LOL!!!

These three little letters seem to evoke quite a reaction at times, so I thought I'd explore this a bit with some observations on their use on Twitter and the Internet.

What does it MEAN?

The first thing to note is the meaning of "lol" seemed to be vying between two camps for some time.  It is now most definitely settled as an abbreviation for "laugh out loud".  Its rival, "lots of love" now seems reserved for those who use the Internet and "text speak" less...

I'm sure we've all heard the urban legend of the mother who texts her son to say something along the lines of "Your Grandmother just died, lol Mum".  A quick search reveals about 2,746,728 people trying to pass this off as original and actually having happened to them.  It smacks of being just a *tad* fabricated and I rather prefer this little spin on the original:

However, just in case anyone born before or around 1872 is reading this blog, PLEASE NEVER USE LOL TO MEAN LOTS OF LOVE.  That includes you, Mutti.

Is it VACUOUS?

Language purists hate "lol".  They say it's vacuous, it's sloppy and if we are to believe the Daily Mail [warning, clicking the link will quite possibly give you cancer] it is even putting the future of English at risk! On the one hand, clearly if the likes of the Daily Mail hate it, this is a darn fine reason to use it at every opportunity. Lol.

What I think people are missing here though is that "lol" can indeed be vacuous, but as with all language it depends on context and usage.  My perception is that when someone shoves "lol" at the end of a sentence of their own to signify that it is supposed to be funny, that often does make them look quite vapid.  It is particularly bad if the sentence is inherently really not funny.  An example I have seen on a dating site went something like this:

I'm looking for a guy who is intelligent and nice lol

Erm, yeah, what is possibly funny about that, other than the fact you come across as being about as bright as Brunswick (below), who could quite easily get a part time job as one of those nodding dogs in a car?  The usage actually evokes the entirely separate word "lolling" in the sense of hanging or drooping, a little how I imagine the mouth of the user.

I *AM* bright, honest, lol.

So when is it OKAY?

Well I personally think the use of "lol" as a signifier of amusement in relation to something said by someone else it is absolutely fine.. and in fact perhaps indispensable.  It is really a modern day signifier of a little grin or a chuckle.  Of course no one is actually laughing out loud: "lol" has suffered from over-use inflation and we need to use a much stronger term for that.  It is just a way of saying I found what you said funny, or this made me smile.

Part of the problem is that we don't have an emoticon for a laugh.  We do have a whole range available to us, but as yet, I have yet to see one that signifies a person laughing.  It's difficult to imagine how one would look.

:)  Smile

:(  Sad face
:/  Grimace

:D  Big grin

:o  Astonishment

:o))  Jaw dropping

:p  Stick out tongue

o_O  Staring at someone

 \o/  Huzzah (arms up in the air)

I love the \o/ emoticon and do it real life regularly

However, there just isn't a laughing emoticon.  Therefore we have to use something.  LOL-Haters don't seem to object to "haha" or "hehe" or "teehee" - I really don't understand why they are any more or less acceptable than "lol" to be honest.  Personally I would say a lower case "lol" on its own, just with nothing else can still appear as vacuous in a response - I'd say that adding something with it lessens this, e.g

I poured orange juice on my cornflakes this morning

Response A) "lol"
Response B) "lol - you big twit!"

I am not sure why, but the second just has a bit more weight about it and is less likely to be seen as an utterance of Brunswick.

Degrees of LOL

If "lol" doesn't actually mean you are laughing out loud, how can you signify that you found something really funny and approached this level of amusement, beyond the stage of a mere smile or a chuckle?  Well of course there are other splendid abbreviations at our disposal, mainly invented by 13 year olds and adopted with great enthusiasm by the likes of me.  A vague hierarchy is, I would suggest, something like this:

lol  a smile or chuckle

LOL stronger and verging on a vocalised chuckle (Of course the use of capitals indicates an emphasised version of any of the below)

pmsl  "piss myself laughing" (highly unlikely to be literal, fear not)

rofl  "roll on floor laughing" (again, permit us some hyperbole, please)

lmao  "laugh my arse off" (contact A&E if this happens in real life)

lmfao "laugh my f*cking arse off"  (the mind boggles: will there be baby arses?)

lmfaooooo reserved soley for the use of @SteMcCormick (no, I don't know what it means either, but he seems to like it)

lolololololooooo you may add as many letters as you like to signify your amusement: it's just added emphasis

Bahahahahaahaa (or a variant): gays seem to use rather this a lot. It first struck me as being quite sheep-like. I have therefore now (appropriately) adopted its usage myself.

There is - as you see - a whole wonderful/ murderous (delete as appropriate) range of ways of expressing your amusement.  "Actual LOL" also remains however probably the best way of saying you did what "lol" is supposed to signify.


Does any of this matter?

Of course it bloody doesn't.  If you don't like "lol", don't use it: simples.  If you do, lol away.  If it offends your sensibilities, however, you may well be disappointed with people on Twitter.  I have previously blogged on the playfulness of the language used in tweets.  Twitter is, like it or not, in large part informal, fun and a place where many people let their hair down.  Language changes, evolves, and the reality is that "lol" seems here to stay.  If you want to judge me for using it, feel free.  I'll just lol back.  I won't be using "lol" in a work letter, but then the beauty of language is the fact that we employ different vocabulary, rules and styles when we communicate in different contexts.

Oh and one final thing by the way, the OED has now officially accepted its usage. So there!! \o/