“Family Guy” is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, and is known for its over-the-top humour, often absurd and frequently downright vulgar. A recurring trope in the series is when they make a slightly complicated joke or reference, the action switches to a cutaway gag in which Peter Griffin (the family patriarch and main character) will address the camera or audience and explain said joke or reference in a metafictional trope known as breaking the fourth wall. The added layer of humour in this is the deadpan way Peter highlights his lack of understanding, his tendency to oversimplify complex ideas and total inability to see situations from any point of view but his own.

On March 11th, 2018, a Redditor posted this meme from a now-deleted ironic Facebook page to the subreddit r/comedyhomicide; a sub for when a good meme is ruined by a shitty caption, useless red circles, more than three emojis, or more than one reaction image (or a particularly bad reaction image).

According to “Know Your Meme”, it was then reposted to the shitposting subreddit r/okbuddyretard, where it spawned several variations in the theme, followed by moderate spread in both Reddit and other online communities such as iFunny and Instagram.

Because Reddit will Reddit:

It wasn’t long before a Redditor created the subreddit r/explainitpeter for users to post notable examples of the meme. Shortly after that, a user created a parody account called u/PeterExplainsTheJoke, and went round many seemingly random subreddits explaining things in the same style. Unsurprisingly they were subsequently banned from many of those subs, so a new subreddit was created for users to ask them to explain memes instead, which is still going strong (link below).

Despite the many bans, the user returned on their Cakeday to post around Reddit where they could again, and did the same the following year. They kept this up for year three, again for year four and in year five where they declared Hard to believe this gimmick I started is now half a decade old.

Ah Reddit; never change.

When memes collide:

Another long running meme is that of “Loss”. In June 2008, webcomic artist Tim Buckley wrote a poignant four-panel strip for his long-running comic Ctrl+Alt+Del., (also known as CAD) meant to evoke his feeling of loss after his fiancée Lilah’s miscarriage. You can see the strip alongside a full explanation of what happened afterward on its Wikipedia page.

This juxtaposition of tragic situation with jarring delivery meant that it wasn’t long before parodies emerged in which people mocked the webcomic's four panels. This in turn mutated to increasing attempts to be minimalistic, portraying the characters as lines and dots such as "| || || |_," or using other media to represent the characters. The more obscure the image, the more people asked what it was about and indeed, the frequent question “Is This Loss?” whenever a cryptic four panel image without words or speech bubbles was posted soon became its own meme, lending itself perfectly to the “Peter Explains” type of explanation, leading to the creation of subreddits like:

• r/PeterExplainsTheLoss - When the joke is loss
• r/PeterExplainsTheGain - When someone calls it loss and it isn’t
• r/peterexplainsthegloss - When you aren’t sure if it’s loss or gain
• r/PeterImaginesTheLoss - People hallucinating Loss in other things
• r/Peterimaginesthegain - Basically just the above subreddit but for gain instead

Highlights from these subs include the positions being reversed in Loss Explains The Peter, a summoning of other parody accounts in There’s too many of them..., and a happy conclusion in Guys, is this gain?.

Elsewhere on Reddit:

r/SUBREDDITNAME is a meta roleplaying satire subreddit mocking the clichéd things that Redditors tend to do in a given situation. Here, someone posts the formula for a typical Reddit post and the commenters post the types of typical comments that post might get, and a glorious example of how it works in this context can be found at PETEREXPLAINS THE JOKE POST EXCLAIMING “PETAHHH”.

Because there is a Subreddit for everything:

Enjoy this meme at:

• r/explainitpeter - A subreddit for the purpose of users to share images of things they don’t understand. Once the submission is submitted, commenters will then explain it in the first-person view of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin.

• r/PeterExplainsTheJoke - Hey gamers, this is the subreddit where you post a meme / joke you don't understand so it can be explained to you. You can also post memes about u/PeterExplainsTheJoke or just post weird pictures of Pete.

• r/PeterExplainTheJoke - A smaller sub in the same vein.

• r/PeterGuessesTheJoke - Where Peter doesnt actually get the joke and makes an educated guess.

• r/PeterExplainsTheMeta - Hey gamers, this is the subreddit where you can meta post about r/peterexplainsthejoke.

Related subreddits include:

• r/familyguy - A subreddit dedicated to the TV show Family Guy.
• r/PeterGriffin - family guy awesome.
• r/familyguymemes - epic family guy memes
• r/familyguythegame - The official unofficial subreddit for the game Family Guy: The Quest For Stuff, a character collecting & city building game by TinyCo/Jam City, which started in April 2014.
• r/PeterGriffinFanEdits - So you found this subreddit. You are wondering, "WHAT IN THE NAME OF STEWIE IS THIS". Well confused man, this is Family Guy Fan Edits, home to thoerys, OCs and many more!
• r/UnexpectedFamilyGuy - Finding Family Guy references in the wild

Short lived shitposting subs include:

• r/SurrealPeter - weird angles or memes of family guy.
• r/Peter_Griffin - A leftist community, founded on our mutual disdain for Peter Coffin, and our combined love for comrade Peter Griffin
• r/UpvotedBecausePeter - For anything you upvoted simply because it includes the legendary Peter Griffin!

As always with my lists, some of the subs are more active than others. The good news: if a sub is dormant, banned for being unmoderated or marked as “restricted”, it might be available for adoption.

See Also:

• Cakeday
• Circlejerk
• Loss
• Memes
• Meta
• Shitpost

A seemingly random phrase you’re bound to encounter on Reddit is “is this LOSS?”, particularly on a set of characters-as-pictograms such as | | \ || | _ and the simpler | | | | | |_ or a four-panel comic image that doesn’t have speech bubbles, text, or even appear to have a punchline. Unfortunately, there is a sad origin to this phrase, but, the internet being the internet shifted the tone considerably almost immediately after it appeared. Thankfully, I can’t just blame Reddit this time, as it appears to have started on 4chan’s /v/ board and Tumblr.

In June 2008, webcomic artist Tim Buckley sat down to write a poignant four-panel strip for his long-running comic Ctrl+Alt+Del., (also known as CAD) meant to evoke his feeling of loss after his fiancée Lilah’s miscarriage. What he ended up creating was “loss.jpg”, the web’s best-known and longest-running meme about a miscarriage. You can see the strip alongside a full explanation on its Wikipedia page.

Well before the publication of “Loss,” CAD faced considerable criticism. The comic could be amusing at best and puerile at worst, resorting to violence as a punch line with noticeable frequency. The “Loss” strip itself was largely negatively received as a jarring tone shift, and in 2015, New York magazine summed it up like this:

By taking a turn into the gravely serious world of reproductive trauma with “Loss,” Buckley blindsided readers. It was like Carrot Top remade Sophie’s Choice. The last strip to mention Lilah’s pregnancy prior to “Loss” had been published 10 instalments and nearly a month prior, and readers found the sudden attempt at gravity hilarious. So they did what the internet does: turned  “Loss” - again, a comic strip about miscarriage - into a running joke. One that still continues to this day.

Ten years after that was written, “Loss” shows no sign of coming to an end as a meme.

Spotting “Loss” in the wild:

People quickly worked out that the strip follows an extremely simple formula - one person, then two people (one taller than the other), then two people, then one person lying down with another standing over them, in this shape:

I II

II L

In the way of the internet hivemind, just this series of shapes alone has become entirely associated with the loss comic, and hiding them in otherwise innocuous looking images (sometimes captioned with ‘IYKYK’) is meaningless to many but extremely obvious to anyone in on the joke. Take this post from Reddit as an example. This is just one post from r/lossedits, a subreddit that exists to push the format to its limits.

