Tone indicators are shorthand for words used to convey tone, which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as "a quality in the voice that expresses the speaker's feelings or thoughts".
Tone can do so much to change the meaning and implications of a sentence.
The intended use of tone indicators is in text, and they are prevalent on social media where miscommunication is rife, and posts and messages are often misinterpreted.
Tone can be especially difficult to parse for neurodivergent people. This is not to say that neurotypical people never misunderstand tone through text, or even face-to-face, because they do — but that neurodivergent people may experience and interpret tone differently.
They are simply paralinguistic signifiers used at the ends of statements to help readers fill in the blanks.
They can also be called written shorthand for the poster’s (OP's) intent and emotion.
It's entirely too easy to use them, simply use them after, or even before, the sentence that you wish to clarify.
"Can you explain this for me? /gen"
I'm going to make a masterlist of all the tone indicators I've seen so far, adding some that aren't in popular usage, some I personally use with my friends, some that I believe should exist, under the cut.
In some cases, I've seen multiple versions of the tone indicator, in which case I've put the more popular one first (at least by what I've seen).
Tone Indicators I've Seen Popularly Used
/j: joking
"i'll have to deactivate my account now /j"
/hj: half-joking
"we should definitely date /hj"
/s, /sarc, /sarcasm: sarcasm
"i absolutely love being sad /s"
/srs: serious
"i'm just so very tired /srs"
/nsrs: not serious
"my leg's hurting a little bit but i'm okay /nsrs"
/g: genuine statement
"i'm thankful that you're talking to me right now /g"
/lh: light-hearted
"isn't is spelled 'unnecessary'? /lh"
/nm: not really mad or upset
"i think you got that fact wrong /nm"
/pos, /pc: positive connotation
"the movie's back on for tomorrow! /pos"
/neg, /nc: negative connotation
"i have work tomorrow /neg"
/ly, /l: lyrics
"she's a, she's a lady, and i am just a boy /ly"
/p: platonic
"i just want to hug you /p"
/gen: genuine question
"are you okay with me talking right now? /gen"
/t: teasing
"it seems your sense of humour is horrible /t"
Tone Indicators I Haven't Seen Popularly, but I Have Seen, and Also Sometimes Use
/ref: reference
"it's like none pizza with left beef /ref"
/nbh: nobody here, for vague mentioning
"i'm just so angry at someone /nbh"
/r: romantic
"i really want to cuddle with you right now /r"
/sx, /x: sexual intent
(Used for sexual innuendos, or similar hinting)
/nsx, /nx: non-sexual intent
(Used to clarify the lack of any such sexual intent in a statement)
/m: metaphorical
"i was just swept away by a wave /m"
/li: literal
"the fish was as big as my torso /li"
/ij: inside joke
"it's a whale on dry land /ij"
/rh, /rt: rhetorical
"who even cares? /rh"
/hyp: hyperbole (exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally)
"i've told her ten thousand times to stop playing that song /hyp"
/c: copypasta (a block of text which is copied and pasted across the Internet by individuals through online forums and social networking websites)
/f: fake
"i saw this post yesterday /f", which could be accompanied by an edited or modified post
/th: threat
"i will get you to read that book /th"
/cb: clickbait
"this website saved my life! /cb"
Tone Indicators I Use With My Friends, or Believe Should Be Mainstream
/a: affectionate
"you're a bitch /a"
/q: quote
"get up, get up, there are worlds to conquer /q"
/nf: not forced
"do you want to go out with me today? /nf"
/pa: passive-aggressive
"looks like someone has been talking to someone else behind my back /pa"
/npa: not passive-aggressive
"i think someone has stolen my pen /npa"
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senior/elderly nonbinary people. I adore you and you make the world a better place. whether you've known for multiple decades or you just found out last year. thank you for just Being. so much love from me.
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when i was at walgreens (at 3 in the morning which explains all of this) the cashier was talking to her coworker about how shed rather be a werewolf than a vampire because vampires are condemned to hell but werewolves arent and then she asked me what i thought and i said vampire because im already condemned to hell and she said in the nicest tone of voice “i dont think anybody is condemned to hell….” paused, stared at me for a few moments, and added on “…not even gay people”
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Like I don't think you guys comprehend what happened in Poland just now but everyone needs to be talking about it.
A random influencer decided he'll listen to an anti cancer song on loop. People liked it enough times he ended up listening for 9 days.
He raised 90 million in these 9 days, and then 160 million more over the last 10 hours, for a total of 250 million.
Hundreds and thousands of people signed up to donate marrow.
Hundreds of celebrities shaved their heads in solidarity.
The Foundation receiving this money had to create a special commission to figure out how to distribute the money.
The national TV stations got highjacked to stream this for hours because it was better news than anything happening in the world.
Because we broke and DOUBLED the world record for this kind of thing.
They raised about as much as the biggest running charity event in Poland did in a whole year with three decades of tradition and a goddamn army of people.
And they did it on a goddamn amateur set up in a shabby room sitting on folding chairs.
Little update: people keep donating despite the stream being over. We're at 280 million in the fight against cancer.
Łatwogang refuses to collab with companies that only reached out to him now because of popularity or give interviews. He said any medals people wanna give them should go to the doctors and nurses and the cancer patients.
Someone offered to renovate that shabby little flat for him as a thank you. He refused.
Someone counted up how many people appeared in that room during the whole thing - it was 319 total.
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