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A New Chat Term Thingee: LOLFR

27 Jan 2004 by Jason Fried

Ok… LOL is often used, but rarely meant. So, when you LOL for real, use LOLFR. Or did some 9 year old already beat me to this one (aka: ODS9YOABMTTO)?

25 comments so far (Post a Comment)

27 Jan 2004 | DB said...

Are we beginning to lose it from the pressure of getting Basecamp released?

Maybe you should have one of these.

LOLFR (or is it?)

27 Jan 2004 | peck said...

I like to hand these out every so often...

@}-----

and write ...
"for my lady friends"
"for my dead lady friends"
"every rose has it's thorns...but not you sweetheart"

27 Jan 2004 | RS said...

"Lol" is a great thing because you can use it to say "that's funny" -- and mean it -- without debating how many repetitions of "he" are in order. One "heheheheheh" too many and your whole reputation for authentic chat laughter can be at stake!

Also, "lol" and a few other expressions (particularly "wtf") have changed over time for those of us who have used them for 5+ years. For my friends at least, "lol" doesn't mean "I'm laughing out loud right now" -- it means "You know how when something's funny and you read it and you laugh inside but not totally out loud? I'm like that." The eyes smile a little. Same goes for "wtf". It's a kind of internal exasperation that's really hard to communicate as succinctly in real life.

I think case matters too: "LOL" means "I'm seriously laughing right now" and "WTF" means, of course "WHAT THE F-?!?".

27 Jan 2004 | TC said...

ROTLFMOLOLMANOL!

28 Jan 2004 | Mimi said...

So are ppl actually using LOLFR?
I have never seen it.....

28 Jan 2004 | said...

In my circle (most of us have been online forever), LOL definitely has a stigma attached to it. We would no sooner use LOL than AOL.

28 Jan 2004 | Brad Hurley said...

My brother and I used to play an acronym game when we were kids: one of us would come up with an acronym and the other would try to figure out what it meant. I remember coming up with MIHTD, which stood for "May I Have This Dance?" but my brother thought it was "Many Indians Have Their Drums." In that spirit, how about these for LOLFR:

Loofah on Legs Feels Ravishing
Love Our Little Furry Rabbit
Little Old Lady Feels Rampant
Lieberman Only Loves French Republicans
Light Objects Levitate Fairly Rapidly


28 Jan 2004 | shawn said...

I am suspicious of anyone whose recommendation for the perfect martini involves, by default and without disclaimer, vodka rather than gin and that it be made with a "blessing" of vermouth rather than the usual proportion.

28 Jan 2004 | jeezus said...

WTF?!?!?!? Are people so lazy that they need pre-cut cheese for crackers?

28 Jan 2004 | Matthew Oliphant said...

Being one of the founding members of the group PATTTFOOMWYPTU, I have to say that anyone who cannot bring themselves to write out that they have, in fact, recently returned from falling off the chair in a fit of convulsive laughter that caused them to turn their bodies in a side-to-side motion that thus resulted in a complete roll only to be able to recover enough to sit back in the chair and type ROTFLMAO... Uh, what's my point?

The point is that it's all about communication. If I saw LOLFR, or CFTBAA, then my only response will be, WTF?

Can you tell the stress of waiting for Basecamp is getting to me?

;)

28 Jan 2004 | Will Pate said...

I tried to resolve the overuse of LOL with ALOL Actual Laugh Out Loud.

28 Jan 2004 | laffaholic said...

If you really want to LOL or RLOL, check out these gags. Particularly "gangs mam".

28 Jan 2004 | Dwight Tel'Aviv said...

My friends and I use lol for laugh out loud, something humorous or so, but if we are literally laughing out loud we tend to us roflmao Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off.

28 Jan 2004 | Mike said...

IMNSHO, LOL should stand for "Lots of Laughs".

Don't know what IMNSHO stands for? RTFM!

28 Jan 2004 | RS said...

if we are literally laughing out loud we tend to us roflmao

is anyone else guilty of mentally pronouncing abbreviations like "roflmao" as acronyms?

for me "roflmao" somehow became neologized as "rawlf-maow". scary.

28 Jan 2004 | Brad Hurley said...

Don't know what IMNSHO stands for?

In my not-so-humble opinion, IMNSHO stands for:

Ishigiro's Magic Noodle Shop Has Opened.

28 Jan 2004 | dept. dawg said...

I have seen this lately - maybe I am a newb, so what...
People go (((((name)))) to simulate hugs? So F'n stupid. I like this... (.)(.)

ooo nice rack...

Nice skill Brad - try this one... STFU!
jk! hehe

29 Jan 2004 | pinder said...

i always use:

heh - if its mildly amusing
hehe - something thats funny
lol - something that actually makes me laugh "for real"

29 Jan 2004 | pb said...

Hmmm...I find "lol" kind of spooky.

29 Jan 2004 | Don Schenck said...

'Bout 11 years ago, when I was semi-popular in the AS/400 world, I wrote and recited a poem I wrote at COMMON that was mostly TLA's. It was quite well received.

Little did I know I was ahead of my time.

Just FYI, BTW.

30 Jan 2004 | jessica said...

My philosophy on online laughter slang:
- heh: mildly amusing
- lol: something at least somewhat funny
- ROFL or LMAO: something that's actually making me laugh out loud
- HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA: something that's making me laugh out loud so hard my stomach hurts.

30 Jan 2004 | spoon-fed farty said...

I HATE THESE THINGS! So I write everything out.

You have a fat ass.
That thong looks like it is killing you.
Who beefed?

05 Feb 2004 | angelday said...

I made a Google search for "ODS9YOABMTTO" because at the time I didn't know. Then I figured but it was too late. Yo.

06 Feb 2004 | pero said...

I very rarely catch myself typing "LOL", although I have done it (it is rare but it happens). This is remnant of when I would chat on Sierra On Line (1991/1992) and had Prodigy.

These days, when I am amused, it depends on how funny it is. starting with mild amusment and working up to laughing until it hurts:

1 - :) (smiley - acknowledgement of the joke the person made. Not necessarily very amused.)
2 - heh. (yes that is a period. and yes I use it. Slightly more amused , not really laughing- but I cracked a smile.) usually used when they throw out a decent pun.
3 - hahaha (highly amused, probably did not laugh out loud)
4- bwhahah (not an evil laugh, but I am LOL -ing.)

yes, that last one was on purpose.

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