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Revision as of 12:14, 20 April 2006 by 217.74.217.51 (talk) (→Variations on the theme)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) "lol" redirects here. For the musician, see ]. For other uses, see LOL.LOL (also spelled lol) is an abbreviation for "laughing out loud", "laugh out loud", or less commonly "lots of laughter". LOL is a common element of Internet slang used, historically, on Usenet.
Analysis
Many people are critical of "LOL" and its related acronyms and there is widespread controversy over their use. Some message boards ban the usage of "LOL". Most people seem to use "LOL" as a filler in a message instead of actually "laughing out loud," for example, someone may say "lol I don't know" despite the fact that "lol" does not necessarily mean the person is laughing out loud. "LOL" can also be used to mean 'lots of love', however, this is not in the common vernacular. LOL is not generally case sensitive. As part of Internet Jargon language, it is commonly linked with leet.
It should be noted that the word 'lol' is Dutch for 'fun'.
Variations on the theme
The widespread use of the term has sprung many variations such as pseudo-pluralizations (e.g. lols and lolz), repetitions (e.g. lololol, loooool, and any number of other repetitious variants), and puns (e.g. lollerskates, lolgasm, lollercoaster, lollerfest, lollerpops). Sometimes the Os are replaced with alternating or random zeroes (e.g. lo0o0ol).
Despite it being an English acronym, it is often used by non-English speakers as-is, even in other scripts (eg. Template:Lang-ar, Hebrew: לול).
Variants and translations in widespread use
- El oh el - pseudo-pronunciation. A danish guy called Lars even said lolz0rexz in a danish newspaper.
- lal or lawl — "la(w)l" can refer to either a way in which someone words the phrase 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.
- Lol (lollig) is a Dutch word, meaning fun (funny).
- Mdr is the equivalent in French : Mort De Rire ('Dying of laughter')
- ｗ — used commonly in 2channel
- lolled (also spelled "lol'd") - past-tense form; as in the sentence, "I lolled at the movie."
- LMAO stands for "Laughing My Arse Off" or "Laughing My Ass Off" and has several variations itself:
- ial stands for "I am Laughing" or "I actually laughed". The word was created after people were annoyed that lol is commonly overused even when a person is not laughing. ial is used when someone actually laughs in response to what has been said.
- lolz is occasionally used in place of "lol".