LOL

You'd be hard pressed to find somebody who can actually recall when they first saw it, or indeed when they first used it. Like an army of Romanian travellers rocking up in your neighbourhood this term seems to have appeared from nowhere. The acronym 'LOL' without most people realising it has thoroughly infiltrated the psyche of millions who enjoy communicating via text messages and various other social networking forums. Unless you are over a certain age or just not down with the 'kids' LOL basically means, laughing out loud. And people generally tend to use it to denote that they are doing just that.

An extremely common scenario in which LOL is used is when two people are texting to and fro and one of the texting parties says something mildly funny. On reading the slightly funny witticism the other party decides to acknowledge whatever was said with an almost obligatory 'LOL'. On  inspection of this action the person who has used the L the O and the L in my opinion did so in a dishonest way, they didn't really laugh out loud and they know it! But for some deceitful, contagious reason they have chosen to lie - saying that they have just laughed out loud. When they are fully aware and the other person on the receiving end (if they have any semblance of a brain) knows that nobody has remotely laughed out loud in the slightest. 

You may say does it really matter if a person uses LOL, even if they haven't laughed out loud. Well, my response would be YES! It does matter, and it matters a great deal. It's bad practice and encourages people to believe they are funny when in fact they aren't at all. 

The extremely popular use of LOL has rapidly become the go to acronym of the lazy, fibbing person. Not sure how to respond to something just type LOL after a limp sentence. Want to diffuse a strong message you are sending, dab a little LOL on the end of it. Want to kill a tedious text message conversation just reply a straight up LOL. Who cares if it's completely out of context, even the most articulate of people would struggle to continue conversing when faced with those three letters. Then there are those who don't even know what it really stands for - but still use it; one mature lady I heard about sent a consoling text to a bereaved family then finished it off with LOL believing that it meant 'lots of love.' This LOL business has literally become bigger than anybody could have ever envisaged.  

Over the years I can freely admit that I have at times grown to truly despise this acronym. Arriving at the stark realisation that the majority of its users (and abusers) have misused it so much that it cannot even be taken seriously anymore. I know for a fact that individuals have been using it in false, duplicitous ways. Once I sent a message to a friend and the reply I received stated that the 'friend' had "really just laughed out loud then!" Wait a minute... "Really just laughed out loud then!" So the hilarious gags that I thought I had been sending for years in messages hadn't really been laugh out loud funny?!

Since LOL established itself within the public arena a plethora of individuals have jumped upon it with unrelenting glee. Allowing their minds to trick them into thinking that they must say things that are funny when they're not at all.  However, having said this there are the nerds out there who may take strong umbrage to any negative accusations attributed to LOL usage and its growing addiction then dependency. Those in LOL denial will vehemently claim that their use of LOL is different, they mean their use of it. And that they are 'creative' and spice it up when need be - and if you were truly down with the kids then you'd know this! LOL is what you make of it. It's a variable if you really know how to use it.

Yes, LOL can be beefed up, bells and whistles can attached to it and that is what they do. You add a zesty Z to the last L and you get LOLZ! And these people will proclaim that that gives LOL a whole different complexion. LOL almost becomes a different beast. And if they are feeling a little more fruity they cleverly recall their ABC and add other alphabetic letters into the mix. LMFAO, anybody? Or is it LMAO? 

I am aware that I am being particularly harsh with my views on LOL and its worshippers - so I must admit that there are some truthful people out there who are actually laughing out loud like they claim, but due to LOL losing much of its credibility they now have been forced to demonstrate this by adding more O's to it than a bowl of the cheerful stuff to show they are not lying. Loooool! 

So, if you have been privileged enough to receive arguably the worlds most popular acronym in a text or see it via social networking take a second to ponder if the LOL you are viewing is actually genuine or not. And if after a few moments of earnest reflection you're still not too sure - then I would suggest that you had better get a life. (Just saying) LOL.

Demola, TCC