peter Kafka, “MoviePass invested in ‘Gotti,’ the new John Travolta mob movie everyone hates”, in Vox‎^[3]:

     “A dismal mess,” says the New York Times. Its “shabby aesthetic and narrative shortcomings are outweighed by its more drastically questionable moral ones,” says the Guardian. “It’s not a good movie,” Entertainment Weekly TL;DRs.

   • 2021 June 30, Makena Kelly, “Hasan Piker on the problem with YouTube debate culture”, in The Verge‎^[4]:

     I’ll tell you another thing that’s ironic about the Vidal-Buckley debates. Those debates can be TLDR’d into one of them calling the other “queer” as a pejorative and then the other calls the other a “fascist.”

   • 2021 August 20, Amy Kaufman et al., “‘Ted Lasso’ wrote a love letter to romantic comedies. We break down ‘rom-communism’”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[5]:

     Fortunately, Sutton Stracke soon emerged from her bedroom to tell her friends that she had, in fact, read the entire story. Kyle instantly begged her friend to TL;DR the “in-depth exposé,” which she deemed “so friggin’ long.”

   • 2022 December 20, Louis Ashworth, “Turning Japanese?: One last rug pull before retirement”, in Financial Times‎^[6]:

     Royal Bank of Canada’s economics team have tl;dr’d why JGBs and the yen have had a fun morning: “it will be hard for markets not to see this move as a precursor for tightening policy”.

See also

• BLUF
• cut to the chase
• get to the point
• long story short
• summary
• synopsis
• wall of text

 

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English tl;dr.

Phrase

tl;dr

1. (Internet slang) Introduces a summary.
   • 2013 July 15, "Martin" (username), ""TL$3BDR"$20"med"/dk.edb.mac/loyu8-OE9Mk/D8tR95tx5nMJ Valg? Air, Pro el. iMac", in dk.edb.mac

     tl;dr
     Macbook^[sic] Pro + 1-2 skærme evt. kombineret med en iPad til de "korte" rejser.

     tl;dr
     MacBook Pro + 1-2 screens, possibly combined with an iPad for "short" trips.

   • 2014 September 30, "mortenhansen1990" (username), ""TL$3BDR"$20"med"/aros-lmu/7eaRKJmCeSs/5nwr-Bv847sJ Hjælpedag d. 11 oktober", in Aros LMU

     tl;dr: tilmelding hjælpedag 11 oktober

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2014 April 16, "Anders Christensen" (username), ""TL$3BDR"$20"med"/openspaceaarhus/yRGxcSptMv8/RPAVYeQLfAwJ OSAAs Stand til Mini Maker Faire", in Open Space Aarhus

     tl;dr: Jeg ved ikke noget om det og undrer mig over at jeg ikke er blevet "tvangsfodret" med information om arrangementet igennem de sidste par måneder så jeg faktisk havde en chance for at lure hvad det går ud på. :)

     tl;dr: I don't know anything about it and I wonder why I haven't been "force-fed" information about the event over the last couple of months, such that I might actually have a shot at figuring out what it is about. :)

Quotations

Other forms:

1. • 2011 September 15, "Rune Broberg" (username), "Sponsorer til LASER projektet", in Open Space Aarhus

     TLDR: Bestyrelsen bestemmer hvad der er OSAA-projekter, og de bør finde (og offentliggøre) nogle retningslinier, f.eks. ved at holde et møde om det.

     TLDR: The board decides what [projects] are OSAA projects, and they should find (and publish) some guidelines, e.g. by having a meeting about it.

   • 2016 April 4, "Flemming Frandsen" (username), ""TL$3BDR"$20"med"/openspaceaarhus/WK-tfeSTOMs/BFRU6_2oCAAJ 3D resin printer", in Open Space Aarhus

     TL;DR: Lad være med at drikke det:)

     TL;DR: Don't drink it. :)

   • 2013 June 5, "jacob.lykke" (username), "https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/"TL$3BDR"$20"med"/ve-dag-for-ungenergi/XqTJGsE36OU/fLT4dYzvqhMJ plakater.]", in VE-dag for UngEnergi

     tl:dr - se vedhæftede og kom med feedback.

     tl:dr - see the attached [file] and give feedback.

   • 2012 January 20, "Casper Klenz-Kitenge" (username), "https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/"TL$3BDR"$20"med"/copenhagen-ruby-user-group/DZ-3m9YaAI0/81vSgItDi9gJ Job: Rails udvikler @ autobutler.dk, Kbh K]", in Copenhagen Ruby Brigade

     TL;DR:
     
     * Du bliver tredje udvikler, og får stor indflydelse på din hverdag

     TL;DR:
     
     * You will be third developer, and will have a large influence on your workday.

   • 2009 October 1, "larsgj" (username), ""TL$3BDR"$20"med"/dk.fritid.foto/kIzpzyCpjis/tjaU2LkseNkJ Billigste (næsten) vandtætte kamera - alternativer til Pentax?", in dk.fritid.foto

     TL:DR
     Hvad er det billigste vandtætte kamera ...

     TL:DR
     What is the cheapest waterproof camera ...