# telly
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtɛli/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛli

### Etymology 1

Shortened form of tele(vision) +‎ -y.

#### Noun

telly (usually uncountable, plural tellys or tellies)
(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland)
* (colloquial) Television.
    Not much on telly tonight, as usual!
** 2007 August 24, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 2, Episode 1:
    You're from telly!
** 2021 June 30, Tim Dunn, “How We Made... Secrets of the London Underground”, in Rail, number 934, page 48:[...] they were all in agreement: this stuff had to be on the telly.
* (colloquial) A television set.
    We've got a new flat-screen telly.
* (colloquial) Telegraph.
* (colloquial) Telephone.
* (colloquial) Teleport.
* (colloquial) Telecommunication.

##### Usage notes

The plural is not used in the US.

##### Alternative forms

* tele (UK, rare)

##### Synonyms

* tube (US), TV

##### Derived terms

* telly tennis

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

Shortened form of (ho)tel and/or (mo)tel +‎ -y.

#### Noun

telly (plural tellies)
* (US, Canada, chiefly MTE, slang) A hotel or motel.
    I'm staying at the telly this weekend.

### Etymology 3

From tell +‎ -y, related to the writing advice show, don't tell.

#### Adjective

telly (comparative more telly, superlative most telly)
* (informal, chiefly of a literary work) Inclined to telling (by explicitly stating facts), instead of showing (by conveying an impression so that events are described in the narrative).
    Antonym: showy
** 1999 November 21, sophie, “Squealer : first revision”, in alt.arts.poetry.comments‎ (Usenet):I think my problem with it is that it's a) a little "telly" not "showy" in comparison to the rest […]
** 2003 September 19, Patrick Null, “Failed Sept Challenge? (1409 words)”, in alt.fiction.original‎ (Usenet):There's a way to make this more showy and less telly. It's like you're in a hurry to get on with the rest of the story.
** 2009 May 18, @kimmcgowan, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 2024-07-18:story is too, too telly; need at least 3 showy scenes to improve showing:telling ratio
** 2016 February 12, Kelly, “Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo”, in Diva Booknerd‎, archived from the original on 2024-07-18:Six of Crows is very telly and little showy. You are constantly getting info dumps and mini-flashbacks to the characters past.
** 2019 May 26, Chautona Havig, “This Book Gives New Meaning to “The Romance of the Rails””, in Chautona.com‎, archived from the original on 2024-07-18:The only other objection I have—and again, it’s minor—is that the very last chapter feels very “telly” and rushed. I get why, but a smoother exit would have really made an otherwise wonderful book almost perfect.
** 2022 October 10, Brian Collins, “Short Story Review: “Bite-Me-Not or, Fleur de Fleu” by Tanith Lee”, in Science Fiction & Fantasy Remembrance‎, archived from the original on 2024-07-18:Lee’s style of narration reads like an old-style fairy tale to an extent—it’s very telly, if that makes any sense. We get descriptions of character actions and we’re told about character motives as filtered through the third-person narrator, but we don’t actually get to read these characters’ thoughts.
** 2024 July 1, pinkjamie, “Well...”, in BookishFirst‎, archived from the original on 2024-07-18:The ending felt rushed to me, and I wish it would have been more showy and less telly.

### Anagrams

* Lytle