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LOL (or lol; also lawl) is an acronym, the abbreviation for "laugh out loud", or "lots of laughs". It is a common slang term used on the Usenet, in bulletin board systems, chat rooms, Internet games, Internet forums, IRC, and in instant messaging. It is used for expressing general amusement.
The origin of LOL is unknown. It is rumored that it first started in print in 1973. Other rumors attribute its use to the Dutch word lol meaning 'fun', which is likely to be a coincidence.
The popular use of the term has sprung many variations of LOL, such as lols, lolz (a pseudo-pluralization), lulz, lololol/loooool/lolllll (for repetition), lit. lol/llol ("literally laughing out loud"), lollerskates, etc. However, many variations can be seen as esoteric and are not as commonly used as others. Further popular variations include LMAO ("Laughing My Ass Off"), ROFLMAO ("Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off") and even ROTFWMCO ("Rolling On The Floor Wanking My Cock Off.")
LOL is sometimes used mockingly, usually to imitate a teenage girl or an AOL user, commonly portrayed as using lol and alternating caps in his or her Internet speech. In this sense, lol can be looked upon as a kind of "filler" word, akin to saying "ummm."
Other ways of using LOL as humor is to "over use it," making no sense. Examples:
ROFLOLOL: Rolling on floor laughing out loud out loud. (Out loud out loud?) lolol: Laughing out loud out loud. (Out loud out loud, again?) LOLOF: Laughing out loud on floor. (What are you doing on the floor?)
Lollerskates is one of the first known variants of the LOL. Because of LOL's notoriety, Internet users began saying it as a monosyllabic word in itself, instead of pronouncing the letters individually ("ɛl oʊ ɛl"), which many users found tedious in their accidental exclaimations of Internet slang in their everyday lives.
From these two roots, many word extensions can be formed to express merriment.
LOL extensions
- Lollerbate
- Lolrus
- Loltastic
- Lolympics
- Lollerboarding
- Lollerskates
- Lolocaust or Lollercaust
- Lolasagna
- Lolgasm
- Lolzenges
- Lollercoaster
- Lollerpop
- Lollerific
- Steamloller
- Lolarious
- Lolicious
- Loloz
- Lolololololol