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

(chiefly Internet slang) Initialism of too long; didn't read. Used to indicate that one did not read a (long) text.
(chiefly Internet slang, neologism) Initialism of too long; didn't read. 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:
  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
German: zl;ng
Hebrew: אמ;לק‎
Italian: tal;nhl
Polish: zd;nc
Portuguese: dt;nl,
Russian: см;нч (sm;nč)
Spanish: mt;nl m

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)

(transitive, 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:
  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.
- 2021 June 30, Makena Kelly, “Hasan Piker on the problem with YouTube debate culture”, in The Verge‎:
  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:
  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:
  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”.

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English tl;dr.

Phrase

tl;dr

(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 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
- 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:

- 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 ...