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Use of "lol" in a conversation

LOL, or lol, is an initialism for laughing out loud,[1][2][3][4] and a popular element of Internet slang, which can be used to indicate amusement, irony, or double meanings.[5] It was first used almost exclusively on Usenet, but has since become widespread in other forms of computer-mediated communication and even face-to-face communication. It is one of many initialisms for expressing bodily reactions, in particular laughter, as text, including initialisms for more emphatic expressions of laughter such as LMAO[6] ("laughing my ass off") and ROFL[7][8][9] or ROTFL[10][11] ("rolling on the floor laughing").

In 2003, the list of acronyms was said to "grow by the month",[8] and they were collected along with emoticons and smileys into folk dictionaries 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. The Oxford English Dictionary first listed LOL in March 2011.[17]

History

[edit]
A person literally laughing out loud in a university computer lab

In the early to mid-1980s,[18] 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 stated that he instead typed "LOL" to symbolize extreme laughter.[19][20] Although the account is commonly accepted as true, no written record of the conversation has been found, and the exact date of origin is unknown.[5]: 82–83  The earliest recorded mention of LOL in the contemporary meaning of "Laughing Out Loud" was made in a list of common online acronyms on the May 8, 1989 issue of the electronic newsletter FidoNews, according to the Oxford English Dictionary[18] and linguist Ben Zimmer.[21][5]: 83 

A 2003 study of college students by Naomi Baron found that the use of these initialisms in computer-mediated communication (CMC), specifically in instant messaging, was actually lower than she had expected. The students "used few abbreviations, acronyms, and emoticons". Out of 2,185 transmissions, there were 90 initialisms in total;[22] 76 were occurrences of LOL.[23]

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

On March 24, 2011, LOL, along with other acronyms, was formally recognized in an update of the Oxford English Dictionary.[17][24] In their research, it was determined that the earliest recorded use of LOL as an initialism was for "little old lady" in the 1960s.[25]

Gabriella Coleman references "lulz" extensively in her anthropological studies of Anonymous.[26][27]

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 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".[28][22] However Geoffrey K. Pullum argues 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".[29]

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

[edit]

Silvio Laccetti (professor of humanities at Stevens Institute of Technology) and Scott Molski, in their essay entitled The 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 '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 smileys and abbreviations 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 as oh in "Oh, I don't know" and uh when someone is thinking of something to say. McWhorter stated that lol is utilized less as a reaction to something that is hilarious, but rather as a way to lighten the conversation.[30]

Frank Yunker and Stephen Barry, in a study of online courses and how they can be improved through podcasting, 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 on the floor laughing" (emphasis added).[16] Matt Haig 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 advises that such initialisms should be used "only when you are sure that the other person knows the meaning" as they "might make comprehension of the message more difficult for the receiver", and differences in meaning may lead to misunderstandings in international contexts.[31]

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 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."[8]

David Crystal 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?".[32] 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 of telnet talkers, 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".[33] 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.[34] So, too, does Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts, who gives the same advice of not using them in business correspondence, "or you won't be LOL."[35]

Variations on the theme

[edit]

Variants

[edit]
"LOLOL" redirects here. For the Chilean town, see Lolol.
The OMEGA­LUL Twitch emote is a distorted image of TotalBiscuit originating c. 2013.[36]
  • lul: phonetic spelling of LOL. "LUL" is also commonly used in the gaming community, due to it being an emote on Twitch, which depicts game critic TotalBiscuit laughing.
  • lolz: Occasionally used in place of LOL.
  • lulz: Often used to denote laughter at someone who is the victim of a prank, or a reason for performing an action. Its use originated with Internet trolls. According to a New York Times article about Internet trolling, "lulz means the joy of disrupting another's emotional equilibrium."[37] 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 also LulzSec.
  • 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.
  • OMEGALUL and LULW: variants of "LUL" used as a Twitch emote.[38][39][36]
  • trolololol or trollololol: A blend of troll and LOL iterated, likely meant to mimick Eduard Khil's 1976 song Mr. Trololo song, 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 as internet trolling.

