[scubbo]

I, uhhhh.....I would like to know what TFA is meant to stand for, because I assume it is not "the ſucking article", but that was my first thought. Maybe "featured"? Google is only giving me "Teach For America" or "Trade Facilitation Agreement".

[idrios]

This is the kind of question that doesnt need to be answered with certainty. "The fucking article" is definitely the most fun interpretation of "TFA".

[dredmorbius]

"The (Fine|Fucking) Article".

As others have noted, derived from RTFA (read TFA), which comes from RTFM (read the fine manual).

I don't know if RTFA/TFA originated at Slashdot, but both were certainly heavily used there, as noted in ... this fine Wikipedia article:

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot>

[terr-dav]

If TFA is derived from RTFA (itself I assume derived from RTFM), then "the fucking article" seems the most correct, official, and proper.

[xp84]

I feel that the presence of this term here means that HN is the successor to the venerable Slashdot. Kind of comforting that there’s a straight line from the site that I spent so much time on 20 years ago, to this one.

[klyrs]

Does "fornicating" sound more polite to you?

[scubbo]

It does - but note that I made no mention of disapproving of impoliteness!

[iudqnolq]

it is the fucking article. or "featured" if you're feeling classy.

[mjochim]

I like to read it as The Fine Article.