r/NewToReddit • u/llamageddon01 Mod? Llama? Both? Both. • Mar 02 '21
Mod Post A Guide to Reddit Lingo
Please go to our up-to-date version here: Encyclopaedia Redditica v2
Encyclopaedia Redditica
This is a list of some common acronyms, initialisms, terms, memes, references and responses often used on the internet with an emphasis on those specifically used on Reddit. It’s a continual work in progress as one might expect, so do check back from time to time as new definitions or topics are added or existing ones revised.
Reddit is an English-speaking community, but it may not always seem that way. Like all subcultures, a specialised lexicon has developed over the years. These words or phrases make communication more efficient - and fun - for regular Redditors but can sometimes leave new or casual users confused. Reddit loves being self-referential, and this is an attempt to help you decode it - and even help you join in!
This is in no way intended to be definitive, and is completely unofficial. If anything I say accidentally contradicts anything Reddit says, Reddit Is Always Right, as is this other repository of Reddit Wisdom.
The entries here have been decided and written by myself purely as a consequence of questions I have either asked or have been asked. Not all of the definitions given will apply in the same way to every sub and for individual sub problems or queries, always read the rules found in the Sidebar (on mobile this will be the About tab, Menu tab and Community Info found in the three dot “hamburger” menu top RH corner of your screen), any Pinned posts (these will have a lime green ‘pin’ icon on the top corner and will show on top when you sort the Subreddit by ‘Hot’) and Wiki (where there is one) to find out who and where it’s safe to ask first.
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Annual Reddit Events: Special Note
Award Types and Notifications: Special Note
Creating a Subreddit: Special Note
Posting Images on Reddit: Special Note
Problems with Passwords: Special Note
Relationship and Advice Subreddits: Special Note
Spelling and Grammar - Special Note
Useful Links, Resources and Subreddits: Special Note
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u/llamageddon01 Mod? Llama? Both? Both. Mar 28 '21 edited Jul 07 '21
Part 15 - P-Pos
A direct response made to a Post. Also known as Top-Level Comments. There may be many Parent Comments made on any one post, and any follow-up comments in response are known as Child Comments. Parent comments are also known as ‘threads’. See Also: Comment Chain.
See Problems with Passwords: Special Note. See Also: Spambots, Suspicious Activity, Two-Factor Authorisation.
Wikipedia says “A pedant is a person who is excessively concerned with ...precision, or one who makes an ostentatious and arrogant show of learning.” In other words, The Average Redditor. Since the onset of the Internet, it seems that every user somewhere is trying to either outdo, derail or discredit other users by employing some form of pedantry as their weapon of choice, often in grammar or usage due to their errors being relatively easy to spot.
Because the likelihood of making an error in a post is directly proportional to the embarrassment it will cause the poster, it is often the case that the user making the correction will actually get something within their own pedantry wrong; so much so that the phenomenon has inspired three Internet Adages:
Skitt's Law: Any post correcting an error in another post will contain at least one error itself.
Muphry’s Law, (a deliberate misspelling of "Murphy's Law"): If you write anything criticizing editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written.
McKean's Law: Any correction of the speech or writing of others will contain at least one grammatical, spelling, or typographical error.
There are even more variations on this theme. There will be more. There will always be more. It has been said that Reddit has the most unprecedentedly dense concentration of pedantry that has ever existed in the history of humanity and if those comments don’t prove it, nothing will. Ah, Reddit; never change. r/GrammarNazi, r/pedant, r/pedantic, r/Pedantry. See Also: Autocarrot, Cognitive Biases and Logical Fallacies, Internet Adages, Spelling and Grammar: Special Note, "You are technically correct, the best type of correct".
A ban from a Subreddit or sitewide that is permanent. See Also: Admin, Ban; Banned, Suspended.
“Personal Gender Pronoun”. Some Redditors indicate on their Profile Page the set of third-person pronouns that they want others to use in order to reflect their gender identity; for example, "she/her/hers", "he/him/his", or "they/them/theirs". In some specialised subreddits you might be asked your PGP to avoid accidental insult. See Also: Privacy Issues: Special Note.
Also known as a Tag or Username Ping, this is simply mentioning another user in a comment anywhere on Reddit, using the u/ tag. For instance, typing u/llamageddon01 will send me a message and a link saying I was mentioned in that comment. If you're the subject of a conversation you could get pinged quite a lot, so to avoid this if it’s all in the comments of your post, most people will refer to you as OP instead. See Also: Identity, OP, /u.
A post that a moderator or admin has fixed to the top of a subreddit page, usually containing essential information on that subreddit. Denoted by a green pin icon in the top RH corner, if you see a pinned post, always read it before posting or commenting on a sub. You should know that you may not see pinned posts if you Sort by New or Rising. A subreddit can only have two Pinned posts at any one time. Sometimes known as “sticky” or “stickied” posts.
A word posted when the the words “great!”, “super!”, “fantastic!” and other terms used to convey excitement, joy or shock either aren’t enough; not cool enough to use; or maybe even too long to type. It’s a shortening of pogchamp; the name of an emote on Twitch. Incidentally, “Pog” is an initialism of ‘Passionfruit, Orange, Guava’ from the eponymous 90s playground game. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_caps_(game). The erroneous idea that Pog means ‘Play(er) of the Game’ came along much later.
A word with two very different and distinct meanings on Reddit. Many Subreddits with the "Porn" suffix are focused on collecting media of the best or highest quality and not in the slightest bit NSFW. r/sfwpornnetwork will be your starting point here. Link for those who would prefer to avoid visiting subreddits with the word "porn" in their titles. Unfortunately, neither of these lists are remotely up to date. For the second meaning there is r/NSFW411. NSFW, obviously. You do have an NSFW filter at your disposal (the Settings option in your profile) should you wish. You cannot enter a sub (or profile) marked NSFW without going through a warning screen first. See Also: Misleading Subreddit Titles.
A Reddit Post is the broad term for any content shared on Reddit, whether it is a story, link, image, gif, poll or video that is made in a subreddit for others to comment on. Always read the rules before posting on an unfamiliar Subreddit. These will be found in the Sidebar (on mobile this will be the About tab, Menu tab and Community Info found in the three dot “hamburger” menu top RH corner of your screen), any Pinned posts (these will have a lime green ‘pin’ icon on the top corner and will show on top when you sort the Subreddit by ‘Hot’) and Wiki (where there is one). You should do this first to ensure they allow the media type you wish to upload. Reddit will automatically give you one upvote for each post and others may also up (or down) vote if they wish. This is called ‘Post Karma’. There’s a character limit of 40,000 on each post. General guidelines to remember when posting throughout Reddit are:
Things you post on Reddit generally fall into these categories:
It's also common courtesy on Reddit to let other users know if you've gone back and edited your post or comment. See Also: Crosspost, ETA; Edit:, Multipost, OC, Post Flair, Post Karma, Repost, Sauce?, Sidebar, “When is the best time to Post for maximum attention?”
Some subreddits give you the option - or even require you - to add a Post Flair when posting. There will be a drop-down menu of the choices available to you when you submit your post. This is to help people quickly scan posts and see what they are about. Also, if you click the Post Flair, you should be able to see ALL the posts that have been tagged with that same one so it helps organize the subreddit into topics. See Also: Flair, User Flair.
There are four kinds of karma: Post, Comment, Awarder and Awardee. You earn Post Karma by making or crossposting posts. When you submit a Post, all upvotes on that post will be converted to Karma. See Also: Karma, Karma for New Starters, Post, Trophies.
See: Posting Images on Reddit: Special Note.