Derivations

[edit]
A 2007 lolcat meme, 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, or lal: 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.
  • Lel or LEL is a "playful or ironic" variation of LOL.[40] It is sometimes thought to be an initialism, standing for "laughing extremely loud" or "laughing extra loud", but this has been disputed.[41]
  • lolcat, an image macro of a cat
[edit]
An animated ASCII art image popularized in 2004 by memes using the word "roflcopter"
"lqtm" redirects here. For linear quantum Turing machines, see Quantum Turing machine.
  • *G* or *g*: For "grins".[42] Like "lulz" it is used in the initialism "J4G" ("just for grins").[43]
  • kek: A term for laughter that originated in online games, possibly either World of Warcraft or StarCraft, the latter in which Korean players would type "kekeke" as onomatopoeia for laughter.[44] It later became associated with alt-right politics,[45] in the form of a parody religion surrounding the character Pepe the Frog by analogy with the frog-headed ancient Egyptian god Kek.[46]
  • LMAO: For "laughing my arse/ass off".[6] Variants: LMBO ("Laughing my butt off"),[47] LMFAO ("Laughing my fucking ass off").
  • lqtm: For "Laughing quietly to myself".[48]
  • ROFL: For "rolling on the floor laughing". It is often combined with LMAO for added emphasis as ROFLMAO ("Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off") or ROFLMFAO ("Rolling on the floor laughing my fucking ass off").[49]
  • roflcopter: A portmanteau of ROFL and helicopter. A popular glitch in the Microsoft Sam text-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".[50] Gaining popularity among Gen Z, initially popularized within the K-pop fandom. Not derived from Korean.[51]
  • XD, sometimes stylized as xD, xd, or Xd, is an emoticon commonly used to symbolize extreme laughter or happiness.

Commonly used equivalents in other languages

[edit]
The continuous radio Morse message "hi hi hi ..." by the first private satellites called OSCAR, beginning with OSCAR 1 in 1961 (recording from OSCAR 2, 1962)

Pre-dating the Internet and phone texting by a century, the way to express laughter in morse code is "hi hi".[52] The sound of this in morse ('di-di-di-dit di-dit, di-di-di-dit di-dit') is thought to represent chuckling.[53][54]

  • 555: the Thai variation of LOL. "5" in Thai is pronounced "ha", three of them being "hahaha" (ห้า ห้า ห้า).[55]
  • asg: Swedish abbreviation of the term asgarv, meaning intense laughter.[56]
  • g: Danish abbreviation of the word griner, which means "laughing" in Danish.[57]
  • jajajá: in Spanish, the letter "j" is pronounced /x/.[58]
  • jejeje: in the Philippines is used to represent "hehehe". "j" in Filipino languages is pronounced as /h/, derived from the Spanish /x/. Its origins can be traced to SMS language. It is widely used in a Filipino youth subculture known as Jejemons.[59][60]
  • mdr: Esperanto version, from the initials of multe da ridoj, which translates to "lot of laughs" in English.
  • mdr: French version, 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.[61][62]
  • mkm: in Afghanistan "mkm" (being an abbreviation of the phrase "ma khanda mikonom"). This is a Dari phrase that means "I am laughing".
  • ptdr: French variant from pété de rire – literally meaning "broken with laughter"
  • 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. Also popular is "kkk" (which can also be repeated indefinitely), due to the pronunciation of the letter k in Brazilian Portuguese sounding similar to the ca in card, and therefore representing the laugh "cacacacaca" (also similar to the Hebrew version below).[63]
  • חחח/ההה: Hebrew version of LOL. The letter ח is pronounced [/x/ /x/] and ה is 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")[44] and ㅎㅎㅎ ("hhh") are usually used to indicate laughter in Korean. 'ㅋ', is a Korean Jamo consonant 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."[64]
  • wkwkwk: in Indonesian is used in the same way as lol. Early-2000s online-game and chat culture popularized it because alternating W and K is quick to type; some guides explicitly trace it to gaming chats and Indonesian SMS/keyboard habits with "w" representing the slang for gue, which means "me" and "K" meaning ketawa, which means "laugh". It is also a onomatopoeia.[65]
  • (笑): in Japanese, the kanji for laugh, is used in the same way as lol. It can be read as kakko warai (literally "parentheses laugh") or just wara. w is also used as an abbreviation, and it is common for multiple w to be chained together.[66] The resulting shape formed from multiple wwwww leads to the usage of 草 (草 meaning 'grass', read as kusa) due to its resemblance to the shape of grass.[67]

