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This article is about the internet slang initialism. For other uses, seeLOL (disambiguation).
"Laugh out loud" redirects here. For the radio show, seeLaugh Out Loud(radio).For the TV series, seeLaugh Out Loud(TV series).

Use of "lol" in a conversation

LOL,orlol,is an initialism forlaughing out loud,[1][2][3][4]and a popular element ofInternet slang,which can be used to indicate amusement, irony, or double meanings.[5]It was first used almost exclusively onUsenet,but has since become widespread in other forms ofcomputer-mediated communicationand evenface-to-facecommunication. It is one of manyinitialismsfor expressing bodily reactions, in particularlaughter,as text, including initialisms for more emphatic expressions of laughter such asLMAO[6]( "laughing my ass off" ) andROFL[7][8][9]orROTFL[10][11]( "rolling on the floor laughing" ).

In 2003, the list ofacronymswas said to "grow by the month",[8]and they were collected along withemoticonsandsmileysintofolkdictionaries that are circulated informally amongst users of Usenet,IRC,and other forms of (textual) computer-mediated communication.[12]These initialisms are controversial, and several authors[13][14][15][16]recommend against their use, either in general or in specific contexts such as business communications. TheOxford English Dictionaryfirst listed LOL in March 2011.[17]

History

A person genuinely laughing out loud in a universitycomputer lab

In the 1980s, Wayne Pearson was reportedly the first person to have used LOL while responding to a friend's joke in a pre-Internet digital chat room called Viewline. Instead of writing "hahaha," as he had done before when he found something humorous, Pearson instead typed "LOL" to symbolize extreme laughter.[18][19]

A 2003 study of college students byNaomi Baronfound that the use of these initialisms incomputer-mediated communication(CMC), specifically ininstant messaging,was actuallylowerthan she had expected. The students "used few abbreviations, acronyms, and emoticons". Out of 2,185 transmissions, there were 90 initialisms in total;[20]76 were occurrences of LOL.[21]

2008 graffiti featuring LOL and ROFL on the Molenfeuer lighthouse inBüsum,Germany

On March 24, 2011, LOL, along with otheracronyms,was formally recognized in an update of theOxford English Dictionary.[17][22]In their research, it was determined that the earliest recorded use of LOL as an initialism was for "little old lady" in the 1960s.[23]They also discovered that the oldest written record of the use of LOL in the contemporary meaning of "Laughing Out Loud" was from a message typed by Wayne Pearson in the 1980s, from the archives of Usenet.[24]

Gabriella Colemanreferences "lulz" extensively in her anthropological studies ofAnonymous.[25][26]

LOL, ROFL, and other initialisms have crossed from computer-mediated communication to face-to-face communication. David Crystal – likening the introduction of LOL, ROFL, and others into spoken language in magnitude to the revolution ofJohannes Gutenberg's invention ofmovable typein the 15th century – states that this is "a brand new variety of language evolving", invented by young people within five years, that "extend[s] the range of the language, the expressiveness [and] the richness of the language".[27][20]HoweverGeoffrey K. Pullumargues that even if interjections such as LOL and ROFL were to become very common in spoken English, their "total effect on language" would be "utterly trivial".[28]

While LOL originally meant "laughing out loud," modern usage is different, and it is commonly used for irony, as an indicator of second meanings, and as a way to soften statements.[5]

Analysis

Silvio Laccetti (professor of humanities atStevens Institute of Technology) and Scott Molski, in their essay entitledThe Lost Art of Writing,are critical of the terms, predicting reduced chances of employment for students who use such slang, stating that, "Unfortunately for these students, their bosses will not be 'lol' when they read a report that lacks proper punctuation and grammar, has numerous misspellings, various made-up words, and silly acronyms."[13][14]Fondiller and Nerone in their style manual assert that "professional or business communication should never be careless or poorly constructed" whether one is writing an electronic mail message or an article for publication, and warn against the use of smileys and abbreviations, stating that they are "no more than e-mail slang and have no place in business communication".[15]

Linguist John McWhorter stated, "Lol is being used in a particular way. It's a marker of empathy. It's a marker of accommodation. We linguists call things like that pragmatic particles..." Pragmatic particles are the words and phrases utilized to alleviate the awkward areas in casual conversation, such asohin "Oh, I don't know" anduhwhen someone is thinking of something to say. McWhorter stated thatlolis utilized less as a reaction to something that is hilarious, but rather as a way to lighten the conversation.[29]

