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'''''LOL''''' (also written with some or all letters lowercase, most commonly as ''lol'' or ''LoL'') is a common element of [[Internet slang]] used historically on [[Usenet]] but now widespread in other forms of [[computer-mediated communication]], and even [[face-to-face]] communication. It is an abbreviation for "laughing out loud"<ref name=Haig>{{cite book|title=E-Mail Essentials: How to Make the Most of E-Communications|author=Matt Haig|pages=89|year=2001|publisher=Kogan Page|id=ISBN 0749435763}}</ref><ref name=Franzini>{{cite book|title=Kids Who Laugh: How to Develop Your Child's Sense of Humor|author=Louis R. Franzini|year=2002|publisher=Square One Publishers, Inc.|pages=145–146|id=ISBN 0757000088}}</ref> or "laugh out loud".<ref name=Egan>{{cite book|title=Email Etiquette|author=Michael Egan|publisher=Cool Publications Ltd|id=ISBN 1844811182|pages=32,57–58}}</ref> ''LOL'' is one of many [[initialism]]s for expressing bodily reactions, in particular [[laughter]], as text, including initialisms such as ''ROTFL''<!-- "ROTFL" really is what the cited sources say. DO NOT "CORRECT" IT! Encyclopedia content must be verifiable. That means agreeing with what the sources say.--> ("roll(ing) on the floor laughing"),<ref name=Hueng>{{cite book|title=Technology and Cultural Values: On the Edge of the Third Millennium|author=Jiuan Heng|chapter=The emergence of pure consciousness: The Theatre of Virtual Selves in the age of the Internet|editor=Peter D. Hershock, M. T. Stepaniants, and Roger T. Ames|year=2003|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|id=ISBN 0824826477|pages=561}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The New Hacker's Dictionary|author=[[Eric S. Raymond]] and Guy L. Steele|pages=435|year=1996|publisher=MIT Press|id=ISBN 0262680920}}</ref> a more emphatic expressions of laughter, and ''BWL'' ("bursting with laughter"), above which there is "no greater compliment" according to technology columnist [[Larry Magid]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Little PC Book: Windows Xp|author=Lawrence J. Magid|pages=287|year=2001|publisher=Peachpit Press|id=ISBN 0201754703}}</ref> Other unrelated expansions include the less common "lots of luck" or "lots of love".<ref name="AHD">{{cite book |title=[[American Heritage Dictionary|American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary]] 3rd Edition |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |year=2005 |accessdate=2007-08-03}}</ref> |
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The list of acronyms "grows by the month"<ref name=Hueng /> and they are collected along with [[emoticon]]s and [[smiley]]s into [[folklore|folk]] dictionaries that are circulated informally amongst users of Usenet, [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]], and other forms of (textual) computer-mediated communication.<ref>{{cite book|pages=52|title=Cybersociety 2.0: Revisiting Computer-Mediated Community and Technology|author=Steven G. Jones|year=1998|publisher=Sage Publications Inc|id=ISBN 0761914625}}</ref> These initialisms are controversial, and several authors recommend against their use, either in general or in specific contexts such as business communications.{{Fact|date=August 2008}} |
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==Analysis== |
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Laccetti (professor of humanities at [[Stevens Institute of Technology]]) and Molsk, in their essay entitled ''The Lost Art of Writing'',<ref>{{cite news|author=Silvio Laccetti and Scott Molsk|url=http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/0603/08special_writing.html|title=Cost of poor writing no laughing matter|work=[[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]|date=September 6, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|publisher=[[Stevens Institute of Technology]]|title=Article co-authored by Stevens professor and student garners nationwide attention from business, academia|date=October 22, 2003|url=http://howe.stevens.edu/babbio/pressroom/20031022-368-writingoped.html}}</ref> are critical of the acronyms, predicting reduced chances of employment for students who use such acronyms, 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." Fondiller and Nerone<ref>{{cite book|title=Health Professionals Style Manual|author=Shirley H. Fondiller and Barbara J. Nerone|pages=98|year=2007|publisher=Springer Publishing Company|isbn=0826102077}}</ref> 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 these abbreviations, stating that they are "no more than e-mail slang and have no place in business communication". |
