TMI
Definition:
(noun)
A disclosure of overly personal information that makes the listener or reader uncomfortable (TMI, pronounced as individual letters, is the abbreviation for “too much information.”)
Example: Once Cheri started talking about how she’d removed the wart on the bottom of her foot with a steak knife, Jerry backed out the door. TMI!
“We are a society of TMIers - from blogs to social networking sites to general conversation, we’ll tell anyone anything.”
Blogger Kristi Gustafson in the Albany Times Union
But as Gustafson points out, we don’t always share our secrets in person—often they’re put on the web for the world to see. It’s not uncommon, for example, for people to blog about their unfortunate skin condition or the minute details of their toddler’s toilet training.
Social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter are especially rich ground for this kind of over-sharing. The intention of these sites is to keep friends and relatives (or for celebrities, fans) updated on your life without having to tell the same story to each person individually. But for many, this is an opportunity to tell friends at 12:00 what they are thinking of eating for lunch, at 12:15 what they are actually eating for lunch, and at 1:00 that they really wish they’d had something else because now they are feeling bloated and gassy and had to undo the button on their pants.
Unlike Myspace and Facebook, Twitter restricts users to 140-character posts (called tweets), but this limitation does not stop people from revealing too much. This slideshow from Cosmopolitan magazine (warning: may have some ads) gives the lowlights of several celebrity Twitterers, including singer John Mayer, who candidly discusses his bikini wax plans. Slang City actually has its own Twitter page (http://twitter.com/slang_city), but for better or worse, it contains no personal revelations!
A. C. Kemp | July 17, 2009