See also

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References

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Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

LOL

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
LOL is an initialism for "laughing out loud," a staple of internet slang employed in digital communications to convey amusement, irony, or emphasis on humor. Originating in the pre-web era of bulletin board systems during the 1980s, its earliest documented appearance in print occurred in the May 8, 1989, edition of the FidoNews newsletter, where it denoted genuine vocal laughter in response to online jests. Over time, LOL proliferated with the rise of email, instant messaging, and SMS in the 1990s and 2000s, evolving into a versatile marker of lighthearted acknowledgment rather than strictly literal outburst, as linguistic analyses indicate its semantic shift toward softer connotations of "that's funny" without requiring audible response. The term entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011, reflecting its entrenchment in global vernacular, though variants like LMAO ("laughing my ass off") and ROFL ("rolling on the floor laughing") emerged to denote escalating hilarity. Despite its ubiquity—appearing in billions of messages annually—critics note its dilution through habitual deployment has rendered it akin to a conversational filler, underscoring adaptations in human expression driven by technological mediation of social cues.

History

Origins in Pre-Web Computing

The acronym LOL, denoting "laugh out loud," emerged in the early within pre-internet digital communication systems, particularly systems (BBS), where users sought concise ways to convey audible laughter in text-only environments devoid of vocal cues or emoticons. These systems, accessed via dial-up modems, facilitated asynchronous message exchanges among hobbyists and early computer enthusiasts, often limited by slow connection speeds that encouraged abbreviation to minimize typing and transmission time. Wayne Pearson, a developer in , , , has claimed to have originated the term in the early to mid- on the Viewline BBS, typing LOL in response to a joke from a user known as "Sprout," explicitly to indicate his physical reaction of laughing aloud during the chat. The earliest verifiable printed record of LOL appears in the May 8, 1989, edition of the FidoNews newsletter, a publication for the BBS network, where it was listed among emerging online slang terms like "BRB" () in a section titled "MO ICONS PLEASE," signaling its use to express genuine amusement in networked discussions. User testimonies and archived BBS logs from this era, including Pearson's account of its subsequent spread to services like , attest to its initial intent as a literal for vocal , distinguishing it from mere textual humor indicators. However, adoption remained sporadic, coexisting with alternative interpretations such as "lots of love" in some early chat contexts, which occasionally led to miscommunications until contextual clarification reinforced the meaning. This pre-web phase confined LOL primarily to niche computing communities, predating broader dissemination.

Popularization and Mainstream Adoption

The use of LOL gained momentum in the through America Online () chat rooms, where the service's subscriber base expanded to over 20 million by the end of the decade, enabling widespread casual text-based interactions among users. Instant Messenger (AIM), introduced in 1997, further propelled its adoption, peaking at 36 million active users by 2001 and embedding acronyms like LOL into everyday digital exchanges. Concurrently, , launched in 1996 as one of the first widely used clients, contributed to this spread, amassing over 100 million registered users by the early 2000s and facilitating real-time conversations across global networks. In the early , LOL proliferated through web forums and expanding platforms, as these venues hosted millions of daily posts and chats where expressions became standard for denoting amusement amid rising participation. This growth aligned with the surge in users, from roughly half of U.S. adults in 2000 to near-universal access by 2010, driven by proliferation that supported more frequent and prolonged text communications. By the late , LOL had achieved mainstream ubiquity, reflecting its transition from niche to a staple of digital vernacular across forums, emails, and emerging . Institutional acknowledgment came in when the included LOL, citing its established role in electronic communications to express . This entry underscored the acronym's permeation into broader language use, supported by its routine appearance in millions of daily online interactions worldwide.

