Term: YMMV [Your Mileage May Vary]

YMMV is an acronym for “Your Mileage May Vary”. It’s used to indicated that your experience with a product or service may be different than those being discussed. It might be more correctly referred to as “your results may vary”.

YMMV derives from the automobile industry, where promotions often include an estimated measure of fuel consumption. Since fuel consumption is so highly dependent on individual driving characteristics, the phrase “your mileage may vary” is typically included to set expectations. When it comes to automobile mileage claims, it might be more correct to say “your mileage will almost certainly be less than what we’ve stated here”.

In technology, the acronym and phrase are used frequently to indicate that one person’s results using a particular computer, service, or program may be very different than another’s. As with automobiles, computer usage is highly dependent on the characteristics and usage pattern of each individual user.