Meaning
What does LDR mean?
LDR is a widely used internet acronym, with several meanings and interpretations, depending on the context.
The most widespread use of “LDR” is used for abbreviating “Long Distance Relationship”, in which the couple is separated by a larger landmass, not being able to often see each other.
It may also be an abbreviation for the term “leader”, although this was more prevalent in the SMS era of its use.
In a financial context, however “LDR” is still used often as an acronym for “Loan-Deposit Ratio”, used for assessing a bank’s liquidity.
Origin
What's the origin of LDR?
Like most internet acronyms, “LDR” also started appearing on message boards, chatrooms and forums in the 1990’s.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly its exact origin, although its popularity started shooting up at the turn of the 1990’s, indicating that it may be one of the earliest internet abbreviations, possibly appearing on early dating sites and message boards.
“LDR” was first defined on Urban Dictionary in 2003, with many other entries to follow.
Spread & Usage
How did LDR spread?
The 2000’s saw a steady rise in the popularity of “LDR”, with the Urban Dictionary entries, as well as the introduction of SMS technology in telecommunication all contributing to its spread.
By the late 2000’s, “LDR” was a well recognized acronym both on dating sites, as well as message boards and social media sites like that of Facebook, or even MyVIP.
Today, “LDR” is not as common, due to the fact, that the 2010’s saw the rise of touchscreen technology, enabling people to type longer messages on their phones with ease.
Despite this, “LDR” may still be recognized in a wide array of contexts, with just as many meanings.