Critics of CAD like to point out the laziness of Tim Buckley’s art style because his characters are rarely expressive, their eyelids all droop and their jaws are all slack. This has led to something else you might see - that is B^U used as a sideways-read emoticon. This is the minimalist version of the signature Buckley cartoon face - half-closed eyelids and half-open mouths.

More summaries and explanations:

The Know Your Meme article ends with a guide to making a meme in this format.

Know Your Meme also has a dictionary entry for “Loss” here.

r/OutOfTheLoop address the minimal shape version and one reply attempts recreating the strip itself in ascii.

A collection of comprehensive explanations was also given there on 16th April 2018 where OP concludes with “I'm starting to think asking "What is it with 'Is this LOSS' memes?" is a meme itself, it gets repeated so often here.”

Elsewhere on Reddit:

• r/Symbology is a subreddit for the discussion, identification, and appreciation of symbols, including this one.

• r/languagelearningjerk is a circlejerk subreddit and asked for this translation.

• r/gallifreyan is a subreddit devoted to the fictional language used by the Time Lords of Gallifrey, from the long-running British TV series Doctor Who and this was made in the popular Sherman’s Circular script.

• r/CuratedTumblr make the case for why loss.jpg is funny.

• r/HobbyDrama bills itself as “The most interesting subreddit about things you're not interested in.” and have a long but fascinating discussion entitled From rise to loss: the story of Ctrl+Alt+Del (CAD).

When memes collide:

r/PeterExplainsTheJoke is a subreddit where you post a meme / joke you don't understand so it can be explained to you, or just post weird pictures of Peter Griffin. This is an entire meme in itself and Reddit, being Reddit have created several subreddits which mash the two memes together, such as:

• r/PeterExplainsTheLoss - When the joke is loss

• r/PeterExplainsTheGain - When someone calls it loss and it isnt

• r/peterexplainsthegloss - When you aren’t sure if it’s loss or gain

• r/PeterImaginesTheLoss - People Hallucinating Loss in other things

Ah Reddit; never change.

Because there is a Subreddit for everything:

Enjoy this meme at:

• r/lossedits - Loss; edited.
• r/IsThisLoss - “You know that shit comic Loss by Jim Buckley? Yeah, this is a sub for it.”
• r/LossParodies - A subreddit dedicated to making fun of the long-running video games webcomic Ctrl-Alt-Del, by Tim Buckley.
• r/FoundTheLoss - | | \ || | _
• r/LossCircleJerk - THE PUNCHLINE IS LOSS IT ALWAYS WAS LOSS IT WILL ALWAYS BE LOSS
• r/lossmemes - Loss; memed.
• r/accidentalloss - | | | | | |_ but by accident.

See Also:

• Acronyms 1: A-L
• Circlejerk
• Memes

Whataboutism is an argumentative tactic where a person or group responds to an accusation or difficult question by deflection. Instead of addressing the point made, they counter it with “but what about…?”. For instance, in response to being told off for the state of their room, a child’s whataboutist reply will be to say: “But what about my brother’s room? His is worse.”

The word Whataboutism itself is a modern portmanteau word, formally known as a "tu quoque" fallacy, or the idea that “two wrongs make a right”. This type of diversion is often totally out-of-context and has no limits in terms of time or subject content. For instance, it often begins with a sentence like “What about the time when…” where “the time” and the action can be any period and event so long as the accuser feels it sufficient to completely derail the debate.

See Also:

• Brandolini's Law
• Cognitive Biases and Logical Fallacies
• Confirmation Bias
• Eponymous Laws
• False Equivalence
• Gaslighting
• Internet Adages
• Logical Fallacies
• Online Manipulation
• OP
• Sealioning
• Strawman Argument

A diversionary tactic is one intended to attract people's attention away from something which you do not want them to think about, know about, or deal with. You’ll find them in any online debate, and Reddit’s favourite techniques come mostly in the form of using logical fallacies, confirmation biases and false equivalences, or simply just accusing the OP of doing the same.

RationalWiki states that False, or Moral Equivalence is a form of equivocation and a fallacy of relevance often used in political debates. It seeks to draw comparisons between different, often unrelated things, to make a point that one is just as bad as the other or just as good as the other.

There’s an incredibly comprehensive alphabetical list of these at Logically Fallacious, but to save you some time I’ve listed a few to look out for here, and plenty more in the See Also section below. Wikipedia also lists some I haven’t mentioned and you’ll often find terms from Therapy Speak used in this way too.

So, here’s a challenge: see how many of these tactics you can spot in any one Reddit debate. Good luck in playing….

Reddit Bingo

• DARVO - Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender. A tactic used to deflect responsibility onto another individual, often used to discredit an experience. For instance, someone reports their son was bitten by an aggressive puppy. A commenter claims that there is no such thing as an aggressive puppy. That’s the denial. They then go on to attack the OP and blame the son for probably provoking the dog. That’s reversing the victim (son) and the offender (dog).

• Gaslighting - Presenting false information with the intent of making the OP doubt themselves or others doubt the OP. Often used in the form of aggressive jabs disguised as jokes so that the accuser can get away with saying something outrageous or even appalling while still maintaining innocence, but at the same time accusing the OP of not having a sense of humour. Closely related to Poe’s Law.

• Gish Galloping - Flooding the debate space with an overload of minor, often reworded issues. For example, a person using the Gish Gallop might attempt to support their stance by bringing up, in rapid succession, a large number of vague claims, anecdotal statements, misinterpreted facts, and irrelevant comments.

• JAQing Off - Just Asking Questions. Often expressed with one or more of the 🤔 emoji, or the phrase “just saying…” or simply “hmm.” This is a way of attempting to make wild accusations acceptable by framing them as questions rather than statements. Closely related to Gish Galloping, Brandolini's Law and Sealioning.

• Moving the Goalposts - This is when, even after you’ve provided all the evidence in the world to validate your argument or taken an action to meet their request, they set up another expectation of you or demand more proof in order to ensure that they have every reason to be perpetually dissatisfied with you.

• Pearl-Clutching - This is a deliberate and usually bad-faith reaction to a comment. It is done in order to exaggerate the effects and impacts said comment had. Think of someone in an old movie exclaiming "Well, I never!" The goal is to undermine the OP by accusing them of some form of incivility, when said incivility is typically the least thing of concern in the matter at hand.

• Projection - This is a defense mechanism used to displace responsibility of one’s negative behavior and traits by attributing them to someone else. It ultimately acts as a digression that avoids ownership and accountability. For example, someone who bullies another for being anxious and insecure may be doing so to avoid acknowledging they exhibit those same tendencies themselves.

• Sealioning - Pestering a target with unsolicited questions delivered with a false air of civility. Like most of the above tactics, this uses non-sequitur questioning as obfuscation, but is also fundamentally different. Sealioning is a constant bad-faith request for evidence or reasoning that's irrelevant, trivial, already presented or easily checked, under the guise of being reasonable with the sole intent of frustrating the opponent into losing their patience or temper, while simultaneously seeking to paint the opponent as unreasonable.

• Whataboutism - A common technique used to divert a debate and excuse wrongdoing by accusing someone else of also doing wrong. Another example would be someone who responds to a comment about an attempt to protect women from domestic violence with "What about male victims of domestic violence?".

But wait! There’s hope!

All of these gambits can be countered by using the “broken record” method. This is where you continue stating the facts without giving in to their distractions. Redirect their redirection by saying, “That’s not what I am talking about. Let’s stay focused on the real issue.” Initially, the person may continue with the undesired behaviour or challenging your message, but as you repeat your expectations, your message is reinforced and the person is more likely to comply.

