When you hear “yMMV,” what does that mean? The acronym, or “year-end market value of stocks,” is a statistic used by investors to measure the performance of a particular stock over a specific period of time. It’s important to understand how YMMV works, and how you can use it in your investing decisions. First, let’s take a look at what YMMV stands for: Yearly Market Value of Stocks (YMVS) is an estimate of the market value of all publicly traded securities for the year ended December 31st. It’s calculated by taking the total value of all outstanding shares minus the total value of all outstanding options and warrants. It’s used by investors as a way to measure the performance of a particular stock over a specific period of time. Second, let’s take a look at how YMMV works: The calculation uses information from publicly available data on stock prices and option prices. This data is gathered from company websites, financial statements, and other sources. Once this information is gathered, it’s used to create an estimate of the market value for each stock in question. This estimate is then used to calculate the year-end market value for each stock. Finally, YMVS is used as an indicator of whether or not a particular stock has performed well over the course of a given year. If it has, then its YMVS will be high; if not, its YMVS will be lower.

What Does It Mean?

YMMV stands for “your mileage may (or might) vary.” This acronym is frequently used to refer to the differences between people’s experiences, preferences, or locations. It’s similar to AFAIK: “as far as I know.”

It’s also a fairly common phrase in real-world conversations. The literal version, which refers to the actual gas mileage a vehicle gets, is a helpful disclaimer. Even if two people drive the same car, they might get different gas efficiencies based on their driving habits.

The History of YMMV

Unlike other initialisms, which were invented and grown on the internet, “your mileage may vary” goes back to the 1970s and ’80s in the U.S. During that time, automobile manufacturers frequently promoted their estimated mileages to compete.

However, due to the variations in driving conditions, they had no way of guaranteeing the exact mileage customers would actually get. Therefore, these ads would feature the disclaimer, “Your mileage may vary.”

This phrase continued to be used in general conversation, and eventually became a common American idiom. It likely became an initialism in the ’90s or ’00s, when people started shortening language on internet platforms, like internet relay chat (IRC) and instant messengers (IM).

Comparing Products and Services

You’ll often see YMMV in online product reviews and buyer’s guides. In this context, reviewers are attempting to temper a reader’s expectations, as personal experiences with the same product might vary.

If you’re writing a review of a mobile phone, for example, you might say, “the battery life generally lasted the whole day, but YMMV.” This implies battery life will depend on your usage habits. If the screen and mobile data are frequently on, the battery will probably deplete much faster.

You can also apply this phrase to products or services that might not be entirely consistent for every purchase. For example, if you order food through an app, the quality of it at the time of delivery will likely vary, depending on how far you are from the restaurant. So, “your mileage may vary” depending on your address.

The Purchase Experience

In addition to differences in products and services, YMMV can also apply to the actual purchase experience. One example would be if someone says they managed to get a discount code for a shopping site sent to their email. Everyone might not get that code, so that person might state that “your mileage may vary.”

For another example, let’s say someone posts on a message board that a particular video game is 50% off at their local Best Buy. While this is helpful information, there are a ton of Best Buys across the U.S., and the game might not be discounted at all of them.

YMMV would work in this situation to signal that people should manage their expectations.

Differences in Opinion

Another common use of YMMV is to account for differences of opinion, especially when discussing art and entertainment. If you recommend a terrifying horror movie, you might say, “I thoroughly enjoyed how terrifying this film was, but YMMV.” This implies you’re taking people’s varying tolerance of scares into consideration.

This is the kinder version of IMO (“in my opinion”) or IMHO (“in my humble (or honest) opinion”), respectively. In this usage, YMMV conveys that tastes can vary wildly from person to person.

How to Use YMMV

“Your mileage may vary” is pretty simple to use. If you’re having trouble, swap it out for “but your experience might be different,” and you’ll get essentially the same meaning.

Here are a few ways you can use YMMV:

This laptop feels quite heavy in your hand, but YMMV. I managed to get the $5 deal around noon at my local branch, but YMMV. I absolutely love the band’s new album, but YMMV. YMMV, but it took about four days for the package to arrive.

Wanna learn about other online terms? Check out SMH and TBH next!