LOL
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LOL (also written lol) is a common element of Internet slang used, historically, on Usenet but now widespread to other forms of computer-mediated communication such as instant messaging, and even spread to face-to-face communication. It is an acronym for "laughing out loud"[1][2][3] or "laugh out loud",[4] or, less commonly, "lots of luck" or "lots of love".[3] "LOL" is one of many initialisms for expressing bodily reactions, in particular laughter, as text, including initialisms such as "ROFL" (or "ROTFL") ("roll(ing) on the floor laughing"),[5][6] a more emphatic expression of laughter, "LMAO" ("laughing my ass off")[7]. ROFL and LMAO are sometimes combined into ROFLMAO (rolling on floor laughing my ass off).
The list of initialisms "grows by the month"[5] and they are collected along with emoticons and smileys into folk dictionaries which are circulated informally amongst users of Usenet, IRC, and other forms of (textual) computer-mediated communication.[8] These initialisms are controversial, and several authors recommend against their use, either in general or in specific contexts such as business communications.
The use of LOL to express laughter is unrelated to other uses of the abbreviation, many of which, such as "lots of love", predate the Internet.[citation needed] LOL has also superseded the more-obvious "Ha!" that letter writers used to use.[citation needed]
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Variations on the theme
Despite it being an English acronym, it is often used by non-English speakers as-is, even in other scripts (eg. Hebrew: לול, Cyrillic: лол).
Translations in widespread use
Most of these abbreviations are usually found in lowercase.
- lal or lawl — can refer to either a pseudo-pronunciation of LOL, or the German translation (although most German speakers use "LOL"). Saying "lawl" is sometimes meant in mockery of those who use the term LOL, and not meant as serious usage. Some take this usage even farther by exclaiming "lawlerskates".
- ｗ — used commonly in 2channel, a Japanese equivalent of the acronym. 'ｗ' stands for warau (笑う), which means "to laugh" in Japanese.
- lolz, lulz — "a corruption of LOL", according to MyFOX LA; a pluralization of LOL, though often used in a singular sense.
- mdr — French version of the expression LOL, from the initials of "mort de rire" that roughly translated means "dying of laughter".
- 555 — The Thai variation of LOL. '5' in Thai is pronounced "ha", three of them being "hahaha".
- asg — Swedish abbreviation of the term "Asgarv", meaning intensive laughter.
- g — Danish abbreviation of the word "griner", which means "laughing" in Danish.
Other languages
Lol is a native Dutch word (not an acronym) which, conveniently, means "fun" ('lollig' means "funny").
In Welsh, lol means nonsense, e.g. If a person would say "stupid nonsense" in Welsh they would say "lol wirion".
LQTM
LQTM is almost the opposite to LOL and is an acronym for " laughing quietly to myself". "LQTM" is often substituted with "LOL" or "ROFL" or "LMAO" by users of internet. The term LQTM comes from comedian Demetri Martin. There is also ROLF which stands for "Rolling on Laughing Floors" along with LIHD which is "Laughing in High Definition" instant messaging programs such as AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, Skype and many others, as well as E-mail, text messaging and other forms of electronic communications.
Although not widely adopted by most general users or instant messaging clients, "LQTM" is often a more accurate representation of the user's reaction to a funny or humorous electronic interaction than the aforementioned, "LOL", "ROFL", or "LMAO".
References
- ^ Matt Haig (2001). E-Mail Essentials: How to Make the Most of E-Communications. Kogan Page, 89. ISBN 0749435763.
- ^ Louis R. Franzini (2002). Kids Who Laugh: How to Develop Your Child's Sense of Humor. Square One Publishers, Inc., 145–146. ISBN 0757000088.
- ^ a b (2005) American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin.
- ^ Michael Egan. Email Etiquette. Cool Publications Ltd, 32,57–58. ISBN 1844811182.
- ^ a b Jiuan Heng (2003). "The emergence of pure consciousness: The Theatre of Virtual Selves in the age of the Internet", in Peter D. Hershock, M. T. Stepaniants, and Roger T. Ames: Technology and Cultural Values: On the Edge of the Third Millennium. University of Hawaii Press, 561. ISBN 0824826477.
- ^ Eric S. Raymond and Guy L. Steele (1996). The New Hacker's Dictionary. MIT Press, 435. ISBN 0262680920.
- ^ Denis Howe. lmao. The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing through Dictionary.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
- ^ Steven G. Jones (1998). Cybersociety 2.0: Revisiting Computer-Mediated Community and Technology. Sage Publications Inc, 52. ISBN 0761914625.
Further reading
- Russ Armadillo Coffman (1990-01-17). "smilies collection". rec.humor. (Google Groups). Retrieved on 2006-12-22. — an early Usenet posting of a folk dictionary of abbreviations and emoticons, listing "LOL" and "ROTFL"
- Connery, Brian A. (1997-02-25). "IMHO: Authority and egalitarian rhetoric in the virtual coffeehouse", in Porter, D.: Internet Culture. New York: Routledge, 161–179. ISBN 0415916844.
- Ryan Goudelocke (August 2004). "CREDIBILITY AND AUTHORITY ON INTERNET MESSAGE-BOARDS" (PDF). Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.