See Also:

• Acronyms 1: A-L
• Acronyms 2: M-Z
• Astroturfing
• Bandwagon Effect
• Brandolini's Law
• Cognitive Biases and Logical Fallacies
• Confirmation Bias
• Cunningham’s Law
• Dunning-Kruger Effect
• Eponymous Laws
• False Equivalence
• Gaslighting
• Godwin’s Law
• Hanlon’s Razor
• Internet Adages
• Logical Fallacies
• ”Not all X are Like That”
• Online Manipulation
• OP
• Poe’s Law
• Sealioning
• Strawman Argument
• Whataboutism

“Accidents Can Happen” said the great Elvis Costello but even he wasn’t prepared for Accidental Reddit…

• r/AccidentalComedy - Anything that is unintentionally funny.
• r/AccidentalRacism - For when innocent things appear to be racism though it's totally not intentional.
• r/accidentalswastika - Accidental swastikas. Please check the Forbidden Post List before posting.
• r/accidentalmontypython - Now needs moderation, but was a repository for unintended Monty Pythonesque happenings in real life.
• r/AccidentalCosplay - Have you ever woken up, gotten dressed up and realized you look like a character you like (or don't like)? Then this is the subreddit for you!
• r/accidentaltopgear - When text is cut or obscured in humorous ways!
• r/AccidentalKubrick - Faces and places that would be right at home in a Stanley Kubrick film.
• r/AccidentalGreenhouses - Pictures of partially buried bottles or other glass containers that accidentally create little terrariums in which plants and/or animals can live.
• r/AccidentalAlly - Hateful people being kind, supporting, affirming or being good by accident towards LGBTQ+ people.
• r/AccidentalPicture - Sometimes your camera goes off without you pressing the button! Bonus points for pictures inside camera bags or where the flash goes off.
• r/AccidentalSlapStick - Comedy based on deliberately clumsy actions and humorously embarrassing events happening by chance, unintentionally, or unexpectedly.
• r/AccidentalRenaissance - Sometimes you accidentally take the perfect photo that inadvertently resembles well-composed art from the Renaissance (or related movements between the 14th and 19th centuries). See also the defunct r/AccidentalBaroque
• r/accidentalrockwell - Any photos that are accidental reproductions of Norman Rockwell paintings.
• r/AccidentalCamouflage - A sub for things that try and blend in or don't even need to!
• r/AccidentalArtGallery - Found a candid photo that looks like it could be right out of a painting from the Middle Ages, Pop Art, or even an Ice Age cave drawing? Post it here!
• r/AccidentalWesAnderson - A sub dedicated to images that seem to have come from a Wes Anderson film. Whether sunny, bright, liminal, dreamy, it’s possible to find the Wes Anderson aesthetic anywhere and in anything.
• r/AccidentalSlap - When someone gets slapped by accident.
• r/accidentalart - Art you make without trying! Post pictures of artistic things you may have created without the intent to be artistic.
• r/AccidentalArsene - A place for all the world's photos of people, places, and things which carry the mark of Arsène Wenger, and carry on the legacy of the greatest manager in Arsenal history.
• r/accidentalterrorism - Poorly thought out dangerous ideas that end up backfiring unintentionally on those involved (must not be deliberate or overly graphic in content).

Obligatory footnote:

Please do read the rules before contributing to any unfamiliar sub.

This list is not intended to be the full list of subreddits in this theme; that would be impossible to achieve in a format like this.

If you want to find more related subs, r/FindAReddit or the smaller r/findasubreddit are your friends. Similar subreddits are often to be found in a sub’s Sidebar and / or Wiki (“See Community Info” tab on mobile) too. My guide to Searching might also be useful.

But llama; some of these links don’t work…

As always with my lists, some of the subs are more active than others, and since writing some might have become private, restricted or repurposed following the API protests of June 2023, or just removed / renamed by Reddit through inactivity.

However, don’t forget: if a sub is dormant, banned for being unmoderated or marked as “restricted”, it might be available for adoption.

See Also:

• accidentalswastika (encyclopaedia)
• theyknew

r/TheseFuckingAccounts is a subreddit to submit and track "suspicious" reddit accounts; ones suspected of being Spambots of whatever variety.

If you intend to post there, do read their rules first, as they require proper evidence of a suspicious account, and ask that you don’t provide detailed information on how to spot bots as they don't want the spammers to know exactly how they find them. Avoid discussing specific bugs or aspects that let them spot spammers.

If you come across a Spambot, do not engage with it. Use the ‘report’ option below the post or in the three-dots Hamburger Menu as Spam --> Harmful Bots and move on. The only reply to a suspected bot you should make is to warn other users by posting the link to r/TheseFuckingAccounts. Replying with anything else might well mark you as an accomplice.

The links below will show you more about what a Spambot is and how to spot one.

See Also:

• Alt
• “If you want this t-shirt, say yes in the Comments”
• Karma Farming
• Scams
• Shill
• Sock Puppet
• Spambots
• Spambot Spotting Resources
• T-Shirt Posts
• “This is the newest project of him?”

You might have noticed across your Reddit travels that some subreddits have a very different style than others. A feature of Reddit is that every subreddit is its own self-contained site that its Mods can customise however they want with subreddit specific themes. Some have custom vote buttons, others have their own colour schemes, banners, icons, member count text or any combination of the above.

Reddit provide a very useful guide to the community appearance mod tool that shows mods how to customise their subreddits.

r/csshelp has a very useful resource of pre-made themes for customising subreddits.

As part of this customisation, some subreddits have chosen to replace the default voting “arrow” icons with ones of their own which are visible when viewing in Old Reddit, as you can see here. In case it isn’t obvious which is which, the Upvote will be on the top (Old Reddit; desktop) or on the left (Mobile App) and the Downvote will be on the bottom (Old Reddit; desktop) or on the right (Mobile App).

You can opt out of a community's theme if you prefer - on desktop you can find the option in the sidebar near the top, and in new Reddit look under the 'create post' button and click ‘community options’.

Subreddit themes can also look very different according to how it’s viewed; whether it’s the device you are using or the version of Reddit you are using. For instance, r/WoW is the main subreddit dedicated to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, and here is how it appears…

• In Old Reddit
• In New Reddit
• In the iOS App Light Mode
• In the iOS App Dark Mode

As you can see, themes don’t translate very well to the App, especially in Dark Mode.

To set Dark Mode on mobile, tap your avatar on the top right of the screen to go to your profile and tap the settings button at the bottom of the page. This will bring up the Settings menu where you tap on the Dark Mode drop-down menu and select between Night mode or Midnight (AMOLED) which is darker.

Light Mode on mobile actually has four mini themes which change some icon colours and dividers.

See Also:

• New Reddit; Old Reddit

In general, Reddit is anonymous, yet Redditors love to share their personal anecdotes too. Enter the genre of subreddits known as “Tales From…”; places to share your stories about working in various industries or workplaces.

• r/TalesFromRetail - A place to exchange stories about your daily experiences in brick & mortar retail.
• r/talesfromtechsupport - Stories about helping someone with a tech issue. Did you try turning it off and on again?
• r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk - Stories from the front desk of hotels/hostels/and others in the hospitality industry.
• r/TalesFromYourServer - More stories of customer service in the hospitality trade.
• r/TalesFromFastFood - Stories from working in fast food restaurants.
• r/TalesFromTheKitchen - Tales of what really goes on behind the doors of restaurants.
• r/TalesFromTheCustomer - For customers to vent and rage and even smile about their customer service experiences.
• r/talesfromcallcenters - Including ridiculous caller demands and stupid things callers say.
• r/talesfromtheoffice - Stories from the world of office politics and suffocating bureaucracy.
• r/talesfromthejob - For tales of trades, odd jobs and non-traditional roles.

