Where it sits
Warmer than a plain bye: it ends the chat but leaves the door open.
Tell it apart
| Aspect | Ttyl | Brb |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Talk to you later | Be right back |
| Ends the chat? | Yes, for now | No, it pauses it |
| Gap expected | Hours or days | Minutes |
Brb promises you'll be back in this conversation in a moment. Ttyl closes this conversation and promises another one.
What it really means
Ttyl belongs to a time when leaving a conversation needed announcing. In a real-time chat window, going quiet looked like a crash or a sulk, so people signed off properly: "talk to you later".
It is older than most people expect. In a 2008 Computerworld piece on the origins of internet shorthand, linguist Ben Zimmer reported finding TTYL as early as 1985 in archived online text files. The same piece suggests it became popular on AOL, where chatting was one-to-one and immediate, which is exactly where you need a polite exit.
By the early 2000s it was familiar enough to be a book title. Lauren Myracle's 2004 novel ttyl, which Wikipedia describes as the first novel written entirely in the style of instant messaging, tells its story through three friends' chats.
Today ttyl feels a little retro. Everyone understands it, but in our judgement it belongs to the era of away messages and dial-up tones, and many younger texters skip the sign-off and let a chat trail off. Still, it has a warmth a plain "bye" lacks. It ends this conversation and promises the next one.
Where it comes from
talk to
you
later
A sign-off for a medium where leaving needed announcing: in real-time chat, simply going quiet looked like you'd been cut off.
- 1985
Linguist Ben Zimmer finds TTYL as early as 1985 in old online text files (Computerworld, 2008).
- 1990s
Becomes a fixture of one-to-one chat; Computerworld suggests it likely became popular on AOL.
- 2004
Lauren Myracle publishes the novel ttyl, described by Wikipedia as the first novel written entirely in the style of instant messaging.
In real life
- Text: "gotta run, dinner's ready. ttyl!"
- Text: "ok I'm boarding now, ttyl"
- Text: "ttyl, good luck with the interview"
Questions
Q01What does ttyl mean?
"Talk to you later." It's a friendly way to end a conversation for now: "gotta go, ttyl!"
Q02Is ttyl old-fashioned?
A little. It was everywhere in the instant-messaging era and is still understood, but in our judgement younger texters use it less, often just letting a chat trail off instead.
Q03How old is ttyl?
Older than texting. Computerworld reported in 2008 that linguist Ben Zimmer had found it as early as 1985 in archived online text files.
Sources
- TTYL — Dictionary.com.
- FWIW: The origins of 'net shorthand — Computerworld, 2008.
- ttyl (novel) — Wikipedia.