I have been using the internet since childhood, but I still cannot bring my fingers to type things such as LOL, ROFL, LMAO, and so on. If my fingers had emotions, they would feel embarrassed to type such letter combinations. And why? Well, the truth is, I'd feel like a spaz. Sure, I'll let out a giggle here and there when I see something funny on the internet, but usually I'm not laughing that hard. Sometimes I might be doing the thing were I smile and almost laugh. I figure a good old fashioned ha ha will suffice when I think something is funny. If it really cracked me up, you might see a HA HA. In fact, I might even type out, "That totally cracked me up."
Other people may type these acronyms to indicate that they are indeed laughing out loud, and that is okay. Just let it be known that I'll either be confused or think you are lying. For instance, do you need to type LOL in a message like, "We need to have coffee soon. I haven't seen you in forever. LOL." That's not funny. If it is, my humor detector is totally malfunctioning. Can you explain the joke?LOL is one thing, but ROFL and LMAO are another...especially ROFL. Really? You're rolling on the floor laughing? This conversation must be a whole lot funnier than I thought it was. Also, that is truly impressive that you are not only rolling on the floor as a result of laughing so hard, but you are still able to type! How do you do it? Are you balancing your laptop on your chest and typing mid roll? If so, that's amazing!
Either the internet is littered with a whole bunch of lunatics that roll on the floor in laughter at each cat picture they see, or there are just a bunch of liars out there. Someone needs to do a study on this. I'd really like to know what percentage of these people really are a.) laughing out loud, b.) rolling on the floor laughing, or c.) laughing their asses off.
PS, I hope I didn't offend anyone. I know there are tons of people who rely on these acronyms on a regular basis, and it's totally okay to use an occasional LOL when something is really funny. I'm just referring to the excessive use of these acronyms.
It's very much an unconscious thought for most people. Think about your daily interactions with others. Do you respond to their sentences with lots of "uh huh" and "yea"s? That's what lol and other similar acronyms have become in typing. They're filler words.
ReplyDeleteThat said, both lol and imo are appropriate replacements for sentence ending punctuation in a non-professional setting.
I still can't bring myself to use them. I find myself not needing to rely on filler words so much when I'm typing. It's just a personal preference. It doesn't really bother me that much when others use them. Mostly, I was just being a smart ass as usual and poking fun at internet lingo and what it means versus how people use it.
DeleteI use LOL often but never the others. I'm not sure why, I think for me it my be part of my anxiety. It's like me trying to be "cool" and "fit in". I think I'm going to pay closer attention to when I use it. :) (are smiley's okay?)
ReplyDeleteI'm embarrassed to say I use LOL quite often but I think a lot of times I say stuff so blunt and kind of rude-ish that I have to put lol at the end of the sentence.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough I use LOL when I know something is supposed to be funny but I didn't laugh or to soften the blow of a semi-rude joke. If something is really funny I use hahaha.
ReplyDelete