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Real life is a phrase referring to life in the real world. 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 IRL can mean "in real life", with the meaning "not on the Internet"^{[citation needed]} (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^{[citation needed]}.

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"^{[citation needed]}.

"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"^{[citation needed]}.

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^{[citation needed]}.

"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^[2]

The Real Life comic strip is named after the concept of a divide between the internet and reality^{[citation needed]}.

Look up Real life in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• First Life
• meatspace
• off-line
• quality time