# Too long, did not read! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 14, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734 "2003-06-14T03:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/21 "2003-06-14T14:16:31Z")
There’s something to be said about being concise. Long posts are often informative, but some take a point and merely beat it to death, rather than using the bulk of the post to support the initial claim or thesis. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/22 "2003-06-14T14:40:35Z")
**dantheman** , I bet you had something really important to say in your post, but it was so long that I stopped reading after “concise”😉 ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/23 "2003-06-14T14:51:20Z")
? ! . ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/24 "2003-06-14T15:59:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FranticMad \* > \*\*Too long, did not read? If you’re not going to read the package then you have to ask, yes, _ask_ a clerk which condoms are smaller in size. That way there are no suprises when the moment of truth comes (so to speak, I really did not mean to make that terrible pun) and you try to pull out but you’ve shrunk already and the damn thing stays inside and you think “Jeez I wish I had read that package to know what size of condom I was buying; these things are Xtra Xtra Large and I need Teensie Teensie Small”. If you need more information about condoms I have a website and quarterly publication. Thank you, but read next time. \*\* Um, so not wanting to slog through a post that rambles on for the length of a bible equals having a small penis? Yeah, can’t argue with that logic. I won’t even try. I must say that a well written and appropriately paragraphed post will keep my attention. “The Horror of Blimps” kept my attention throughout. But when I see a huge block of text with no breaks and no clear point to be made, I usually decide that it’s a waste of my time. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/25 "2003-06-14T16:12:20Z")
Gee, if you’re going to pit me, can’t you at least put my name in the title? ---
**Author:** ![FairyDust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@FairyDust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyDust)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/26 "2003-06-14T16:22:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by A Monkey With a Gun \* > \*\*Call me Ishmael. I got a job on a boat once. The captain chased a whale. We wrecked. He died. > > The end. \*\* Good one! I’ve read the comic book Classics Illustrated issue of Moby Dick, and even that version bored me to tears. I like your get-to-the-frickin’-point version, **A Monkey With a Gun**. ---
**Author:** ![WaryEri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea666f/32.png) [@WaryEri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WaryEri)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/27 "2003-06-14T16:25:00Z")
Depends. Long, well written, interesting, paragraph-broken posts can keep me entralled until the very end. Long, run-on sentance filled, inane, badly written posts with huge chunks of text that my eyes reject before my mind gets a chance get skipped. Oh, and notseperating quotes is a big peeve. I also find myself skipping over huge posts between two or three people debating more or less alone in a thread, when I’ve already heard their arguments two or three times in previous huge posts in that thread. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/28 "2003-06-14T19:18:37Z")
_taking notes from the OP_ All paragraphs should be only one sentence long. All post should be less than ten paragraphs. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/29 "2003-06-14T20:13:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tdn \* > **Um, so not wanting to slog through a post that rambles on for the length of a bible equals having a small penis? Yeah, can’t argue with that logic. I won’t even try.** _Pssst… **tdn**! Read it again, and turn your irony meter to maximum sensitivity._ ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/30 "2003-06-14T20:16:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tdn \* > \*\*Um, so not wanting to slog through a post that rambles on for the length of a bible equals having a small penis? Yeah, can’t argue with that logic. I won’t even try. \*\* Whoops, you’re right. I read only the title and thought I knew what the post was about. Mon mauvais. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/31 "2003-06-14T20:23:51Z")
Long posts tend to be of two types. One is the tortured outpouring of emotion by someone in _angstkrise_. The other is the hand-to-throat death struggle of two posters in diametrical (if not diabolical) opposition. It is rare that a long post is read and comprehended. Yet some people, a few, are worth reading. These are treasures. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/32 "2003-06-14T20:56:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cuauhtemoc \* > \*\*_Pssst… **tdn**! Read it again, and turn your irony meter to maximum sensitivity._ \*\* Ah. Consider me whooshed. Understandable, though, since such things are rarely of concern to me. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/33 "2003-06-14T21:26:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Themis00 \* > \*\*Demostylus is the dork with 2508 posts that has nothing better to do than to jack off to scrambled lesbian and ape porn while not on SDMB. > > The End \*\* Lesbian ape porn? When Coco Met Bubbles -What are you going to do with that banana? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/34 "2003-06-15T00:50:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyDust \* > \*\*I’ve read the comic book Classics Illustrated issue of Moby Dick, and even that version bored me to tears. > \*\* If _Moby-Dick_ bored you to tears, you’re not reading something right. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/35 "2003-06-15T01:24:08Z")
**Themis** , there’s a place for people like you. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/36 "2003-06-15T08:29:52Z")
“Too long; didn’t read” is abbreviated elsewhere on the net as simply: tl;dr In the spirit of brevity, after all, it ought to be as short as possible. However, tl;dr is generally considered a jerkish response, from my experience anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/37 "2003-06-16T14:28:24Z")
I hate threads that put a “(long)” in their title and then have a paragraph of 5 sentences as the op. 5 sentences is not that long. You may have broken a sweat putting together that many thoughts at one sitting but it is still not that long. Oh and… I’m mean! I see ghosts! I’m nice! The end ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/38 "2003-06-16T15:19:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by A Monkey With a Gun \* > \*\*Call me Ishmael. I got a job on a boat once. The captain chased a whale. We wrecked. He died. > > The end. \*\* Oh, man, you absolutely suck! I just picked up a copy of that to read! God dammit, now you’ve fucking ruined the ending for me. I hate you. (Well, not really…the book’s been sitting in my bookshelf for three years and I have yet to pick it up). Was that a short enough post? Did I sum it up correctly? Ava ---
**Author:** ![sperfur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@sperfur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sperfur)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/39 "2003-06-16T18:26:32Z")
Longs posts suck when you’re as busy and important as I am. That’s why I have my secretary read threads to me and prepare my responses. S/m Dictated but not read ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734/40 "2003-06-16T18:46:56Z")
Ah, come on! You know the tldr’s get annoying. Lots of posts on here could be edited down a bit, mine included. I try to keep mine fairly short, but if they get a bit long I try to break up the paragraphs to keep it easy to read. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-long-did-not-read/181734.md?page=1)