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Lolcat

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A lolcat is an image combining a photograph, most frequently a cat, with a humorous and idiosyncratic caption in (often) broken English—a dialect which is known as "lolspeak", or "kitteh". The name "lolcat" is a compound word of "LOL" and "cat".[1] Another name is cat macro, being a type of image macro.[2] Lolcats are created for photo sharing imageboards and other internet forums. Lolcats are similar to other anthropomorphic animal-based image macros such as the O RLY? owl.[3]

The term lolcat gained national media attention in the United States when it was covered by Time,[4] which wrote that non-commercialized phenomena of the sort are increasingly rare, stating that lolcats have "a distinctly old-school, early 1990s, Usenet feel to [them]." The superimposed text is usually assumed to be uttered by the cat in the photograph. There are parallels between the language used in lolcats and baby talk, which some owners of cats often use when talking to them.[citation needed]

Format

A lolcat image using the "I'm in ur..." format.

These images usually consist of a photo of a cat with a large caption characteristically set in a sans serif font such as Impact or Arial Black. The image is, on occasion, digitally edited for effect. The caption generally acts as a speech balloon encompassing a comment from the cat, or as a description of the depicted scene. The caption is intentionally written with deviations from standard English spelling and syntax,[citation needed] featuring "strangely-conjugated verbs, but a tendency to converge to a new set of rules in spelling and grammar."[5][citation needed] The text parodies the grammar-poor patois stereotypically attributed to Internet slang. Frequently, lolcat captions take the form of phrasal templates. Some phrases have a known source, while others seem to be specific to the lolcat form.[original research?]

Common themes include jokes of the form "Im in ur noun, verb-ing ur related noun."[6] This construction is a snowclone stemming from the phrase "I'm in ur base, killing ur doodz," which became a common meme in several real-time strategy computer games. "subjects: i has dem" show the cat in possession of multiple, identical objects, whereas "I has a noun" pictures show a cat in possession of an object. "Invisible noun" show pictures of cats apparently interacting with said invisible object.[6] The related "flavor" (spelled "flavr" or "flavur" in lolcat) shots specifically show a cat (or another animal) licking/eating an item, person or animal (including sometimes themselves) and remarking how "[noun] haz a flavr." "My noun, let me show you it/them" pictures are accompanied by cats apparently presenting or offering an object. Another common lolcat displays a cat with a specific look, which is described by adjective, and the text, "[adjective] cat is [adjective]", "[adjective] cat is not [adjective]" or "Your offering pleases [adjective] cat." A version of this is also stated as "adjective cat is not amused", or "[adjective] cat has run out of [adjective]."

History

A Lolcat image depicting a cat in an iMac

Many of the first lolcats originated from the anonymous imageboard 4chan sometime around 2005.[7][8][9] The word "lolcat" is attested as early as June 2006, and the domain name "lolcats.com" was registered on June 14, 2006.[10] The News Journal states that "some trace the lolcats back to the site 4chan, which features bizarre cat pictures on Saturdays, or 'Caturdays'." Ikenburg adds that the images have been "slinking around the Internet for years under various labels, but they didn't become a sensation until early 2007 with the advent of I Can Has Cheezburger?"[11] The first image on "I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?" was posted on January 11, 2007 and was allegedly from the Something Awful website."[12][13] Lev Grossman of Time wrote that the oldest known example "probably dates to 2006",[14] but later corrected himself in a blog post[15] where he recapitulated the anecdotal evidence readers had sent him, placing the origin of "Caturday" and many of the images now known by a few as "lolcats" in early 2005. The domain name "caturday.com" was registered on April 30, 2005.

Offshoots and Parodies

See also

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References

Inline

  1. ^ a b Dwight Silverman (2007-06-06). "Web photo phenomenon centers on felines, poor spelling". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  2. ^ Randy A. Salas (2007-06-09). "Laugh at cat humor". Akron Beacon Journal, Star Tribune. At first, they were called cat macros, but now go mostly by the name lolcats. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Agger, Michael (2007-05-21). "Cat power: You cannot resist lolcats". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2007-05-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Grossman, Lev (2007-07-12). "Cashing in on Cute Cats". Time Magazine. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "accessdate 2007-07-12" ignored (help) Partial scan of the print edition: http://fcrunk.wellimean.com/memes/catstime.jpg
  5. ^ Annalee Newitz (2007-04-27). "I'M IN YR X Y-ING YOUR Z -- A Grammar of Lolcats". Table of Malcontents, a Wired blog. Retrieved 2007-04-29. These images... usually include a cute cat saying something related to buckets, cheeseburgers, or whatever else with strangely-conjugated verbs. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b Jay Cridlin (2007-06-01). "This be funny storyz". Tampa Bay Times.
  7. ^ TheStar.com | living | Funny how `stupid' site is addictive
  8. ^ "Iz not cats everywhere? Online trend spreads across campus".
  9. ^ smith, david. "the unseen face behind today's counterculture". Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  10. ^ WHOIS domain registration information results for lolcats.com from Network Solutions
  11. ^ "Lolcats' demented captions create a new Web language", Tamara Ikenberg, The News Journal, 9 July 2007
  12. ^ About « Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures - I Can Has Cheezburger?
  13. ^ "Original Picture, cheezburger, ICANHASCHEEZBURGER, 26 September 2007 http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/11/i-can-has-cheezburger/
  14. ^ Lev Grossman (2007-07-12). has also spawned the digg dog which is part of the popular site titled digg.com "Creating a Cute Cat Frenzy". Time (magazine). Retrieved 2007-07-16. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Lev Grossman (2007-07-16). "Lolcats Addendum: Where I Got the Story Wrong". Time (magazine). Retrieved 2007-07-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Guzman, Monika (2007-10-19). "Time Killer: The "lolcat" bible". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2007-12-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  17. ^ Amter, Charlie (2007-12-16). "Lolcat Bible Translation Project presents the Gospel according to Fluffy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-12-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. ^ It's the Gospel according to kittah - Los Angeles Times

General

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