LOL!!
What’s so funny? Oh, nothing. I just typed that to fill an uncomfortable silence.
That’s what everyone else does. I mean, come on: how often is someone really laughing out loud, or even smiling, when they use LOL?
I’m not completely against LOL-ing. I’m okay with it when it’s in reply to something funny. Especially if it’s my funny.
What kills me is the way people insert it into everything they write. It’s LOL Tourette’s.
If it had a sound, it would be a nervous laugh: “Heh-heh.”
Like Paulie Walnuts on The Sopranos. Remember that scene on the boat in season 6, where Tony wants to kill him? It’s not just because Paulie betrayed him. It’s that laugh.
I did a quick Twitter search for “LOL,” and found that if it means anything beyond “that’s hilarious” and “heh-heh”, it’s probably one of the following:
“What I just said is funny, in case you couldn’t tell.”
- If that’s biz casual to her I hate to see plain old casual LOL
- Yall know damn well some of yall in bed..aint brush your teeth lol
“Joke! Joke! I kid.”
- Germany sucks! LOL
- Knock down any old people? Lol
“I’m not pissed at you or hurt by you, even if you are a jerk. Kidding. But not. Just kidding.” (Very common)
- I’m done trying to reach you since you don’t call back! Lol
- It’s ur fault lol
- morning! you don’t love me anymore huh?lol
- im so freakin depressed and no one has told me happy birthday except @omezzy27 lol
- Went to sleep @ 4 and woke up at 5 cuz my phone starting ringing, Thanks Vanessa. lol
“I’m such a character. They sure broke the mold when they made me.”
- Always sayin whatever is on my mind. People think I’m crazy!! lol
“I’m lovably hopeless.”
- I wish I could dance LOL!
- My inner fatty is coming out, lol
- at the apple store and dont know how to work anything lol -ashley 🙂
“Ain’t life crazy?”
- At the library now and some lady is being loud lol
- with the kids, racing 2 get them dressed… like always lol
Maybe my interpretation is all wrong. Maybe I’m just not up on the latest humor, and everyone really is Laughing Out Loud.
If that’s the case, here, with examples from Twitter, are…
25 things that are evidently very, very funny:
1. Needing to pee.
- My bladders is full. I caant take it lol. Im in a car! Aaah
2. Drinking.
- heh nothin much .. just findin an excuse to booze-up lol!
3. Drugs.
- man I need some drugs lol;
4. Hair.
- My hair is LONG! Lol
- like my hair how it is on my default picture, just without the brown. Sound good?? I like it, LOL
- I wanna get a bob cut and dye my hair black. Opinions? Lol
- I’m going to a Detroit hairstylist this weekend to get my hair done for the first time! Any suggestions??????? Lol
5. Celebrity hair.
- All my celeb crushes have light hair except Adam lol (and Kris kinda……his hair’s medium).
6. Having a nice day.
- well today was fun…danced, ate ice cream with awesome best friends, watched the stars, and hung out with my sister! lol
7. Pineapples.
- lol , I’m eatin pineapples.
8. Smelling smokey.
- went to my church bonfire tonight. I smell like smoke! Haha I need a shower lol
9. Unhealthy breakfast.
- Pop tarts, salt & vinegar chips & a half ice tea half lemonade for breakfast lol
10. The Internet.
- what’s your favorite website? – I can’t decide between Twitter and Youtube. lol.
11. Illness.
- lol I’m sick
12. Migraines.
- i love overcast days i can open curtins and not get a migrain lol
13. Big egos.
- is wondering if theres anyone on twitter who can help her get on tv lol
- i like seeing my name real big. LOL.
14. Hungry kids.
- gotta get to the store today . . . need to get some food for these kids LOL
15. Being hungry…
- i’m freakin hungry!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
- lets get some eats. yuh KNW ima be starvinq lol
- put my roast on early this morning and now its starting to make me very hungry LOL!
- Been up since 5am! Then heading to work! And I’m hungry lol
- i don’t think i like smoking in the morning.. it makes me REALLY hungry! lol
- Out of disneyland!! And hungry!! Lol
- I didnt eat and am now starving. Lol
- lmao! got the munchies…lol
16. …or bored and hungry…
- Bored, and hungry again lol
- is super bored and hungry.! Lol
- and I’m bored and hungry outta my mind!!! Lol
- booooored….and hungry…lol…
- Just woke up from my nap.. Still bored and hungry.. lol
- lol I’m so bored and hungry
- yes ma’am…super bored…AND HUNGRY!!!!!!!! lol
- it’s not fair..im sooo bored!! and hungry lol
- I’m really damn bored…and hungry…lol
17. …or tired and hungry…
- I’m sooo tired and hungry lol
- On my way home…i’m tired and sleepy. And cranky. And hungry lol
- I’m sooo tired and hungry lol
- I’m sleepy and hungry… lol
- is tired lol and hungry
- Now I’m tired AND hungry lol
- im tired and hungry…. what a great combo! lol
18. …or cold and hungry…
- Is cold and hungry!!!! lol x
- Just finished the longest marketing calendar meeting ever! Or maybe it was so long bc I was cold and hungry? lol
- tell me about it i’m freezing and hungry lol.
