Offline, in person.
| Type | Modern shorthand and terms |
|---|---|
| Category | Reply and contact |
| Stands for | In real life |
| Earliest example we have found | 2005 (as RL), Craigslist guide to personals acronyms (not claimed as the first use) |
IRL and RL were common in online personals as the line between chatting and meeting. Craigslist's 2005 guide lists RL. In the 1900s the same step was called an interview.
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How this fits into 170 years of personal ad shorthand: From Object Matrimony to LTR: How Personal Ads Learned to Talk in Code.
All dictionary entries · The Personals Archive · How to write a personal ad
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