Semantics and Usage

Literal Meaning and Early Intent

LOL originated as an initialism for laughing out loud (or equivalently, laugh out loud), intended to signify genuine, audible in response to humorous content within text-only digital conversations. This expansion directly mimicked the physical act of vocalizing amusement, providing a textual proxy for the bodily reactions absent in early asynchronous exchanges like bulletin board systems (BBS) and pre-web chat rooms. Wayne Pearson, credited with one of the earliest uses in the mid-1980s, explicitly designed it to denote instances of actual echoing in one's environment, such as "laughing out loud, echoing off the walls of my kitchen," distinguishing it from subtler reactions like smirking or mild chuckling. The first documented printed appearance of LOL in this sense occurred on May 8, 1989, in the FidoNews newsletter, a publication for users of , an early dial-up networking system, where it exemplified online slang for conveying strong amusement. Early adopters, including Pearson, emphasized its literal application to avoid overuse, reserving it for content that elicited verifiable vocalization rather than mere acknowledgment of wit. This intent aligned with the constraints of computing interfaces, which lacked visual or auditory cues, making explicit indicators essential for interpreting intent in humor-deficient text streams and minimizing miscommunication in group chats or forums. By bridging the gap between spoken and written interaction, LOL's early role facilitated causal clarity in digital humor conveyance, where ambiguity could otherwise lead to flattened emotional exchanges; users reported it as a deliberate tool to signal that a had provoked a physical response, enhancing communal in resource-limited environments.

Shift to Non-Literal Functions

Linguistic corpus studies from the early document LOL's transition from primarily denoting physical to acting as a pragmatic marker that conveys irony, softens directives, or acknowledges humor without requiring an actual response. In analyses of data, LOL often functions as a phatic filler or involvement signal, modulating illocutionary force in requests or flirtatious exchanges to reduce perceived imposition. For instance, placement matters: clause-final LOL typically softens statements, while clause-initial uses emphasize stance or transition, as observed in comment corpora where it organizes discourse and signals pragmatic intent. Quantitative evidence from teen instant messaging corpora in the mid-2000s shows LOL comprising a significant portion of responses—appearing in approximately 16% of turns—predominantly as backchannels for or shared rather than literal outbursts. By the , platform-specific studies, such as those on , indicate non-literal dominance, with LOL framing self-deprecating or negative sentiments as playful to avert seriousness or offense, effectively serving as tonal for ambivalence. For example, LOL can convey sarcasm or passive-aggression in contexts like "That was a terrible idea lol" or self-deprecating statements such as "I'm such a mess lol," potentially making the message seem dismissive or insincere, though LOL itself has no inherently offensive meaning. These shifts position LOL akin to spoken discourse markers like "well," prioritizing relational over semantic literalness. Contributing factors include habitual keyboard entry in high-velocity chats, where reflexive LOL insertion outpaces deliberate laughter transcription, decoupling it from physical cues. Digital norms favoring brevity and further entrenched this, as algorithms and interface designs reward concise, engaging replies that maintain flow without verbose clarification.