Frank Yunker and Stephen Barry, in a study of online courses and how they can be improved throughpodcasting,have found that these slang terms, and emoticons as well, are "often misunderstood" by students and are "difficult to decipher" unless their meanings are explained in advance. They single out the example of "ROFL" as not obviously being the abbreviation of "rolling onthefloor laughing "(emphasis added).[16]Matt Haig singles out LOL as one of the three most popular initialisms in Internet slang, alongside BFN[dubious–discuss]( "bye for now" ) and IMHO ( "in my honest/humble opinion" ). He describes the various initialisms of Internet slang as convenient, but warns that "as ever more obscure acronyms emerge they can also be rather confusing".[1]Hossein Bidgoli likewise states that these initialisms "save keystrokes for the sender but [...] might make comprehension of the message more difficult for the receiver" and that "[s]lang may hold different meanings and lead to misunderstandings especially in international settings"; he advises that they be used "only when you are sure that the other person knows the meaning".[30]

Tim Shortis observes that ROFL is a means of "annotating text with stage directions".[9]Peter Hershock, in discussing these terms in the context of performative utterances, points out the difference betweentellingsomeone that one is laughing out loud and actually laughing out loud: "The latter response is a straightforward action. The former is a self-reflexive representation of an action: I not only do something but also show you that I am doing it. Or indeed, I may not actually laugh out loud but may use the locution 'LOL' to communicate my appreciation of your attempt at humor."[8]

David Crystalnotes that use of LOL is not necessarily genuine, just as the use of smiley faces or grins is not necessarily genuine, posing the rhetorical question "How many people are actually 'laughing out loud' when they send LOL?".[31]Louis Franzini concurs, stating that there is as yet no research that has determined the percentage of people who are actually laughing out loud when they write LOL.[2]

Victoria Clarke,in her analysis oftelnettalkers, states that capitalization is important when people write LOL, and that "a user who typesLOLmay well be laughing louder than one who typeslol",and opines that" these standard expressions of laughter are losing force through overuse ".[32]Michael Egan describes LOL, ROFL, and other initialisms as helpful so long as they are not overused. He recommends against their use in business correspondence because the recipient may not be aware of their meanings, and because in general neither they nor emoticons are in his view appropriate in such correspondence.[3]June Hines Moore shares that view.[33]So, too, does Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts, who gives the same advice of not using them in business correspondence, "or you won't be LOL".[34]

Variations on the theme

Variants

TheOMEGALULTwitch emoteis a distorted image ofTotalBiscuitoriginatingc. 2013.[35]
  • lul:phonetic spelling of LOL. "LUL" is also commonly used in the gaming community, due to it being an emote onTwitch,which depicts game criticTotalBiscuitlaughing.
  • lolz:Occasionally used in place of LOL.
  • lulz:Often used to denotelaughter at someone who is the victimof a prank, or a reason for performing an action. Its use originated with Internet trolls. According to aNew York Timesarticle aboutInternet trolling,"lulzmeans the joy of disrupting another's emotional equilibrium. "[36]Can be used as a noun – e.g. "do it for the lulz.", shortened into "ftlulz" (to distinguish it from "ftl" – "for the loss" ). See alsoLulzSec.
  • LOLOLOL...:For added emphasis, LOL can be appended with any number of additional iterations of "OL". In cases such as these, the abbreviation is not to be read literally (i.e., "Laughing out loud out loud out loud out loud" ), but is meant to suggest several LOLs in a row.
  • OMEGALULandLULW:variants of "LUL" used as aTwitch emote.[37][38][35]
  • trololololortrollololol:A blend oftrolland LOL iterated, likely meant to mimickEduard Khil's 1976 songMr. Trololosong, which became an internet meme in 2010. Indicates that the prank or joke was made by internet trolls, or the user thinks the prank or joke qualifies asinternet trolling.

Derivations

A 2007lolcatmeme, featuring a humorous misspelling of "LOL, what?"
  • (to)LOL:Used as a verb ( "to laugh out loud" ) and is meant to be conjugated in the appropriate tense. When the past tense is meant, it is written as "LOL(e)d" or "LOL'd".
  • lolwut(sometimes "lulwut" ):lol+wut,used to indicate bemused laughter, or confusion.
  • lawl,lawlz,orlal:Pseudo-pronunciation of LOL. Saying "lawl" is sometimes meant in mockery of those who use the term LOL and is not meant to express laughter.
  • LelorLELis a "playful or ironic" variation of LOL.[39]It is sometimes thought to be an initialism, standing for "laughing extremely loud" or "laughing extra loud", but this has been disputed.[40]
  • lolcat,animage macroof a cat
An animatedASCII artimage popularized in 2004 bymemesusing the word "roflcopter"
"lqtm" redirects here. For linear quantum Turing machines, seeQuantum Turing machine.
  • *G*or*g*:For "grins".[41]Like "lulz" it is used in the initialism "J4G" ( "just for grins" ).[42]
  • kek:A term for laughter that originated in online games, possibly eitherWorld of WarcraftorStarCraft,the latter in which Korean players would type "kekeke"asonomatopoeiafor laughter.[43]It later became associated withalt-rightpolitics,[44]in the form of a parody religionsurrounding the characterPepe the Frogby analogy with the frog-headed ancient Egyptian godKek.[45]
  • LMAO:For "laughing my arse/ass off".[6]Variants:LMBO( "Laughing my butt off" ),[46]LMFAO( "Laughing my fucking ass off" ).
  • lqtm:For "Laughing quietly to myself".[47]
  • ROFL:For "rolling on the floor laughing". It is often combined with LMAO for added emphasis asROFLMAO( "Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off" ) orROFLMFAO(Rolling on the floor laughing my fucking ass off).[48]
  • roflcopter:Aportmanteauof ROFL and helicopter. A popularglitchin theMicrosoft Samtext-to-speech engine enables the voice to make a sound akin to the rotation of rotor blades when 'SOI' or 'SOY' is entered, and the phrase 'My ROFLcopter goes soi soi soi... "is often associated with the term as a result.
  • PMSL:For "pissing myself laughing".
  • IJBOL:For "I just burst out laughing".[49]Gaining popularity amongGen Z,initially popularized within theK-pop fandom.Not derived fromKorean.[50]
  • XD,sometimes stylized asxD,xd,orXd,is anemoticoncommonly used to symbolize extreme laughter or happiness.

