Some context on the acronym (which typically stands for "the fucking article"): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19781756

Interesting… the first time I’ve come across a useless acronym.

I guess the more useful and original one is RTFA, and TFA is a derivative that gets used sometimes.

And RTFM predates that one. Read the f manual is a common reply to basic questions about tools and commands in Linux.

That makes more sense, RTFA.

RTFA and TFA are not equivalent! One is a verb, "you should RTFA, it answers your question!" while the other is a noun, "TFA mentions this syntax is useful because [...]".

In any case, I made the mistake of assuming everyone is currently familiar with the idiom just because it was widespread when I joined HN.

I suppose at one point it'll be a mistake to assume everyone knows what ROTFL or LOL or IMO mean, just because they used to be widespread internet culture at one point.

I said "derivative", not equivalent.

Also, TFA used singularly is different from just saying "the article", e.g. when you want to imply RTFA. Within your comment you could see the "F" part was quite out of nowhere and can be considered rude.

> Within your comment you could see the "F" part was quite out of nowhere and can be considered rude.

Not if you see actual usage: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

Context matters, and people here usually interpret it as "The Fine Article", and it was indeed written in that sense. It's supposed to be a shortcut (not rude like RTFM, which does have a meaning of impatience because it's directed at people perceived as too lazy to search the docs).

Anyway, a shortcut that requires this much explanation is a failed shortcut, and I apologize for that. It's sometimes hard for me to realize that what used to be a really common idiom that needed no explanations can quickly become something unfamiliar to new readers. Just in case, I won't use it again.

I miss being able to say "re" (re-hi or re-hello) instead of WB (welcome back).

It is quite useful; and if you read many HN comment sections, you will see it often.

Usage in HN is widespread, but with such a huge volume of comments, it's entirely possible for one user never to encounter any particular acronym.

See usage in HN (yes, the latest ones are mine): https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

It's a Slashdot-ism even older than HN

I like to read it as "the featured article".

I always understood it to stand for for "The Full Article", as in not just the title and not just any quoted excerpts (since Slashdot and some other sites it's used on have excerpts).

> TFA?

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse.

I've seen the idiom so many times here on HN I assumed it was widespread. It means "The Fine Article" (replace Fine with Fucking if feeling impatient).

It comes from the extremely well known idiom RTFM, for Read The Fucking Manual, used in unixy/hacker circles when someone asks for something trivially answerable by simply reading the manual.

I forgot that with new generations of techies, the old idioms become obscure or are replaced by newer idioms!