Variations

English-Language Derivatives

LMAO, an for "laughing my ass off," emerged as a of LOL to express more intense amusement, often in response to highly comical content in early internet forums and chat rooms. ROFL, meaning "rolling on the floor laughing," further escalates this to signify extreme laughter, typically reserved for scenarios evoking physical reactions, as observed in online during the and . These terms build on LOL by grading intensity, with users perceiving LOL as casual acknowledgment, LMAO as genuine hilarity, and ROFL as peak comedic response in digital interactions. Phonetic variants like "lul" and "lolz" adapt LOL for stylistic emphasis in gaming and streaming communities, where "lul" functions as a equivalent pronounced similarly to LOL and popularized via Twitch emotes depicting streamer laughter. "Lulz," a pluralized form, connotes amusement from pranks or , distinct from pure joy in LOL by implying mockery or trolling in forum and chat contexts. "Lolage," a playful blend of "LOL" and the "-age" suffix, refers to the act or state of laughing online. Usage analyses of online platforms reveal derivatives' roles in scaling expressiveness; for instance, in aggregated data from digital communications, LOL dominates at approximately 55.8% of laughter acronyms, while LMAO and ROFL appear less often to denote heightened reactions, reflecting their niche for amplified scenarios over baseline usage. On forums like , corpus studies confirm LMAO and ROFL cluster with LOL in expressing amusement but diverge syntactically for emphasis, with ROFL rarer due to its exaggerated .

International Equivalents

In French online communication, "MDR" functions as a direct equivalent to LOL, abbreviating "mort de rire," which literally translates to "dead from laughter" and conveys intense amusement akin to "laughing out loud." This acronym emerged in early French internet slang, paralleling LOL's role in signaling non-literal humor rather than literal death. Usage data from multilingual chat analyses show MDR appearing in contexts of mild to extreme hilarity, often intensified as "PTDR" for "pété de rire" (burst from laughing). Spanish speakers predominantly employ "jajaja" as an onomatopoeic stand-in for , where the repeated "ja" mimics the phonetic "" sound, substituting Spanish's "j" (pronounced like English "h") for the voiceless counterpart. This form varies in length—e.g., "jaja" for polite chuckles versus extended "jajajaja" for uproarious responses—and reflects cultural preferences for auditory simulation over acronyms. Empirical reviews of Spanish-language corpora confirm its functional equivalence to LOL in denoting ironic or emphatic reactions, though rooted in phonetic realism rather than . German internet users often default to "haha," an onomatopoeic repetition mirroring English but pronounced with a sharper aspirate, serving to punctuate jokes without acronymic structure. This simplicity aligns with broader Germanic patterns favoring direct sound imitation over translated phrases. In Japanese digital spaces, "w" abbreviates "warau" (to laugh), with chains like "www" or "wwww" escalating intensity; visually, multiple "w"s evoke waving grass or "kusa" (grass), a later synonym for hilarity. Linguistic analyses of Japanese forums indicate this shorthand's rise in the , fulfilling LOL's brevity while tying to native verbs for laughter. Despite localized variants, LOL permeates non-English contexts due to English's in software interfaces, global platforms like , and cross-border memes, leading to hybrids such as "jajaja LOL" in bilingual Latin American chats. Cross-linguistic studies of online corpora reveal near-identical pragmatic roles—indicating amusement without vocalization—but divergent phonetics preserve cultural specificity, with English exports comprising up to 40% of laughter tokens in multilingual datasets from 2010–2020.

Cultural Impact

Integration into Media and Everyday Language

The frequency of "LOL" in printed books surged from the early 1990s, peaking around 2008 according to Ngram Viewer data drawn from millions of scanned publications, demonstrating its transition from niche online usage to broader incorporation in offline written English. This permeation extended to linguistic critiques in print, where authors addressed the incursion of digital acronyms into formal writing; for instance, discussions surrounding Lynne Truss's 2003 guide Eats, Shoots & Leaves invoked examples like "LOL" to illustrate the blurring of online with traditional prose. In spoken English, the phonetic pronunciation "el-oh-el" (/ˌɛl oʊ ˈɛl/) entered casual by the mid-2000s, as internet-derived diffused into everyday dialogue beyond digital interfaces. observed that by this period, LOL had infiltrated speech, functioning not always as literal but as a conversational marker, evidenced in corpus analyses of teen and informal language patterns.

