REAL LIFE

'Real life' is a term with multiple meanings. It is most often used to mean life or consensus reality outside of an environment that is generally seen as fiction or fantasy, such as something on the Internet, virtual reality, a dream, a novel, a movie, a hallucination, or a delusion. Online the abbreviation 'RL' stands for "real life", with the meaning "not on the Internet" (see below).
It is sometimes used synonymously with ''real world'' to mean one's existence after he or she is done with schooling and is no longer supported by parents, i.e. the practical world versus the academic world.^[1] A person with experience in "real life" or "the real world" has experience beyond book learning.
''Real life'' can be a controversial term. Some people use it as a value judgement to describe "productive" activities, specifically jobs or the support of one's family. However, many speakers use the phrase in an ironic sense to describe an alternative to their own activities, which may be valued as more important.

Contents

Online

In literature

See also

References

Online

The abbreviation 'RL' stands for "real life", with the meaning "not on the Internet." For example, one can speak of meeting in RL someone whom one has met in chat or on an Internet forum, or of an inability to use the Internet for a time due to "RL problems".
"In real life" is often abbreviated 'IRL'. Some prefer the expression 'face-to-face', abbreviated 'f2f'. Some internet users use the idioms face time or meatspace, which contrasts with the term "cyberspace".
In virtual conversations, "RL" is often used to refer to the nonvirtual world as if it were a separate place. This is especially true when the virtual location is realistic and engaging enough that someone might confuse the "real life" subject of the conversation with its virtual equivalent.

In literature

"Authors, as a rule, attempt to select and portray types rarely met with in their entirety, but these types are nevertheless more real than real life itself." --The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Dostoyevsky: The Idiot: Part IV: Chapter I
Real Life Comics is named after the concept of a divide between the internet and reality.

See also

★ First Life

★ meatspace

★ off-line

★ quality time

References

1. Definition of "real life"