Monday, February 14, 2005

LOL!!1!

For a while now I've had issues with the term LOL. The way some people spray it around, you'd think they spend their entire day sitting at their computers, laughing like manic hyenas at email jokes and pictures of kittens photoshopped into amusing situations. Maybe this is the case, but it seems unlikely. I can't imagine there are that many mental institutions where the patients have internet access.


There are grades of meaning with LOL. However it should be noted that, despite appearances, LOL almost never means Laugh Out Loud. So what, then, does it mean? Below are some examples gleaned from the internet, accompanied by a LOL translation, which I hope you will find helpful.


Abby sounds like a cutie. She and Tanner would have a blast together. He's my little musician and could accompany her. Though she might have to share the microphone as he loves to sing too. LOL

LOL Translation - I am smiling as I write this. If I'm the sort of person who scrapbooks, a faint sighing noise distantly related to a laugh may escape my lips.


I have recently acquired a "signed" (in silver and gold pen) Breed Cultura CD album from Ebay (where else lol)

LOL Translation - there is a slight twist to my lips as I write this, which would pass for a transitory moment of amusement on a particularly grim Methodist minister circa 1870.


Cole also phoned while leaving from York, asking me if I was on the way to Ohio and then giving me a twenty questions deal about who I was with, to which I didn't quite answer, lol.

LOL Translation - As I write this, there is a slight upward trend in my internal levity. If it shows on my face, it is fleeting and equivocal.


Are you packed yet? I hate packing, I always pack too much, this time I want to bring lots of goodies back so I need to be good with the packing lol.

LOL Translation - the LOL here actually has no meaning. It could just as easily have been placed anywhere else in the passage. It does not signify laughing out loud, smiling out loud, or feeling slightly less depressed out loud. It means precisely nothing. Eminent theoretical mathematicians are now studying it to learn more about the true nature of zero.


In the interests of contrast, head over to Spirit Fingers' blog. Until I read her I never realised how much desperately stifled workplace chortling hurts.

1 Comments:

Blogger Gregory said...

I've been reading your site for a few weeks. You consistently make me laugh. Thank you so. I am compelled by the power of mother church now to affirm you and offer you a firm handshake and a solid "preach on".
GP

2:29 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home