A tone indicator or tone tag is a symbol attached to a sentence or message sent in a textual form, such as over the internet, to explicitly state the intonation or intent of the message, especially when it may be otherwise ambiguous. Tone indicators start with a forward slash (/
), followed by a short series of letters, usually a shortening of another word. Examples include /j
, meaning "joking"; /srs
, meaning "serious"; or /s
, meaning "sarcastic".
Early attempts to create tone indicators stemmed from the difficulty of denoting irony in print media, and so several irony punctuation marks were proposed. The percontation point (⸮
; a reversed question mark) was proposed by Henry Denham in the 1580s to denote a rhetorical question, but usage died out by the 1700s. [1] In 1668, John Wilkins proposed the irony mark , using an inverted exclamation mark (¡
) to denote an ironic statement. Various other punctuation marks were proposed over the following centuries to denote irony, but none gained popular usage. [2] In 1982, the emoticon was created to be used to denote jokes (with :-)
) or things that are not jokes (with :-(
). [3]
The syntax of modern tone indicators stems from /s , which has long been used on the internet to denote sarcasm. [4] This symbol is an abbreviated version of the earlier /sarcasm
, itself a simplification of </sarcasm>
, the form of a humorous XML closing tag marking the end of a "sarcasm" block, and therefore placed at the end of a sarcastic passage. [5]
On the internet, one or more tone indicators may be placed at the end of a message. A tone indicator on the internet often takes the form of a forward slash (/
) followed by an abbreviation of a relevant adjective; alternatively, a more detailed textual description (e. g., / friendly, caring about your well-being
) may be used. For example, /srs
may be attached to the end of a message to indicate that the message is meant to be interpreted in a serious manner, as opposed to, for example, being a joke (which is commonly represented as /j
). Tone indicators are used to explicitly state the author's intent, instead of leaving the message up to interpretation. [6] [4]
Abbreviation | Meaning |
---|---|
/j | joking |
/hj | half joking |
/bj | bad joke |
/js | just saying |
/s or /sarc | sarcastic / sarcasm |
/srs | serious |
/nsrs | not serious |
/lh | light hearted |
/hlh | half light hearted |
/g or /gen | genuine |
/i | ironic |
/ui | unironic |
/vu | very upset |
/ij | inside joke |
/ref | reference |
/t | teasing |
/nm | not mad |
/lu | a little upset |
/nf | not forced |
/nbh | nobody here; nobody in this conversation |
/nsb | not subtweeting; not referring to anybody |
/nay | not at you |
/ay | at you |
/nbr | not being rude |
/nv or /nav | not venting/not a vent |
/ot | off topic |
/th | threat |
/cb | clickbait |
/f | fake |
/q | quote |
/l or /ly or /lyr | lyrics |
/c | copypasta |
/m | metaphor / metaphorically |
/li | literal / literally |
/rt or /rh | rhetorical question |
/hyp | hyperbole |
/e | excited |
/ex | exaggeration |
/p or /pl | platonic |
/r | romantic |
/a | alterous / affectionately |
/sx or /x | sexual intent |
/nsx | non-sexual intent |
/ns | non-sexual intent or not sure |
/pc or /pos | positive connotation |
/nc or /neg | negative connotation |
/neu | neutral / neutral connotation |
/nh | not hostile |
/npa | not passive aggressive |
/st | still thinking |
/mj | mainly/mostly joking |
/ma | messing around |
/hsrs | half serious |
/hs | half sarcastic |
/dr | don't reply |
/dkm | don't kill me |
/cwh | coping with humor |
/cr | cringey |
/cur | curious |
/mhly | misheard lyrics |
/msrs | mostly serious |
/ms | mostly sarcastic |
/non | nonsense |
/genq or /gq | genuine question |
/jbt | joking but true |
/rb | ragebait / Rage-baiting |
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