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Yunker and Barry<ref>{{cite conference|booktitle=Proceedings of the International Conference on e-Learning, Université du Québec à Montréal, 22-23 June 2006|title=Threaded Podcasting: The Evolution of On-Line Learning|author=Frank Yunker and Stephen Barry|pages=516|editor=Dan Remenyi|publisher=Academic Conferences Limited|id=ISBN 1905305222}}</ref> in a study of online courses and how they can be improved through [[podcast]]ing have found that these acronyms, 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 on ''the'' floor laughing" (emphasis added). Haig<ref name=Haig /> singles out ''LOL'' as one of the three most popular initialisms in Internet slang, alongside ''BFN'' ("bye for now") and ''IMHO'' ("in my humble opinion"). He describes these acronyms, and the various initialisms of Internet slang in general, as convenient, but warns that "as ever more obscure acronyms emerge they can also be rather confusing". Bidgoli<ref>{{cite book|title=The Internet Encyclopedia|author=Hossein Bidgoli|pages=277|year=2004|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|id=ISBN 0471222011}}</ref> 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". |
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Hueng,<ref name=Hueng /> in discussing these acronyms in the context of performative utterances, points out the difference between ''telling'' someone 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." |
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[[David Crystal]]<ref>{{cite book|author=David Crystal|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2001|id=ISBN 0-521-80212-1|title=Language and the Internet|date=September 20, 2001|pages=34}}</ref> notes 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?". Franzini<ref name=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". |
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Victoria Clarke, in her analysis of telnet talkers,<ref>{{cite web|title=Internet English: an analysis of the variety of language used on Telnet talkers|author=Victoria Clarke|date=January 30, 2002|url=http://www.american.edu/lfs/tesol/2003%20Paper--Lg%20of%20the%20Internet.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref> states that capitalization is important when people write "LOL", and that "a user who types ''LOL'' may well be laughing louder than one who types ''lol''", and opines that "these standard expressions of laughter are losing force through overuse". Egan<ref name=Egan /> describes ''LOL'', ''ROTFL''<!-- "ROTFL" really is what the cited sources say. DO NOT "CORRECT" IT! Encyclopedia content must be verifiable. That means agreeing with what the sources say.-->, and other initialisms as helpful as 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. Lindsell-Roberts<ref>{{cite book|title=Strategic Business Letters and E-Mail|author=Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts|pages=289|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|id=ISBN 0618448330}}</ref> shares that view and gives the same advice of not using them in business correspondence, "or you won't be LOL". |
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== Spread from written to spoken communication == |
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{{IPA notice}} |
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''LOL'', ''ROFL'', ''LMFAO'', and other initialisms have crossed from computer-mediated communication to face-to-face communication. [[Teenager]]s now sometimes use them in spoken communication as well as in written, with ''ROFL'' ({{pron-en|ˈroʊfəl}} or {{IPA|/ˈrɒfəl/}}) and ''LOL'' (pronounced {{IPA|/ˈloʊl/}}, {{IPA|/ˈlɒl/}}, or {{IPA|/ˌɛloʊˈɛl/}}), for example. David Crystal—likening the introduction of ''LOL'', ''ROFL'', and others into spoken language in magnitude to the revolution of [[Johannes Gutenberg]]'s invention of [[movable type]] in 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". Commentators disagree, saying that these new words, being abbreviations for existing, long-used, phrases, don't "enrich" anything; they just shorten it.<ref>{{cite web|work=Digital Culture|title=OMG: IM Slang Is Invading Everyday English|author=Neda Ulaby|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5221618|date=February 18, 2006|publisher=[[National Public Radio]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=OMG, that's, like, so uninteresting!|date=February 25, 2006|author=jadedlistener|url=http://jadedlistener.wordpress.com/2006/02/25/omg-thats-like-so-uninteresting/}}</ref><ref name=Philipkoski>{{cite news|title=The Web Not the Death of Language|author=Kristen Philipkoski|date=February 22, 2005|url=http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66671,00.html|work=[[Wired News]]}}</ref> |
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[[Geoffrey Pullum|Geoffrey K. Pullum]] points out that even if interjections such as ''LOL'' and ''ROTFL'' were to become very common in spoken English, their "total effect on language" would be "utterly trivial".<ref>{{cite web|author=Geoffrey K. Pullum|url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001829.html|title=English in Deep Trouble?|work=[[Language Log]]|date=January 23, 2005|accessdate=2007-05-03}}</ref> |