A long list of related subs of varying activity/quality can be found here, where one user even made a Multireddit of 75 communities.

Obligatory footnote:

All of these subreddits will have their own unique - and possibly strict - rules about contributing. As always, it is important to check the rules thoroughly before commenting or posting on any unfamiliar sub.

This list is not intended to be the full list of subreddits in this theme; that would be impossible to achieve in a format like this.

If you want to find more related subs, r/FindAReddit or the smaller r/findasubreddit are your friends. Similar subreddits are often to be found in a sub’s Sidebar and / or Wiki (“See Community Info” tab on mobile) too. My guide to Searching might also be useful.

But llama; some of these links don’t work…

As always with my lists, some of the subs are more active than others, and since writing some might have become private, restricted or repurposed following the API protests of June 2023, or just removed / renamed by Reddit through inactivity.

However, don’t forget: if a sub is dormant, banned for being unmoderated or marked as “restricted”, it might be available for adoption.

See Also:

• Content and Copyright
• Multireddit
• Safety on Reddit

A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time.

For many years, Greenwich Mean Time - known as GMT - was used worldwide as a standard time independent of location. Most time zones were based upon GMT, as an offset of a number of hours (and possibly half or quarter hours) "ahead of GMT" or "behind GMT".

Nowadays, Coordinated Universal Time - known as UTC - is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. Again, it establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. The geographical area it covers remains the same, however and both abbreviations are still in general usage. UTC+00:00 is the basis of Coordinated Universal Time and all other time zones are based off it.

There are some very good time zone calculators to be had online, but they require you to know particular time zone abbreviations. This is where the fun starts, as naming conventions aren’t yet standardised worldwide, and as you’ve seen above, not always even acronyms. Talking of which, you might be wondering why “UTC” is the abbreviation for “Coordinated Universal Time”. According to Space.com, the acronym came about as a compromise between English and French speakers: Coordinated Universal Time would normally be abbreviated as CUT, and the French name, Temps Universel Coordonné, would be TUC.

They refer to this article which goes on to say that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Astronomical Union wished to minimise confusion and designated one single abbreviation for use in all languages. UTC does not favour any particular language. In addition, the advantage of choosing UTC is that it is consistent with the abbreviation for Universal Time, which is UT, with the variations UT0 and UT1. That paragraph was entitled “Avoiding Confusion”. Welp, that clears that up then.

Here’s another fine example. The United Kingdom uses Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), also known as Western European Time (UTC) and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC+00:00), except from March to October every year where we observe Daylight Saving Time (DST) one hour ahead of GMT, where the time zone is known as British Summer Time (BST) or Western European Summer Time (UTC+01:00). In Ireland, the DST time zone is called Irish Standard Time (IST), sometimes also referred to as “Irish Summer Time”. This naturally leads to mistakes as selecting UTC/GMT when using many online calculators and converters for the UK, leading to incorrect results during the summer months when DST is in use.

A list of abbreviations and links to time zone calculators can be found in the Acronyms 3 entry linked below.

See Also:

• Acronyms 2: M-Z
• Acronyms 3: Abbreviations

An innocuous phrase that is not quite how it appears. This is another of Reddit’s beloved meta references, often used when making the first post on a new subreddit.

This tradition goes back to 2009 when the first truly popular post on Reddit was made. “Test post please ignore”, was posted in the main subreddit for pictures - r/pics - without a picture. Because Redditors will Reddit, the entire community rallied to reject the OP’s request to ignore the post, and “test post please ignore” became the most upvoted post on Reddit for the next two years with an incredible 26,750 upvotes.

Incidentally, OP was the first Redditor to reach 100,000 karma. It’s now a Reddit Tradition™ not to ignore a post with that title where it’s made appropriately.

See Also:

• Meta
• OP
• Reddit Lore
• “Reddit Moment”

Used in a post title asking for serious responses only. Originally a sub specific label from r/askreddit now with wider Reddit usage. Using this tag will alert the mods to remove funny or joke responses to your post.

It is usually mandatory to put the word between square brackets, but as always if in doubt, check the sub rules first. Some subs have this as a Post Flair to achieve the same effect.

Do not be tempted to make a humorous reply in a post with this flair or request, no matter how tempting or hilarious it would be, as it will be a flagrant breach of the subreddit rules and a legitimate reason for a ban.

See Also:

• Post Flair

A link posted when a wholesome comment is made by a Redditor with an unwholesome name.

Originating here when the titular u/rimjob_steve commented that they would like to help out a fellow Redditor IRL.

Because this kind of juxtaposition is done far more frequently than you might imagine, the subreddit r/rimjob_steve was created to share any similar instances.

In 2023, it was theorised that the “rimjob_steve effect” might be to blame for a highly controversial change to Reddit’s mobile user interface which removed usernames from subreddit feeds.

See Also:

• birthofasub
• IRL
• Wholesome

A context-dependent acronym, these three letters have several meanings depending on the subreddit type you are in:

Multi-Level Marketing: On r/antiMLM, r/MLM, r/mlmstories, and similar subs. Increasingly used throughout Reddit.

Man Loves Man: On relationship subreddits.

Mona Lisa Monday: On r/itookapicture (ITAP). A rule on ITAP is that photos with a primary focus on one person staring, looking or thinking without any other interesting action are limited to MLM Mondays (Midnight - Midnight, GMT). Please be sure to read the rules before posting or commenting in any unfamiliar sub.

An Acronym is a word comprised of the first initials of the words in a phrase or saying. They are generally created to shorten long phrases and speed up communication, much like abbreviations and initialisms.

Reddit has a worldwide readership, but because the majority are from the US, you’ll often see abbreviations and other terms that might be unfamiliar to those of us in the rest of the world, so here is my attempt in translating some of the common ones.

US State and Territory Abbreviations

Many animal, reptile or insect identification subreddits will require a location in each submission, so the following list will hopefully help you with the various two-letter US State abbreviations that are often used:

Abbreviation|State :--|:--|:-- AL| Alabama AK| Alaska AZ| Arizona AR| Arkansas AS| American Samoa CA| California CO| Colorado CT| Connecticut DE| Delaware DC| District of Columbia FL| Florida GA| Georgia GU| Guam HI| Hawaii ID| Idaho IL| Illinois IN| Indiana IA| Iowa KS| Kansas KY| Kentucky LA| Louisiana ME| Maine MD| Maryland MA| Massachusetts MI| Michigan MN| Minnesota MS| Mississippi MO| Missouri MT| Montana NE| Nebraska NV| Nevada NH| New Hampshire NJ| New Jersey NM| New Mexico NY| New York (State) NC| North Carolina ND| North Dakota MP| Northern Mariana Islands OH| Ohio OK| Oklahoma OR| Oregon PA| Pennsylvania PR| Puerto Rico RI| Rhode Island SC| South Carolina SD| South Dakota TN| Tennessee TX| Texas TT| Trust Territories UT| Utah VT| Vermont VA| Virginia VI| Virgin Islands WA| Washington (State) WV| West Virginia WI| Wisconsin WY| Wyoming

Notes:

• Continental United States: The 49 States (including Alaska, excluding Hawaii) located on the continent of North America, and the District of Columbia.
• United States: The 50 States and the District of Columbia.
• 51st State: Puerto Rico is defined as “territory 'foreign in a domestic sense',” meaning it is neither part of the federation that makes up the US nor a sovereign entity.
• A far more detailed list can be found here, and some of the above information came from here as well as from here.

Plant Hardiness Zones

There are some subreddits where abbreviations are used for other types of geographic locations. Many of the gardening and plant identification and help subreddits require a plant hardiness/climate zone on each submission to be able to give proper advice, where you’ll see abbreviations such as “Northern Alberta, Canada 2B/3A” or “PNW - Zone 7B/8A”.

