Do you know which internet abbreviation is the most obnoxious? "LOL." Honestly, have you ever heard someone actually say "laugh out loud" (at least, before the advent of the internet)? No! Even if people are trying to show they are laughing (which they’re usually not – they just want to make people believe they are), couldn’t they use "haha" or even "hehe," or even the computer-speak smiley face? :) Anything would be better than the dreaded LOL.
Now apparently, no one laughs as much as teenagers, who use the three-letter combination incessantly, interspersed throughout their messages. Allow me to illustrate, with no exaggeration on my part. Here is an excerpt from an actual* teenager’s e-mail (oh, and to warn you, they don’t use capitalization, and seldom use punctuation…I believe it’s because it must cost more to text a capital letter, and it takes way too much time to add in a comma while "IM-ing"):
"…and then lol I was walking to class with jim lol and he totally was like what are you doing after class lol so I told him im going to my friends house to study lol and he was like well when are you going to be done lol…"
Oh, I can’t read it anymore. Now, I’ve come up with several theories as to why people use the abbreviation "LOL." 1. As is apparent from the previous excerpt, perhaps they think it serves as an all purpose punctuation mark. 2. Another idea is that maybe LOL is used to let people know you think something is funny when in fact it is not. 3. Or maybe, people use LOL to convince others that despite their typically surly attitudes, they are in fact very happy individuals, and "laugh out loud" on a constant basis, no matter what they are doing.
Regardless of the reason, LOL is a scourge on the English-speaking world, and must be obliterated. There are other stupid words that have come into existence that should likewise not have made their way into teenage slang ("sick" meaning "cool," "bling," etc.), but LOL is at the top of the list.
--
*not from an actual teenager
3 comments:
ok..no one is going to actually say "laugh out loud" in a conversation youre right...its just an indication that one is laughing. and sure people use it incorrectly by just saying it all the time through text and instant messaging. but I on the other hand use it to actually let the person know that i'm laughing out loud by typing..."lol." and sometimes "haha" just gets old. So there you have it LOL.
oh and well done on "real teenager" i felt that was really effective in your argument.:D I LOL'd. <---(good usage don't you think?
I actually hate the term LOL too. I rarely use it, I would rather type- "hahaha, that made me laugh out loud!" I try not to be bothered though... since it is so commonly used. I'm glad your not against "hahaha's" and ";)" because I use that ALL the time.
I HATE LOL! It is over used. If something is that funny just say haha or that is funny.
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