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Conversely, a 2003 study of college students by [[Naomi Baron]] found that the use of these initialisms in computer-mediated communication, specifically in [[instant messaging]], was actually ''lower'' than to be expected. The students "used few abbreviations, acronyms, and emoticons". The spelling was "reasonably good" and contractions were "not ubiquitous". Out of 2,185 transmissions, there were 90 initialisms in total, only 31 CMC-style abbreviations, 49 emoticons, and just 76 occurrences of ''LOL''.<ref name=Philipkoski /> |
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==Variations on the theme== |
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{{wiktionarycat|type=for Internet laughter slang|category=Internet laughter slang}} |
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Despite it being an [[English language|English]] acronym, it is often used by non-English speakers as-is, even in other [[writing systems|scripts]] (e.g. [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: [[wikt:לול|לול]], [[Cyrillic]]: лол, [[Arabic]]: لول). |
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===Translations in widespread use=== |
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<!--ACHTUNG: This article is not a dumping ground for arbitrary variations. Any variation added here MUST already have a Wiktionary article, and satisfy the Wiktionary criteria for inclusion as a word. --> |
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Most of these variants are usually found in lowercase. |
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*[[Wiktionary:lal|lal]] or lawl: can refer to either a pseudo-pronunciation of ''LOL'', or the [[German language|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. |
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*[[Wiktionary:ｗ|ｗ]]: used commonly in [[2channel]], a Japanese equivalent of the acronym. 'ｗ' stands for [[wikt:en:笑う#Japanese|笑う]] ([[wikt:en:わらう#Japanese|わらう]], [[wikt:en:warau#Japanese|warau]]), which means "to laugh" in Japanese. |
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*[[Wiktionary:lolz|lolz]]: occasionally used in place of LOL. |
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*lulz: "lulz" is a corruption of LOL. lulz is often used as a noun — e.g. "for the lulz" ("for laughs").<ref>{{cite web|author=FOX11|url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=DNO6G4ApJQY|title=Anonymous on FOX11|accessdate=2008-03-03|format=video||pages=1:56}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/16-02/mf_goons |
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|title=Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, the Sociopaths of the Virtual World|publisher=Wired|accessdate=2008-03-23|last=Dibbell|first=Julian |
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|quote="We do it for the lulz," ^ban^ says — for laughs.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?ex=1375329600&en=b5085d50ee5c65e5&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |
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|title=Malwebolence|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2008-08-01|last=Schwartz|first=Mattathias |
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|quote="Lulz" is how trolls keep score. A corruption of "LOL" or "laugh out loud," "lulz" means the joy of disrupting another's emotional equilibrium.}}</ref> Especially used to denote laughter at another's expense (see [[Schadenfreude]]). |
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*Lqtms: Because often when behind a computer screen, one will find something funny, but not actually laugh out loud, lqtms or simply lqtm can be used, which stands for "laughing quietly to myself." |
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*[[Wiktionary:mdr|mdr]]: French version of the expression LOL, from the initials of "mort de rire" that roughly translated means "dying of laughter". |
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*חחחחח: Hebrew version of 'LOL'. The letter [[ח]] is pronounced 'kh', and it is common to put a group of them together (the longer the group, the greater the amusement) to transcribe 'khkhkhkhkh' (a sound of chuckling). The word 'LOL' is sometimes transliterated, but its usage is not very common. |
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*[[Wiktionary:555|555]]: The Thai variation of LOL. "5" in Thai is pronounced "ha", three of them being "hahaha". |
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*[[Wiktionary:asg|asg]]: Swedish abbreviation of the term ''Asgarv'', meaning intensive laughter. |
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* g: Danish abbreviation of the word "griner", which means "laughing" in Danish. |
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<!--WARNING: This article is not a dumping ground for arbitrary variations. Any variation added here MUST already have a Wiktionary article, and satisfy the Wiktionary criteria for inclusion as a word. --> |