The original and most widely used system was developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and subsequently, similar hardiness rating schemes have been developed for other countries and regions. To help you understand the abbreviations and/or locate the appropriate zone, here’s a list of resources:

• An interactive map of worldwide plant hardiness zones
• A hardiness zone map for edible landscaping

Time Zones

A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time. The standard for all time zones is Coordinated Universal Time, known as UTC.

Here’s a list of some of the more commonly used time zone abbreviations, and I’m going to rely on Wikipedia for their respective coverage and definitions as they also have maps of the geographical areas they cover:

• AEST - Australian Eastern Standard Time. Australia uses three main time zones: AEST: Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10:00), ACST: Australian Central Standard Time (UTC+09:30) and AWST: Australian Western Standard Time (UTC+08:00).
• BST - British Summer Time. Only used between the months of March and October.
• CET - Central European Time
• CEST - Central European Summer Time. Also known as CEDT (Central European Daylight Time). Only used between the months of March and October.
• CST - China Standard Time
• DST - Daylight Saving Time
• EDT - Eastern Daylight Time. Only used between the months of March and October.
• EST - Eastern Standard Time. Sometimes known as ET.
• GMT - Greenwich Mean Time
• GST - Gulf Standard Time
• IST - Indian Standard Time
• IST - Irish Standard Time
• IST - Israel Standard Time
• JST - Japan Standard Time
• MSK - Moscow Time
• PDT - Pacific Daylight Time
• UTC - Coordinated Universal Time

There is a much more comprehensive list of Worldwide time zone abbreviations here, and here’s a list of some useful online time zone converters:

• https://www.worldtimebuddy.com
• https://time.is/compare
• https://dateful.com/eventlink
• https://greenwichmeantime.com/gmt-converter/time-zones/
• https://24timezones.com/difference

School Years

American and British school years have very different measurements, as does much of the rest of the world. I’m going to try to give some of the equivalent terms and age groups below, based on information from https://www.gov.uk/education and https://www.ed.gov/category/subject/standards

Age Group|US Terminology|US Stage|UK Terminology|UK Stage :--|:--|:--|:--|:--|:-- 3 - 4| Preschool| Early Childhood| Nursery |Early Years Foundation Stage 4 - 5| Preschool| |Reception | | 5 - 6| Kindergarten| Lower School| Year 1| Key Stage 1 6 - 7| 1st Grade| |Year 2 | | 7 - 8| 2nd Grade| |Year 3| Key Stage 2 8 - 9| 3rd Grade| |Year 4 | | 9 - 10| 4th Grade| |Year 5 | | 10 - 11| 5th Grade| |Year 6 | | 11 - 12| 6th Grade| Middle School| Year 7| Key Stage 3 12 - 13| 7th Grade| |Year 8 | | 13 - 14| 8th Grade| |Year 9 | | 14 - 15| 9th Grade (Freshman)| High School| Year 10| Key Stage 4 (GCSE) 15 - 16| 10th Grade (Sophomore)| | Year 11| | 16 - 17| 11th Grade (Junior)| | Year 12 (Lower 6th)| A Levels 17 - 18| 12th Grade (Senior)| | Year 13 (Upper 6th)| |

Those of us of a certain age in the UK remember a different system. To make me really feel old, my school years are now regarded as historical.

See Also:

• Acronyms 1: A-L
• Acronyms 2: M-Z
• Jargon
• Other Useful Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias and Lexicons
• Relationship Sub Acronyms and Initialisms
• Time Zones
• Tone Indicators

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger crop up in many online situations, and this second list gives some of the more widely used ones throughout Reddit along with explanatory links where applicable. I’ve also included a few frequently used slang words. Some of our specialised communities have a wide acronym and slang language of their own so it might be useful to check and see if they have a Wiki. I’ve listed some more directories in the See Also: section below.

M

• MAP - Minor Attracted Person/People. Whitewashed term for a paedophile/pedophile.
• MBN - Must Be Nice. An expression of rueful chagrin used in several ways such as to express envy toward someone's relationship status or to show your frustration toward someone's situation which is seemingly better than yours.
• MGTOW - Men Going Their Own Way. An online social movement and backlash to feminism where men renounce interactions with women and seek to define and live out their masculinity on their own terms.
• MH - Mental Health.
• MFW - My Face/Feeling When.
• MFW; MRW - My Reaction When.
• MIA - Missing In Action.
• MLM - Multi-Level Marketing. Context Dependent because:
• MLM - Man Loves Man: On relationship subreddits. Context Dependent because:
• MLM - Mona Lisa Monday: On r/itookapicture (ITAP). A rule on ITAP is that photos with a primary focus on one person staring, looking or thinking without any other interesting action are limited to MLM Mondays (Midnight - Midnight, GMT).
• MSM - Mainstream Media.
• MTF - Male To Female. A trans person who was assigned male sex at birth and now lives as a woman with a feminine gender identity. Used in gender based discussion subs.

N

• NAD - Not A Doctor.
• NAH - No Assholes Here.
• NAL - Not A Lawyer.
• NB - Non Binary. Context Dependent because:
• NB - Nota Bene. A Latin phrase that translates to "note well" in English and is used to call attention to something important.
• NBD - No Big Deal.
• NGL - Not Gonna Lie.
• NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard. Refers to a person who objects to the siting of something perceived as unpleasant or hazardous in the area where they live, especially while raising no such objections to similar developments elsewhere.
• No Cap - A term from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning “no lie” or “for real,” often used to emphasise someone is not exaggerating about something hard to believe. See also: Cap.
• NPC - Non-Playable Character: a character in a computer game that is not controlled by someone playing the game. Increasingly used as a pejorative term to describe someone who blindly follows popular opinion without critical thinking, questioning or expressing unique viewpoints.
• NQA - Not Qualified Advice. Sometimes written as “not QA”.
• NSA - No Strings Attached.
• NSFL - Not Safe For Life (gory or extreme content).
• NSFW - Not Safe For Work (sexual content or profanity).
• NTA - Not The Asshole.
• NTB - Not The Buttface; used in r/AmItheButtface.
• NTS - Note To Self. Used in a humorous or self-deprecating way to let others in the thread know you are reminding yourself of something. “NTS: don’t sort by new ever again.”
• NVM - Nevermind.

O

• OC - Original Content.
• OF - OnlyFans. An internet content subscription service used primarily by sex workers who produce pornography.
• OMG - Oh My God. An exclamation variously expressing disbelief, frustration, excitement, or anger. Sometimes written as Ermahgerd.
• OP - Original Poster (the person who started the thread). Context Dependent because:
• OP - In gaming contexts, this means Overpowered.
• [OOC] - Out of Character. Used in roleplay subs to denote you’re making a general comment outside the roleplaying situation, such as this example.
• OOP - Original Original Poster. Used in r/BestofRedditorUpdates, r/AmITheAngel and similar subreddit discussion subs to differentiate the Original Poster of the original post from the person crossposting to the discussion sub.
• OTP - One True Pairing.

