You might be browsing the news feed of any social media platform and come across a post that starts with TIL. If you don’t know about its meaning, you may be wondering what does this acronym refer to. There is no need to feel embarrassed as online language abbreviations are numerous and the number is only growing. Don’t worry as we tell you what does TIL mean and how did it originate.
What Does TIL Mean?
The online abbreviation TIL means “today I learned.” It’s commonly used to share some information that people learned recently. For example, you’ve learned something new and interesting that you want to share with your friends and followers on social media. In that case, you can use TIL before sharing that information.
Now, this new information or fact could be anything. It could be a new technique to peel onion without tears or some obscure but effective way of doing a task. In both cases, you can use TIL while sharing with others.
You can also use TIL to refer to a piece of information that isn’t revolutionary, however, you think that you’ve found out about it too late. This use is common in forums and social media, such as Reddit and Twitter.
Where and How to Use TIL
Many internet acronyms are used in lowercase, while some can be used in both lowercase and uppercase. However, if you want to use TIL, you need to use it in all CAPS or uppercase.
Also, place this internet acronym at the beginning of the sentence or the whole post. Putting it just before the new piece of information you’re going to present will make it perfect. You should put a dash or colon after TIL.
The History of TIL
Apart from knowing what does TIL mean, you should also know a bit about its history. If you think TIL is the product of the chatroom culture of the 1990s, you’re wrong. Unlike other internet words, its history is much more recent. While the exact date of origin is hard to find, it most likely originated in the mid-2000s. Users started to use this internet slang in old social networking and forums while sharing recently discovered cool facts.
Later in 2008, the word rose to fame, thanks to the subreddit called “r/TodayILearned.” Currently, It’s one of the biggest Reddit communities with over 28 million subscribers. Here, people regularly post interesting facts.
Even on Twitter, many people share new facts and information using TIL. The acronym itself works as the driving force to ignite interest among the readers.
Nowadays, even the mainstream media have also picked up this abbreviation. To share exciting and out-of-the-box information, various news and educational agencies regularly use TIL. In fact, National Geographic hosts a daily video series named “Today I Learned.”
Wrapping Up
In this blog, we discussed what does TIL mean. Besides, we talked about the best situations to use this abbreviation and how people started to use it. After reading this blog, you shouldn’t have any confusion about it and can use them in the right situations.
If you’re interested in online slang, take a look at what does gtg mean in text messaging.
Tamal is a freelance writer at AddictiveTips. After gaining substantial experience in technology, finance, and business processes in his previous job in an IT consulting company, he adopted writing as a full-time profession 3 years ago. While not writing about the latest technology, he loves to play COD and binge-watch
