RTFM

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For other uses, see RTFM (disambiguation).

RTFM is an initialism for the expression "Read The Fucking Manual" (sometimes flaming or another metaphor or profanity) or, in the context of a Unix environment, "Read The Fucking Man page".

The RTFM instruction is sometimes given in response to a question when the person being asked believes that the question could be easily answered by reading the relevant user's manual or instructions. In expurgated texts, substitutions such as "read the flaming manual" or "read the friendly manual" are used[1] (or similar variants). Initialisms similar to RTFM include GIYF ("Google is your friend") and LMGTFY ("let me google that for you"). These indicate that the item under question can easily be researched on the World Wide Web.

Many alternative expansions for "RTFM" exist (particularly expurgated ones), as do many similarly themed alternative initialisms.

Contents

Possible origins [edit]

The phrase RTFM may have first appeared in print in 1979 on the Table of Contents page of the LINPACK Users' Guide[2] in the form: "R.T.F.M." -- Anonymous. Apocryphally, some of the authors heard it from a Tektronix salesman.

The phrase RTFM was in common use in the early 1950s by radio and radar technicians in the US Air Force. Operators frequently did not check simple faults, for example checking whether a fuse had blown or a power plug had become disconnected.[citation needed]

List of expurgated expansions [edit]

  • Read the fantastic manual
  • Read the field manual (military contexts)
  • Read the fine manual
  • Read the fine material
  • Read the freaking manual
  • Read the friendly manual
  • Read the full manual
  • Read the full-on manual
  • Read the furnished materials
  • Read that fabulous manual
  • Read the flipping manual (British slang)
  • Read the festering manual (British slang)

List of similar initialisms [edit]

Encouraging the reading of the manual or other background information [edit]

  • RTBM ("read the bloody manual") (In some countries, e.g., the UK and Australia, this is a fractionally more polite alternative with identical meaning[3])
  • RTFA ("read the fucking/featured article"—common on news forums such as Fark.com[4] and Slashdot, where using "TFA" instead of "the article" has become a meme)
  • RTFE ("read the fucking e-mail")
  • RTFC ("read the fucking code" [also "reboot the fucking computer" or "read the fucking card"])
  • RTFSC ("read the fucking source code")
  • RTFSM ("read the fucking SWIFT message")
  • RTFQ ("read the fucking question")
  • RTFFAQ ("read the fucking frequently asked questions")
  • UTFH ("use the fucking help")
  • UTSL ("use the source, Luke", a play on the famous Star Wars quote, "Use the Force, Luke", referring to freely available source code)
  • RTFI ("read the flaming instructions")
  • RTFB ("read the fucking brief" common in advertising, design, photography)
  • RTFP ("read the fucking plan" common in construction, engineering, stage design)

Encouraging the use of at least a basic search [edit]

  • UTFG ("Use the fucking Google")
  • GIYF ("Google is your friend") ("Google it yourself fucker")
  • JFGI ("just fucking Google it")
  • LMGTFY ("let me google that for you") The basis for the website lmgtfy.com
  • JFWI ("just fucking Wiki it")
  • JGIYN ("just Google it, you noob")
  • STFG "search the fucking Google" (the initials are consonant with STFU)
  • STFW ("search the fucking Web") (the initials are consonant with STFU)
  • WIDGI ("when in doubt, Google it"—also occasionally "WIDGIT")
  • CDOG ("Cari di Om Google")

Retorts for the acronyms above [edit]

  • WABM ("write a better manual" – an answer to complaining that the manual is not written well)

See also [edit]

Look up RTFM or RTFA in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References [edit]

  1. ^ Howard, Michael, David LeBlanc, and John Viega. 19 Deadly Sins of Software Security: Programming Flaws and How to Fix Them. New York: McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2005. ISBN 0-07-226085-8.
  2. ^ Dongarra, J. J., C. B. Moler, J. R. Bunch, and G. W. Stewart. LINPACK User's Guide. Philadelphia: SIAM, 1979. ISBN 0-89871-172-X.
  3. ^ "RTBM definition". foldoc.com. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 
  4. ^ "Routine traffic stop has man up in arms. Er, caught red-handed. Er, never mind, just RTFA". Fark.com. 2008-11-28. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
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