P

• PEBKAC - Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair. A term used by tech support personnel to identify a problem caused by a person, not by the computer's hardware or software. The term may be used in a humorous and/or derogatory way.
• PEMDAS - A mnemonic for remembering the order of operations in mathematics as follows: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction. See also: BEDMAS
• PGP - Personal Gender Pronoun. Context Dependent because:
• PGP - Pretty Good Privacy. A data encryption program using a mix of data compression, hashing, and public-key cryptography.
• PITA - Pain In The Ass. Someone or something that is annoying.
• POV - Point Of View. POV cinematography is a type of video filmed from the perspective of the person who is creating it; as if the viewer were behind the camera. Like cat collar cameras, or much of the comedy series Peep Show. Context Dependent because:
• POV - A newer definition used on TikTok for the “nostalgiacore” trend. This is when users try to evoke a specific memory or common occurrence, such as “the POV of remembering what it was like to wake up early for school only for it to be a snow day.” Reddit often gets these definitions mixed up.
• PSA - Public Service Announcement.
• PTS - Put To Sleep. A euphemism used in animal and pet subreddits.
• PWD - Person(s) With Disabilities. An acronym used to refer to individuals who have physical, sensory, mental, or cognitive impairments. The term is often used in discussions about accessibility, rights, and support for people with disabilities.

Q

• Q - Short for QAnon; an American political conspiracy theory and movement originating in the American far-right political sphere in 2017.
• QA - Qualified Advice; usually seen in the context of “not QA” - Not Qualified Advice.

R

• RES - Reddit Enhancement Suite. A third-party app for using Reddit, no longer under active development. See r/Enhancement.
• RIF - Reddit Is Fun. A third-party app for using Reddit, no longer under active development. See r/redditisfun.
• RL - Real Life. I remember that.
• RP - Role Play. Context Dependent because:
• RP - Received Pronunciation. An accent of Standard British English also known as “BBC English”.
• RTFR - Read The Forum / Fucking Rules / Fucking Room.

S

• SA - Social Anxiety. Context Dependent because:
• SA - Sexual Assault / Sexual Abuse.
• [SCP] - A creative commons fiction writing wiki. The central idea is that a secret organization called the SCP Foundation Secures, Contains, and Protects various ‘anomalies’; things and beings which break the rules of reality or what can be considered ‘normal’ to an everyday person, hiding their existence and containing as many as possible in top-secret, secure facilities.
• SFW - Safe For Work.
• SH - Self Harm.
• SIC - Standard Issue Cat. Commonly used on pet subreddits to describe a brown tabby cat.
• Simp - A pejorative slang term used to describe a person (usually male) who is perceived as overly submissive or even desperate for the attention or affection of someone without receiving anything in return.
• SJW - Social Justice Warrior. A pejorative term for a person who expresses or promotes socially progressive views.
• Skibidi - An adjective used to describe someone who is bad or evil. Originates from “Skibidi Toilet”; an animated show on YouTube featuring a villainous head sticking out of a toilet.
• SRS - Shit Reddit Says. Archaic. Reddit still says shit, we just don’t bother to point it out anymore.
• SMH - Shaking My Head.
• SO - Significant Other.
• SS - Submission Statement. Mandatory in post titles or first comment for some subs including r/conspiracy.

T

• TBF - To Be Fair. See also: “To be fair...”
• TBH - To Be Honest.
• TERF - Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. An advocate of radical feminism who believes that a trans woman's gender identity is not legitimate.
• TFW - The/That Feeling When.
• THOT - That Ho Over There or Thirsty Hoes Over There. Extremely derogatory.
• TIA - Thanks In Advance. Sometimes lengthened to TYSMIA - Thank You So Much In Advance.
• TIAH - Today I Am Happy.
• TID - Today I Discovered.
• TIFU - Today I Fucked Up.
• TIHI - Thanks, I Hate It.
• TIL - Today I Learned.
• TL;DR: - Too Long; Didn't Read.
• TMA - Take My Appreciation. Rarely used these days; let’s bring it back.
• TMI - Too Much Information. Because sometimes, some things are best left unsaid.
• TNR - Trap-Neuter-Return. Used on animal subs, this is a method that attempts to manage populations of feral cats by neutering, vaccinating and eartipping them before returning them to their territory.
• TOMT - Tip Of My Tongue.
• TW - Trigger Warning. Used to indicate that what follows may be disturbing to some readers. See also: CW.
• TYVM - Thank You Very Much.

U

• /unlie - Said on r/lies to denote you’re not lying. r/lies is a subreddit where you must lie and attempt to deceive the users with misinformation. Use /unlie sparingly.
• UTC - The new standard of time zones to replace the usage of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Means Coordinated Universal Time.

W

• WAP - A sexual slang acronym that stands for Wet-Ass Pussy. The acronym was created and popularized by hip-hop artist Cardi B in August 2020. Context Dependent because:
• WAP - Wireless Application Protocol. A system which allows devices such as mobile phones to connect to the internet. Back in the day, the UK mobile provider BT Cellnet advertised a plan called Genie which was £15 a month for unlimited texts and WAP; a lot for that time. Unlimited WAP is one of those phrases whose meaning has drastically altered over the past two decades.
• WDYM - What Do/Did You Mean?
• Welp - An informal variant of “well”, used to indicate disappointment, resignation, or acceptance at the beginning of a sentence: Welp, this encyclopaedia might take me longer to write than I thought.
• WIBTA - Would I Be The Asshole.
• WIBTB - Would I Be The Buttface; used in r/AmItheButtface.
• WTF - What The Fuck.

Y

• YMMV - Your Mileage May/Might Vary. What works for one person may not work for you.
• YOLO - You Only Live Once.
• YSK - You Should Know.
• YTA - You’re The Asshole.
• YTB - You’re The Buttface; used in r/AmItheButtface.
• YWBTA - You Would Be The Asshole.
• YTBTB - You Would Be The Buttface; used in r/AmItheButtface.
• YTBTC - You Would Be The Cloaca; used in r/AmItheCloaca. Yes, there is a sub for everything.

No doubt you will find acronyms across both Reddit and the internet that I don’t list in this encyclopaedia; the links below may help in this case, and another good place to start is at abbreviations.com, or the very comprehensive Acronym Finder. Explanations and appreciation of word origins can be had at r/etymology.

See Also:

• Acronyms 1: A-L
• Acronyms 3: Abbreviations
• Jargon
• Other Useful Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias and Lexicons
• Relationship Sub Acronyms and Initialisms
• Time Zones
• Tone Indicators

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger crop up in many online situations, with mixed feelings for some. This first list gives an overview of some of the more widely used ones throughout Reddit along with explanatory links where applicable. I’ve also included a few frequently used slang words. Some of our specialised communities have a wide acronym and slang language of their own so it might be useful to check and see if they have a Wiki. I’ve listed some more directories in the See Also: section below.

A

• Ä - Occasionally used to denote screaming because of its specific pronunciation in some non-English languages.
• AAVE - African American Vernacular English. A designation used by linguists to describe a North American dialect of English used by some Black people. Often heard in hip-hop or rap lyrics.
• ABDL - Adult Baby Diaper Lovers. A fetish term.
• ACAB - All Cops/Coppers Are Bastards. A derogatory acronym used by people who oppose the police for various reasons. Often used alongside or instead of ACAB is its numerical equivalent 1312, based on the letters’ alphabetical position (A is the 1st letter in the alphabet, etc.).
• ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
• AF - As Fuck; an intensifier to an adjective, as in “I thought that behaviour was rude AF.”
• AFAB - Assigned Female At Birth - Refers to the sex that is assigned to an infant, most often based on the infant’s anatomical and other biological characteristics. Used in gender based discussion subs.
• AFAIA - As Far As I’m Aware.
• AFAIK - As Far As I Know.
• AITA - Am I The Asshole.
• AITB - Am I The Buttface; used in r/AmItheButtface.
• AITBA - Am I The Bad Apple; used in r/AmITheBadApple.
• AKA - Also Known As.
• Alt - Alternative user account. You are allowed to have more than one Reddit account and are almost encouraged to if it’s necessary for privacy.
• AMA - Ask Me Anything.
• AMAB - Assigned Male At Birth - Refers to the sex that is assigned to an infant, most often based on the infant’s anatomical and other biological characteristics. Used in gender based discussion subs.
• API - Application Programming Interface. Software that allows third-party programs to tap into a company's data.
• ARG - Alternate Reality Game.
• ASAP - As Soon As Possible.
• ASMR - Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. A perceptual sensory phenomenon triggered by specific auditory or visual stimuli which encompasses a pleasant and calming “tingling” sensation localised to the scalp and neck in those able to experience it.
• ASOIAF - George R. R. Martin's fantasy novels "A Song Of Ice And Fire", televised as "Game of Thrones". The r/asoiaf subreddit has a dedicated glossary of its own.
• ATM - At The Moment.
• AWOL - Absent Without Official Leave. A military acronym meaning leaving or being absent without having permission or notifying anyone first. Like “bunking off” or “throwing a sickie”.

