Is "HTH" ever not passive aggressive?

[Lochroy]

Particularly on mn, but I'm also interested if it's used more generally.

I can't help but read it as passive aggressive, but I've seen it used after factual information has been posted and I don't think that's how it's intended.

FWIW, I've previously seen similar debates about thumbs up 👍 and I DO use that as a genuine thumbs up.

How do you read it or use it?

I don't know what it means.....

I used to think it was used to express genuine intent to be helpful (circa early 2000’s)

then I joined MN and thought it was primarily used sarcastically

I don’t write it any longer.

It means Hope That Helps.

Oh - I thought it was happy to help!

Hope that helps comes across a bit differently anyway.

I know it’s off topic, but there’s another MNism - RTFT - which I thought meant ‘read the full thread’, but I used it once and someone took great offence at me having apparently told them to ‘read the fucking thread’. I still don’t know which is right, so tend not to use it!

I take RTFT either way, and as mn is sweary, I have no bother with read the fucking thread. Most of the time it gets used, I think it's a fair enough thing to tell people to do! If they take offence, they can flounce...

I've never used HTH intending to be passive aggressive, but as a genuine "hope that I've helped" statement.

Surely you can mostly work it out by context?
Is someone posts a lengthy informative post and finishes with HTH, they are probably being genuinely helpful.

If someone makes a sarcastic remark about something and ends HTH, they are probably not ...

I always thought it meant "Hit the highroad".
So, yes, always passive aggressive