19. …or broke and hungry…
- Some one buy me food I’m broke and hungry lol
20. …or fat and hungry…
- cooking a chesse burger! so fat and hungry lol
21. …or lazy and hungry…
- I’m just lazy. And hungry to to boot. LOL
22. …or drunk and hungry…
- Woke up. I’m loopy and “drunk”. And hungry lol.
23. …or annoyed at youtube and hungry.
- Mood: Annoyed of youtube and hungry (lol)
24. Even funnier than hungry: full.
- tummy hurts (ate too much) lol but its ok.
- I’m stuffed with ice cream and cake right now lol
- im stuffed and feel lazy lol back to work! =]
- OMG I AM SO FULL!!! Just came back from In and Out lol
- enchiladas and sliced tomatoes mmmmm yummy to my tummy ;)Im stuffed lol
- well just back from lunch…and I’m absolutely stuffed…lol
- Omg….. I just ate and wow am i stuffed lol 🙂 hahahhahahaa =]
- i ate too much junk food and now i feel lethargic lol
- Just stuffed my face with a sugary twist and some Pizza…so much for watching my “Girlish Figure”… lol
25. Funniest of all: pancakes.
- my mom made gross pancakes lol
- eatinsum pancakes lol
- pancakes lol and run later needa get in shape for tennis
- It’s definitely 2:23 and I’m eating strawberry pancakes?Lol
- like what? whats wrong? you should come over and chillll we can make pancakes lol 🙂
- Jus cooked bacon and pancakes! Lol and it’s nt even breakfast!
- about to make some pancakes and watch football. i could literally eat pancakes everyday lol
- I’m cooking pancakes and sausage who’s hungry? lol
- pancakes and sausages make a good breakfast, lol!
- Making my fiance go and get pancake mix because i want pancakes..LOL
- I’m hungry and craving pancakes .. hmmmmm lol
- Word about to murder some pancakes lol
- just made pancakes and ate em lol
- Just now eating my pancakes. Lol.
- up and i made some slammin ass pancakes lol
- I made us pancakes and eggs.. lol.
Yes, it turns out that pancakes are hilarious. Who knew? LOL.
Dang, now I’m hungry. Lol. For pancakes! LMAO ROTFL!!!!!!
in class reading this blog lol (sol) (wol) (*snort*) (*wheeze*)
haha
haha
Oh man… BUSTED. I totally resisted LOL for the longest time unless I was truly “L’ing O L”. Now I’m ashamed of my Tourette-like overuse of it, LOL!
Oh crap, there I go again…
Anyway, thanks for turning our attention to the elephant in the virtual room, and especially for providing examples of the egregious misuse of this seemingly benign acronym.
And, thank you for introducing (through those examples) some new words into my vocabulary, such as “eatinsum”. I will have to make sure my 8 year-old uses that in his next essay. It’s exquisite.
And finally, thank you for actually making me LOL today with your blog. 🙂 Love it, girl. Keep it up! xox
Eatinsum is my favorite new word, too! I’m going to use it when I’m havinsum conversation or writinsum blog posts.
Thanks for reading and LOLing! I can’t fault a real LOL.
Hey Laura I agree LOL is definitely a tick but I think it more of an insecure tick like I better type LOL after everything so people don’t hate on me kinda of thing though I really LOL’d when I read Germany Sucks! because actually it does and that is really funny. my fav new text speak is JDLR. can you guess that one?
Madison, I didn’t know JDLR, but I just looked it up. I love that one. Apparently, it’s police slang.
Hahahahaha, awesome!!! I hate LOL. If I type it EVER – it means basically “I have nothing to say here – and what you wrote isn’t really that funny, but I am going to say something to fill the awkward pause in internet land.” I think over the past week I used it a couple times sincerely. But normally, using it grosses me out.
I say “hhahahahahha” all the time because I really laugh that much. At everything. Even at very inappropriate times when laughing really isn’t the “normal” response. But whatever :). Its funny to me.
I also stick with Hahaha. Or just Ha. That’s the sound I think when something’s funny. Probably because it’s the noise my dad makes for real when he laughs. Just a single “HA!”
Oh- and I, too, have an inappropriate laugh.