B

• BAME - Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic.
• BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation. On Reddit, more likely to refer to an NSFW stereotype for a particular body part of a specific colour and size. Clue: one of these young male chickens, spelled without the ‘….erel’ at the end.
• BDSM - Bondage, Dominance, Sadism, Masochism.
• BEDMAS - A mnemonic for remembering the order of operations in mathematics as follows: Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, and Subtraction. Can also be written as BODMAS with the O standing for Orders. See also: PEMDAS.
• BFF - Best Friend/s Forever.
• BFG - Big Fucking Gun. Context Dependent because:
• BFG - In Book, Reading or Movie related subs, this may refer to the Roald Dahl work the Big Friendly Giant.
• BIPOC - Black, Indigenous, and People Of Colour.
• BTS - Behind The Scenes. Context Dependent because:
• BTS - A South Korean boy group 방탄소년단, most commonly known as BTS, Beyond the Scene, or Bangtan Boys. See r/bangtan.
• BTW - By The Way.
• BWTM - But Wait, There's More.

C

• Cap - A term from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning a lie or something wildly exaggerated or false. See also: No Cap.
• CCW - Concealed Carry Weapon (US). Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon is the practice of carrying a weapon (such as a handgun) in public in a concealed manner, either on one's person or in close proximity.
• Cis - Short for the word “Cisgender” which describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not transgender. The prefix cis- is Latin and means ‘on this side of’ which is the opposite of trans-, meaning 'across from' or 'on the other side of’.
• CMV - Change My View. This is used to start debates, so engage with caution.
• CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (black). The colours used in the printing process.
• CP - Child Pornography. While this term is still widely used by the public, RAINN (the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) believes it's more accurate to call it evidence of child sexual abuse and, among other organisations, have switched to referring to it as CSAM - Child Sexual Abuse Materials.
• CPS - Child Protection Service (US). A government agency that addresses child welfare. Depending on the jurisdiction you live in, your location may use a different acronym such as CFS (Child & Family Services). Context Dependent because:
• CPS - Crown Prosecution Service (UK). The principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. Child protection services in the UK are known as Social Services.
• CSAM - Child Sexual Abuse Materials. Formerly known as “CP”.
• Cuck - Short for the archaic word “cuckold”, meaning a man whose wife/girlfriend is cheating on him. In recent times, this pejorative has taken on a wider and much darker meaning.
• CW - Content Warning. Used to indicate that what follows may be disturbing to some readers. See also: TW.

D

• DAE - Does Anybody Else.
• DARVO - A term used in relationship subreddits like r/NarcissisticAbuse. DARVO stands for Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender and is also referred to as victim blaming. Not quite the same as gaslighting; DARVO is more about deflecting or changing the subject.
• DB - Dead Bedroom. Used in Relationship subs to describe a severely inadequate or nonexistent sexual relationship.
• Delta; Delta Mark - The delta symbol (∆) is used on r/changemyview to denote a user did indeed change their view. Instructions on this delta system can be found in their sidebar.
• DGAF - Don’t Give A Fuck.
• DM - Direct Message.
• DNF - Did Not Finish. Often used in Book or Craft related subs in reference to an unfinished book or project.
• DNR - Do Not Resuscitate. An instruction often in the form of a legal document that means a person has decided not to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) attempted on them if their heart or breathing stops.
• DO40 - Dating Over 40. DO50 would be Dating Over 50 etc. Used in Relationship subs.

E

• ELI5 - Explain Like I'm 5 (years old).
• ESH - Everyone Sucks Here.
• ESL - English (as a / is my) Second Language. Context Dependent because:
• ESL - File extensions for certain plug-ins or game mods.
• ETA - Edited To Add. See also: ETA; Edit:. Context Dependent because:
• ETA - Estimated Time (of) Arrival.

F

• FAFO - Fuck Around and Find Out. Sometimes known as the FA=FO equation. A euphemistic initialism used to convey a warning or a challenge. The implication is that if someone continues to engage in risky or reckless behavior, they will eventually face negative consequences.
• FB - Facebook.
• FFS - For Fuck’s Sake. A euphemistic initialism used to express intense exasperation, frustration, anger, etc., implying the need for but without using explicit vulgarity. Context Dependent because:
• FFS - Facial Feminisation Surgery. Procedures that can reshape the face and its features to achieve a more feminine appearance where hormone therapy is not enough to achieve the desired gender-affirming changes.
• FML - Fuck My Life. An expression of rueful chagrin or exclamation of annoyance or frustration when things are not going well.
• FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out
• FR - For Real. A slang term that is commonly used to express agreement, confirmation, or sincerity.
• FTFY - Fixed That For You.
• FTM - Female To Male. A trans person who was assigned female sex at birth, and now lives as a man with a masculine gender identity. Used in gender based discussion subs.
• FTW - For The Win. Used to express approval or support. Context Dependent because:
• FTW - Fuck The World. Used as an expression of disenchantment with life in general or with a particular situation.
• FUBAR - Fucked Up Beyond All Repair. A military term meaning thoroughly confused, disordered, damaged or ruined.
• FWB - Friend/s With Benefits. A sexual but non-romantic relationship with no commitment.
• FWIW - For What It’s Worth.
• FYI - For Your Information.

G

• GRSM - Gender, Romantic, and Sexual Minorities. An alternative term sometimes used for the LGBT+ community.
• GTFO - Get The Fuck Out.
• GYAT - Get Your Act Together. Generally used to tell someone they're behaving inappropriately or telling them to behave in a better manner. Context Dependent because:
• GYAT - An AAVE (African American Vernacular English) term (also spelled as GYATT) of exclamation used to express strong excitement, surprise, or admiration. A short form of saying “goddamn”. Popularised on Twitch streams, it is most commonly used as an expression of appreciation for women with curvy figures and may be used as a noun to mean a large butt.

H

• HAM - Hard Ass/As a Motherfucker. A euphemistic initialism used to express being brutal, unstoppable, working hard, etc., implying the need for but without using explicit vulgarity.
• HIFW - How I Feel When.
• HMU - Hit Me Up. Context Dependent; either ask me for a favour or contact me.
• HOA - Home Owners Associations (US). Private organizations that oversee the management of some residential communities. HOAs establish sets of rules and regulations (often called “bylaws”) for those living in the community to follow.
• HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy. A treatment that helps people with symptoms of menopause.

I

• IAmA - I Am A.
• IANAD - I Am Not A Doctor.
• IANAL - I Am Not A Lawyer.
• ICYMI - In Case You Missed It.
• IDC - I Don’t Care.
• IDEK - I Don’t Even Know.
• IDGAF - I Don’t Give A Fuck.
• IDK - I Don’t Know.
• IG - I Guess. Can also be short for Instagram.
• IIRC - If I Recall/Remember Correctly.
• IJBOL - I Just Burst Out Laughing. An alternative to LMAO often used in K-pop communities.
• IKR - I Know, Right? When you wholeheartedly agree with what someone is saying.
• IME - In My Experience.
• IMHO - In My Honest/Humble Opinion.
• IMO - In My Opinion.
• INCEL - A portmanteau of "involuntary celibate". A member of an online subculture of people (usually male) who define themselves as unable to get a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one.
• IRL - In Real Life.
• IRTR - I Read The Rules. Mandatory in post titles or first comment for some subs.
• ITAP - I Took A Picture.
• IYKYK - If You Know, You Know. If you were there, you'd know, but if you weren't, you wouldn't.

