pro tip
A useful piece of advice.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Here is a pro tip: always save your work often.”
“If you want to cook the perfect steak, my pro tip is to let the meat rest before cutting it.”
“The seasoned traveler offered a valuable pro tip, suggesting that one should always pack a spare change of clothes in a carry-on bag to avoid disaster if luggage goes missing.”
first recorded 20th c.
The term began as a standard collocation for professional advice in mid-century trade and hobbyist journals. *Popular Science* offered pro tips for solid joints in March 1959, while *Field & Stream* provided pro tips for hunting with a camera in September 1978. During this period, the phrase functioned as a simple shortening of "professional," appearing frequently in the context of golf and tennis instruction.
The transition to a lexicalised compound occurred within the culture of video gaming. *GamePro* magazine introduced the camel case solidification ProTip as a specific format for gameplay advice accompanying screenshots. The term gained wider currency as an Internet catchphrase following a hoax ProTip for id Software’s *Doom*. The advice offered for the game’s final boss—"To defeat the Cyberdemon, shoot at it until it dies"—was of such obvious utility that the term became a vehicle for sarcasm.
- 01
arse over tip
Tumbling or falling; upside-down.
- 02
tip of the hat
A gesture of acknowledgement; often, an expression of gratitude; originally by doffing one's hat.
- 03
tip of the ice cube
The first aspect of an insignificant or exaggerated problem or situation.
- 04
tip of the iceberg
A small indication of a larger possibility; the first part encountered of a problem that is much bigger than it seems.
- 05
tip one's hat
To acknowledge or show respect; to honor.
- 06
tip the scale
To change the fortunes, either positively or negatively.
- 07
tip the scales
To turn to one side of a balanced situation.
- 08
tip the wink
To give (somebody) a hint or suggestion, as if by a wink; to ask or tell surreptitiously.
Last updated August 10, 2026