spoiler
1. A remark which reveals important plot elements from books or movies, thus
denying the reader (of the article) the proper suspense when reading the book or
watching the movie.
2. Any remark which telegraphs the solution of a problem or puzzle, thus denying
the reader the pleasure of working out the correct answer (see also
interesting). Either sense readily forms compounds like "total spoiler",
"quasi-spoiler" and even "pseudo-spoiler".
By convention, Usenet news articles which are spoilers in either sense should
contain the word "spoiler" in the Subject: line, or guarantee via various tricks
that the answer appears only after several screens-full of warning, or conceal
the sensitive information via rot13, or some combination of these techniques.
[Jargon File]
(1995-01-18)
Nearby terms:
SPMD « SPML « spod « spoiler » sponge » spoo
» spoof
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