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* kek: Cross-faction rendering of ''lol'' in the [[MMORPG]] ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Though most words are not translated directly across factions, ''lol'' is always faithfully rendered as "kek". When a member of the Horde says the word ''lol'', nearby members of the Alliance see the word as "kek". ''Kek'' is derived from the Korean ㅋㅋㅋ, or ''[[kekeke]]'', which is used to express laughter. |
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* bur: Another cross-faction rendering of ''lol'' in ''World of Warcraft'' seen by members of the Horde. |
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*rs: in [[Brazil]] "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. |
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*mkm: in [[Afghanistan]] "mkm" (being an abbreviation of the phrase "ma khanda mikonom"). This is a [[Dari]] phrase that means "I am laughing". |
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*kik: An easily-made misspelling of ''lol'' that is still widely understood{{Fact|date=August 2008}} to have the same meaning. On a keyboard, the "O" key is directly above the "L" key, which makes it relatively easy to type "kik" or even ";p;" by accident (as they are the adjacent keys). |
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===Other languages=== |
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[[Wiktionary:lol#Dutch|Lol]] is a native [[Dutch language|Dutch]] word (not an acronym) which, coincidentally, means "fun" ("[[Wiktionary:lollig|lollig]]" means "funny"). |
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In [[Welsh language|Welsh]], lol means nonsense - e.g., if a person wanted to say "utter nonsense" in Welsh, they would say "rwtsh lol".<ref name="cscs">{{cite web|url=http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/fun/welsh/LexiconWE.html|title=Welsh-English Lexicon|publisher=Cardiff School of Computer Science|accessdate=2008-07-15}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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{{wiktionarypar2|LOL|lol}} |
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* [[Leet]] |
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* [[Lolcat]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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==Further reading== |
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* {{cite book|author=Connery, Brian A.|date=February 25, 1997|chapter=IMHO: Authority and egalitarian rhetoric in the virtual coffeehouse|editor=Porter, D.|title=Internet Culture|pages=161–179|location=New York|publisher=Routledge|id=ISBN 0415916844}} |
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* {{cite newsgroup | title = smilies collection | author = Russ Armadillo Coffman | date = January 17, 1990 | newsgroup = rec.humor | url = http://groups.google.com/group/rec.humor/browse_thread/thread/7a3256660d71ea68/ | accessdate = 2006-12-22}}—an early Usenet posting of a folk dictionary of abbreviations and emoticons, listing ''LOL'' and ''ROTFL'' |
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* {{cite paper | title=Credibility and Authority on Internet Message Boards | publisher=Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College | date=August 2004 | format=PDF | url=http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07082004-110035/unrestricted/Goudelocke_thesis.pdf | author=Ryan Goudelocke}} <!-- | pages=22 | --> |
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[[Category:Slang]] |
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[[Category:Internet slang]] |
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[[Category:Internet memes]] |
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[[af:LOL (Internet slang)]] |
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[[ar:لول]] |
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[[et:LOL]] |
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[[es:LOL]] |
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[[fr:LOL (argot internet)]] |
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[[ko:LOL]] |
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[[hr:LOL]] |
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[[id:LOL]] |
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[[he:lol]] |
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[[la:LOL]] |
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[[lt:LOL]] |
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[[ja:（笑）]] |
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[[pt:LOL]] |
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[[ru:Lol]] |
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[[scn:LOL]] |
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[[sl:LOL]] |
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[[fi:LOL]] |
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[[zh:LOL]] |
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Revision as of 00:40, 25 October 2008
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