Commonly used equivalents in other languages

The continuous radio Morse message "hi hi hi..." by the first private satellites called OSCAR, beginning withOSCAR 1in 1961 (recording fromOSCAR 2,1962)

Pre-dating the Internet andphone textingby a century, the way to express laughter inmorse codeis "hi hi".[51]The sound of this in morse ('di-di-di-dit di-dit, di-di-di-dit di-dit') is thought to represent chuckling.[52][53]

  • 555:theThaivariation of LOL. "5" in Thai is pronounced "ha", three of them being "hahaha" (ห้า ห้า ห้า).[54]
  • asg:Swedishabbreviation of the termasgarv,meaning intense laughter.[55]
  • g:Danishabbreviation of the wordgriner,which means "laughing" in Danish.[56]
  • jajajá:inSpanish,the letter "j" is pronounced/x/.[57]
  • jejeje: in thePhilippinesis used to represent "hehehe". "j" in Filipino languages is pronounced as/h/,derived from the Spanish/x/.Its origins can be traced toSMS language.It is widely used in a Filipino youth subculture known asJejemons.[58][59]
  • mdr:Esperantoversion, from the initials ofmulte da ridoj,which translates to "lot of laughs" in English.
  • mdr:Frenchversion, from the initials of "mort de rire" which roughly translated means "died of laughter", although many French people also use LOL instead as it is the most widely used on the internet.[60][61]
  • mkm:inAfghanistan"mkm" (being an abbreviation of the phrase "ma khanda mikonom" ). This is aDariphrase that means "I am laughing".
  • ptdr:Frenchvariant frompété de rire– literally meaning "broken with laughter"
  • rs:inBrazil"rs" (being an abbreviation of "risos", the plural of "laugh" ) is often used in text based communications in situations where in English LOL would be used, repeating it ( "rsrsrsrsrs" ) is often done to express longer laughter or laughing harder. Also popular is "kkk" (which can also be repeated indefinitely), due to the pronunciation of the letterkinBrazilian Portuguesesounding similar to thecaincard,and therefore representing the laugh "cacacacaca" (also similar to the Hebrew version below).[62]
  • חחח/ההה:Hebrewversion of LOL. The letterחis pronounced [/x/ /x/] andהis pronounced [/h/ /h/]. Putting them together (usually three or more in a row) makes the word khakhakha or hahaha (since vowels in Hebrew are generally not written), which is in many languages regarded as the sound of laughter.
  • ㅋㅋㅋ( "kkk" or "kekeke" )[43]andㅎㅎㅎ( "hhh" ) are usually used to indicate laughter inKorean.'ㅋ', is a KoreanJamoconsonant representing a "k" sound, and 'ㅎ' represents an "h" sound. Both "ㅋㅋㅋ"and"ㅎㅎㅎ"represent laughter which is not very loud. However, if a vowel symbol is written, louder laughter is implied:하하"haha"호호,"hoho."[63]
  • (Tiếu): inJapanese,thekanjifor laugh, is used in the same way as lol. It can be read askakko warai(literally "parentheses laugh" ) or justwara.wis also used as an abbreviation, and it is common for multiplewto be chained together.[64]The resulting shape formed from multiplewwwwwleads to the usage ofThảo(Thảomeaning grass, read askusa), due to its resemblance to the shape of grass.[65]

The word"lol"in other languages

  • InDutch,lolis a word (not an acronym) which, coincidentally, means "fun" ( "lollig"means" funny ").
  • InWelsh,lolmeans "nonsense" or "ridiculous" – e.g., if a person wanted to say "utter nonsense" in Welsh, they would say "lol wirion" or "rwtsh lol".[66]

See also

References

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Further reading

Look upLOLorlolin Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related toLOL.
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