LOL
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"Lol" redirects here. For other uses, see Lol (disambiguation).
LOL on a candy heart.
LOL on a candy heart.
LOL (also written lol and any other combination) is a common element of Internet slang used, historically, on Usenet but now widespread to other forms of computer-mediated communication, and even spread to face-to-face communication. It is an abbreviation for "laughing out loud"[1][2] or "laugh out loud".[3] "LOL" is one of many initialisms for expressing bodily reactions, in particular laughter, as text, including initialisms such as "ROTFL" ("roll(ing) on the floor laughing"),[4][5] a more emphatic expressions of laughter, and "BWL" ("bursting with laughter"), above which there is "no greater compliment" according to Magid.[6] (Other unrelated expansions include the less common "lots of luck" or "lots of love".)[7]
The list of initialisms "grows by the month"[4] and they are collected along with emoticons and smileys into folk dictionaries which are circulated informally amongst users of Usenet, IRC, and other forms of (textual) computer-mediated communication.[8] These initialisms are controversial, and several authors recommend against their use, either in general or in specific contexts such as business communications.
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* 1 Analysis