Influence on Digital Communication Norms

The use of "LOL" exemplified and accelerated the shift toward acronymic brevity in digital messaging, particularly amid the constraints of early systems limited to 160 characters per message. This format prioritized efficiency, influencing the development of subsequent abbreviations and non-verbal cues like emojis to compress emotional expression within tight limits. By demonstrating how three letters could reliably signal amusement, "LOL" normalized practices that reduced typing demands and costs in character-restricted environments. "LOL" reshaped phatic elements of online , functioning as a pragmatic marker to convey , irony, or casual acknowledgment without substantive content. Linguist describes it as evolving into a particle that fosters interpersonal accommodation, enabling low-effort maintenance of across asynchronous, global networks. This role supported fluid, informal exchanges in text-based platforms, where explicit verbal elaboration might disrupt conversational flow. Analyses of corpora reveal "LOL"'s sustained utility in scaling humor signaling on large platforms, with users deploying it to lighten tones and preempt misinterpretation in high-volume interactions. Quantitative tracking from 2008 onward shows its integration into diverse contexts, facilitating rapid, context-agnostic cues for levity amid abbreviated posts. Such patterns underscore its contribution to norms favoring multimodal, efficient signaling over verbose description in mass-scale digital environments.

Criticisms and Debates

Overuse and Semantic Dilution

Linguistic analyses of digital corpora indicate that "LOL" is frequently deployed reflexively in contexts lacking genuine , functioning more as a to soften statements or signal non-serious intent rather than denoting literal . A study by researchers at the examined Twitter usage and found "lol" commonly frames negative self- or other-directed sentiments as playful, thereby diluting its original expressive potency into a pragmatic hedge against perceived harshness. Similarly, corpus-based research on reveals "lol" performs illocutionary work—modulating tone or mitigating offense—without corresponding in over half of instances, akin to filler phrases that maintain conversational flow but erode semantic specificity. This overuse can lead to perceptions of insincerity, where "lol" is employed as a mild acknowledgment rather than actual amusement, potentially appearing dismissive or passive-aggressive depending on context. The acronym's 2011 inclusion in the (OED) provoked critiques from language purists who argued it exemplified a broader trend of abbreviated undermining precise verbal expression, as dictionaries traditionally prioritize substantive lexical evolution over ephemeral net-speak. This addition, alongside terms like "OMG," fueled debates in outlets such as , where editorial commentary questioned whether sanctioning "LOL" accelerated the casual erosion of formal communication norms. Such habitual overuse, amplified by smartphone autocorrect features that suggest "lol" in neutral exchanges, has causally contributed to its transformation from a pre-2000s indicator of mirth—dominant in early chat logs tied to humorous content—into a post-2010s irony signal or buffer, as evidenced by sentiment shifts in longitudinal analyses of online . Furthermore, fringe online conspiracy theories have claimed that "LOL" secretly stands for "Lucifer Our Lord," allegedly used by Satanists to end prayers, but this is entirely unfounded misinformation with no credible evidence supporting it.

Generational Perceptions and Potential Obsolescence

Millennials frequently employ "lol" in digital communication not solely for denoting literal laughter but as a conversational softener to mitigate perceived harshness or signal casualness, a habit that has sparked recent intergenerational friction. In contrast, Generation Z often perceives this usage as excessive or indicative of advancing age, favoring more expressive alternatives such as the acronym "IJBOL" (I just burst out laughing) for instances of genuine, unrestrained amusement or emojis for visual conveyance of humor. A analysis of user reactions revealed a marked preference for "haha" over "lol," with 51% of laughter expressions utilizing "haha" variants compared to a declining incidence of "lol," attributing this shift partly to the proliferation of visual elements like emojis that offer nuanced, non-verbal depictions of amusement. This trend underscores broader adaptations in digital norms toward multimedia, though causality remains correlative rather than definitively proven, as regional and demographic variations persisted in the data. Notwithstanding narratives of impending irrelevance, "lol" endures in cross-generational and semi-formal exchanges, as evidenced by its sustained appearance in 2024-2025 social media discourse and professional-adjacent texting where brevity and familiarity prevail over novel . Global usage metrics from platforms indicate no abrupt cessation, with "lol" retaining viability amid evolving preferences rather than wholesale .