J

• JK - Just Kidding.

K

• K-pop - Popular music originating from South Korea.
• kys - Kill Your Self. This is an acronym you should always report immediately if you see it being used on Reddit. Originating in gaming communities, this is shorthand for “kill your self [sic]” as an “edgy” way to say “fuck you”. However, Reddit believes that suicide is a very serious subject and this kind of language should not be taken lightly. Inviting someone to commit suicide is against our code of conduct and may well incur a ban.

L

• LAOP - Legal Advice Original Poster; used in r/bestoflegaladvice to differentiate the Original Poster of the original post from the person crossposting to the discussion sub.
• LARP; LARPer - Live Action Role Play.
• LDR - Long Distance Relationship.
• LE - Law Enforcement.
• LGBT+; LGBTQIA+ - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (or sometimes Questioning), Intersex, Asexual, and Others. Sometimes referred to pejoratively as “The alphabet community”.
• LMAO - Laughing My Ass (US) / Arse (UK) Off. An intensified “LOL” or “Laugh Out Loud”. The entry on Jargon has a look at the changing meaning of “LOL” over the years.
• LMK - Let Me Know.
• LPT - Life Pro Tip.
• LTR - Long-Term Relationship.

No doubt you will find acronyms across both Reddit and the internet that I don’t list in this encyclopaedia; the links below may help in this case, and another good place to start is at abbreviations.com, or the very comprehensive Acronym Finder. Explanations and appreciation of word origins can be had at r/etymology.

See Also:

• Acronyms 2: M-Z
• Acronyms 3: Abbreviations
• F or "F" In The Comments
• Gaslighting
• Jargon
• Other Useful Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias and Lexicons
• Relationship Sub Acronyms and Initialisms
• Tone Indicators

• Z

• YMMV
• YOLO
• “You are doing that too much”
• "You are technically correct, the best type of correct"
• YSK
• YTA
• YWBTA

• X-Post

• “We did it, Reddit!”
• Whataboutism
• “When is the best time to Post for maximum attention?”
• Wholesome
• WIBTA
• Wiki
• wildbeef
• Wishful Multiupvote
• Witty Comebacks
• woooosh
• WSB

• Visibility
• Void
• Vote Arrows hidden or greyed-out on Posts
• Vote Fuzzing
• Vote Manipulation
• Vowels

• u/
• Unexpected……
• Unsee Juice
• untrustworthypoptarts
• Unwritten Rules of Reddit
• The “Unwritten Rule of Gilding”
• Upvote
• User Flair
• User-History Based Moderation
• Username
• UsernameChecksOut
• UWU

• T-Shirt Posts
• “Take my upvote and leave.”
• Tales From…
• TBH
• technicallythetruth
• Tendies
• Test post please ignore
• TFW
• thatHappened
• thatshowthingswork
• “The Big List of Retired Questions”
• Themes
• “The Narwhal Bacons at Midnight”
• TheRealJoke
• “There’s a Subreddit for everything”
• TheseFuckingAccounts
• theydidthemath
• theyknew
• This
• “This is the newest project of him?”
• ”This is the way”
• Throwaway Account
• TIAH
• TID
• TIHI
• TIFU
• TIL
• Time Magazine Person of the Year (2006)
• Time Zones
• Timing
• titlegore
• TL;DR:
• “To be fair...”
• TOMT
• Tone Indicators
• Top-Level Comment
• Trophies
• TW; CW
• Two-Factor Authorisation; 2FA
• “Two Redditors One Cup”

• /s
• Sadfishing
• Sagan Standard
• ”Sauce?”
• Save
• Scams
• Sealioning
• Searching
• [[Serious]]
• SFW
• Shadowban
• Shill
• Shipping
• Shitpost
• Sidebar
• “Sir, this is a Wendy's”
• SJW
• SMH
• smol
• Snoo
• Snoovatar
• Snowclone
• SO
• Sock Puppet
• Sort
• Spam
• Spambots
• Spambot Spotting
• Spambot Spotting Resources
• Spelling and Grammar
• Spelling and Punctuation
• Spelling and Punctuation: Apostrophe Traps
• Starter Packs
• Statistics
• Stonks
• Strawman Argument
• Streisand Effect
• Subscribers
• Subreddit
• SubsTakenLiterally
• Suspended
• Suspicious Activity
• Switcharoo or "Ah, The Ole Reddit Switch-a-roo"

• r/
• Rage Face, Rage Comic
• “Reactions”
• Recovering a Lost / Forgotten Username
• Reddit
• Reddit Coins
• The Reddit Hug of Death
• “Reddit is strange like that.”
• Reddit Lore
• Redditor
• “Reddit Moment”
• Reddit Moons
• Reddit Premium
• Reddit Recap
• Reddit Talk
• Reddiquette
• Relationship Advice on Reddit
• Relationship and Advice Subreddits
• Relationship Sub Acronyms and Initialisms
• Removed
• Replies
• Reporting
• Repost
• RES
• restofthefuckingowl
• Restricted Subreddits
• Revenge Subreddits
• Reverse Image Searching
• Rickroll
• “rimjob_steve”
• RL
• Role-Playing on Reddit
• RPAN
• “Rule of Shoe”
• Rules
• “Rules of the Internet”

• quityourbullshit
• Quoting

• Padlock
• Parent / Child Comment
• Passwords
• Paywalls
• Pedant; Pedantry
• Perchance
• Permaban
• Peter Explains The Joke
• PGP
• Philosophical Razors
• Ping
• Pinned Posts
• Place
• Platinum Awards
• Poe’s Law
• “Pog”; “Poggers”
• Poop Knife
• Popper's Falsifiability Principle
• Porn
• Post
• Post Flair
• Post Insights
• Posting Images on Reddit
• Potato Quality
• Powermods
• Powerups
• Preemptive Ban
• Premium Reddit
• Privacy Issues
• Private Subreddits
• Profile
• Profile Page
• PSA
• Psychology on Reddit
• Puns and Pop-Culture References

• ObviousPlant
• OC
• Occam's Razor
• Official Reddit Announcements
• One-word Replies
• Online Manipulation
• Online status controls
• OP
• Orangered
• Other Useful Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias and Lexicons
• OTP
• Oversharing

• NAH
• Neckbeard
• New Reddit; Old Reddit
• New Year Celebrations on Reddit
• Next-Generation Recommendations
• NGL
• “Nice.”
• “Ninja Edit:”
• “No good deed goes unpunished”
• nosafetysmokingfirst
• ”Not all X are Like That”
• Notification
• Notorious Redditors
• NP or “No Participation”
• NSFL
• NSFW
• NSFW Accounts
• nottheonion
• NTA
• NYTO or “No, you’re thinking of...”

• Markdown Text
• “May I see it?”
• “Maybe the real treasure was the friends we made along the way".
• Medical Advice on Reddit
• Memes
• Mental Health on Reddit
• Messages
• Meta
• MFW; MRW
• Misleading Subreddit Titles
• MLM
• Mod
• ModerationMediation
• Modmail
• “Mods are asleep, post……”
• Moons
• MSM
• Multipost
• Multireddit
• ”My (24F) friend (26M)”