Laura, your Blog rocks!!
I am so psyched you did this. It’s the perfect venue for you!!
I admit, I am guilty of LOL. I think I may have even LOL’d you Laura!! But how is a guy to show he is joking? LOL is all I have?!! Right?
Sometime I feel a joke will be misinterpreted, or not gotten at all (which is usually my case) without a HA! Or a LOL attached.
I don’t feel LOL can be in reaction to one of your own jokes though, that seems conceded. But then again who really Ha’s either? That seem much more fake to me. I do laugh out loud from time to time online, but NEVER Ha!!
Smiley faces 🙂 work well for saying “I’m joking” especially if you can make it wink, that’s way cool!! 😉
But as a guy, I don’t feel comfortable using a smiley faces 🙁 They just doesn’t seem very masculine to me. When a girl throws me a smiley? I laugh.
When a guy throws me a smiley? I’m like, “Hold up dude!! Smiley faces are for girls!!”…and then wait 24hrs to respond.
I don’t know why I feel this way, but it’s the same reaction I have when wearing loafers with no socks!! If it doesn’t feel right, chances are it’s not!!
So what is a guy to do? How do we show we are joking in email and still maintain a healthy level of testosterone at the same time?!!
So glad you’re reading, Mark!
I agree, smiley faces not super manly. But if you’re comfortable with your sexuality, go ahead and use them. It’s just like wearing a pink shirt.
Really, I think anything you write that’s supposed to be funny should read as funny without the extra wink. And if you’re just kidding, it should also stand on its own.
My policy: if I’m writing to someone who can’t tell I’m joking whenI write, “you bitch” without the help of a smiley face, then I don’t write it. Generally, I don’t have friends who can’t tell the difference.
Hi Annie,
Hah. Exactly. In that message, LOL meant “I hope you want to split it. Because I’m too cheap to pick up the whole thing. Just kidding. But seriously, do you want to split it?”.
Laura~ I used to think that LOL stood for lots of love. I found an online discussion in which a woman dumps a guy because he sends her this text message: “You can choose the movie and venue. I’ll pick up the bill or do you want to share it? LOL” (Laugh Out Loud? Or Lots of Love?)…
I know, I loved that bitter birthday comment!
I, too, prefer “Ha” or “Ha ha.”
I think it’s time we all stepped back and took a good, long look at LOL. Though I wouldn’t judge you for using it because you’re so not an LOL type.
OK, for one thing, I actually LOL’d (or rather chuckled out loud) at the “no one called me on my birthday…) I had never used LOL until FB…and I feel like an a-hole when I type LOL…it’s not me…I don’t even know what the other abbreviations stand for…I never had AOL or did any sort of chatting, so I don’t know that world. I think I wrote LOL in the message b/w me, you and NB…and when I wrote it, I felt stupid, like “who am I trying to be here?” I shall never write LOL again…I don’t like it, it’s not me and I prefer “Ha ha.” Thank you for making me do some self-reflection on the LOL issue.
lol is the text equivalent of “you know”. if “i knew” then why the fuck are you telling me again? lol is a “text tick”
great blog. ttyl
Totally. It’s “know wh’ I’m sayin.” Such a waste of twitter characters.
LAURA!!
So this is my first official “reply,” although I’ve been avidly reading your blog since it’s inception and, let me just say, I am in LOVE. Absolutely brilliant. Know you don’t need my encouragement, but keep it up:)
I’m siding with Nancy here. I looooathe abbreviations and still don’t really get “lol.” Also read some statistic somewhere than 90% of the things people say when they’re, quote on quote, “joking” is true….hmmmmm
Esp loved the bit today about being full. The In N Out bit especially cracked me up. I’m practically a daily visitor….even if just to get a Diet Coke. As in I’m on a first name basis with the employees at the In N Out on Sunset and Orange. For reals. Sounds a bit pathetic now seeing it writing…LOL….:)
Hi Catherine! I love getting your reply. And that you’re reading, so great to hear.
I don’t know why people think that eating and wanting food is so funny. Being full has never made me laugh. If anything, I’ve said “i’m so full it’s not funny.”
When something strikes me as funny (this often happens when I’m reading your blog) I will snort. Out Loud. So I type *snort*. Perhaps I should type SOL instead. Hmm. Will take that under consideration. My concern is that people will get the wrong idea and think I’m saying Shit Out of Luck. But that would be SOOL then wouldn’t it?
I think I’ll just stick with *snort*.
Thanks for helping me work that through.
I dig *snort*. Or LPTMN (laughing pepsi through my nose).
SOL would be redundant, because can you really be snorting silently, or on the inside? Snorting is, in my experience, always out loud.