References

  1. https://www.etymonline.com/word/lol
  2. https://www.oed.com/dictionary/lol_int
  3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/05/28/the-surprisingly-long-and-unfunny-history-of-lol/
  4. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-33858624
  5. https://www.technology.org/2018/07/27/lol-is-not-just-laughing-out-loud-a-new-study-showed-that-the-function-of-a-popular-acronym-has-changed/
  6. https://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~crwth/LOL.html
  7. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-september-4-2019-1.5269696/in-the-80s-this-calgary-man-invented-one-of-the-most-common-words-in-internet-speak-1.5269807
  8. https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/05/lol-s-25th-anniversary-origins-of-still-popular-internet-abbreviation-trace-back-to-may-1989-newsletter.html
  9. https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-we-use-lol-so-much/
  10. https://www.britannica.com/money/AOL
  11. https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/12/14/67582/aol-instant-messenger-made-social-media-what-it-is-today/
  12. https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/06/03/the-end-of-icq/
  13. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/
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  17. https://journals.openedition.org/discours/10900
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  22. https://citizensociolinguistics.com/2019/12/19/lol-on-perceptions-of-language-evolution-in-the-age-of-the-internet/
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  25. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/63935/15-ways-laugh-online
  26. https://www.own3d.tv/en/blog/dictionary/lul/
  27. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=LOLage
  28. https://www.cyberdefinitions.com/definitions/LOLAGE.html
  29. https://www.fastcompany.com/90427027/lol-or-lmao-these-infographics-chart-how-laughter-has-evolved-online/
  30. https://www.academia.edu/39085786/Internet_based_acronyms_A_corpus_based_study_of_functional_and_syntactic_constraints
  31. https://beelinguapp.com/blog/how-to-laugh-online-in-20-languages
  32. https://www.languagetrainers.com/blog/laughing-on-the-internet/
  33. https://preply.com/en/d/laughing-around-the-world-map--lp
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  35. https://www.uslanguageservices.com/blog/from-hahaha-to-jijiji-how-expressions-of-laughter-vary-around-the-world/
  36. https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/lol-haha-laughter-online/
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  38. https://www.japanesepod101.com/blog/2019/07/23/japanese-text-slang/
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  40. https://lingopie.com/blog/how-to-laugh-online-in-different-languages/
  41. https://restofworld.org/2023/how-people-laugh-online/
  42. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jun-27-bk-rechy27-story.html
  43. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lol
  44. https://www.twilio.com/docs/glossary/what-sms-character-limit
  45. https://peerianjournal.com/index.php/tpj/article/view/1107
  46. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/are-digital-media-changing-language
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  48. https://languagedlife.ucla.edu/sociolinguistics/this-is-our-linguistics-projectlol/
  49. http://michelleamcsweeney.com/lol_mcsweeney.pdf
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  51. https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/the-dramatic-grammatic-evolution-of-lol/
  52. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lolspeak-of-the-devil/
  53. https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/lol-acronym-does-not-endorse-satan-idUSL2N2OK1HB/
  54. https://nypost.com/2025/09/02/lifestyle/why-millennials-end-every-text-with-lol-explained/
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  56. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/08/style/ijbol-lol-lmao.html
  57. https://www.axios.com/2023/10/13/ijbol-meaning-twitter-gen-z-lol-meme
  58. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/10/lol-facebook-haha
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  60. https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/10/9125797/haha-lol-or-hehe-facebook
  61. https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/youll-have-to-pry-this-texting-habit-out-of-my-millennial-hands-lol/news-story/bde24cc40e4282ee40630b6b25551944
  62. https://www.verbalplanet.com/learn-english/blog/english-language-use-genz-versus-millennials.asp
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