lol

[tell-me-more]

Am I the only one who is properly "calibrated" in relation to expressions like LOL?

When I write lol, it is because I've just laughed out loud. To me, that seems sensible. Others write lol when barely smiling though - why?!

It's almost as if lol has lost its meaning and now I only really imagine that someone's actually laughing out loud if they write rotflmao (rolling on the floor laughing my a*** off).

What's wrong with saying what you mean? Why are models now supermodels, stars now superstars, markets now supermarkets, heroes now superheroes? Doesn't it just make our language more cumbersome and more difficult to understand?

I found a clip of a cricket commentator (Brian Johnston?) that always makes me laugh out loud (literally) - "couldn't quite get his leg over" and then they descend (or ascend) into laughter. What makes you laugh out loud?

[rsd2525]

The snip where the american lady presenter says " i wonder if Bill Clinton is going to come clean over Monica" then says " i cant beleive i just said that--- classic

[Quizmonster]

A favourite of mine is another cricketing one. I can't remember which way around the names were, but the comment was something like: "The batsman's Holding, the bowler's Willey."

[Quizmonster]

I agree about 'LOL', by the way. One could almost guarantee that it is never true....at least at the moment it is being written.

[felinechums]

Where I live lol means "Loyal Orange Lodge" . . . . . now that would make you laugh out loud.

[Octavius]

What about during the recent Time Team Live event when Credenza Lewis, one of the TV archeologists was talking about finding food in the middle ages said to Tony Robinson....

"You'd eat beaver if you could get it."

[shaneystar]

LOL is all over the place on here and other similar websites ...
People will be saying it in public soon..........
I can just imagine someone saying " it was a great show...I lolled my head off "
I hate abbreviations.Grrr!

[Octavius]

I agree, all the LOLing, LMAOing, GSOHing, G2Ging and whatnot are a constant irritation. I mean, do we care or really need to know if you are LOLing at the other end of your pc...? I think not.

nolaughingmatter

[shaneystar]

Good grief...... I must be getting old !

[joko]

LOL also means lots of laughs, lots of love - and also just means to tell someone that what they said wasn't meant to be offensive so its not always supposed to mean laughing out loud...

[bernardo]

Octavius wrote:

What about during the recent Time Team Live event when Credenza Lewis, one of the TV archeologists was talking about finding food in the middle ages said to Tony Robinson....

"You'd eat beaver if you could get it."

Beavers? In the middle ages? I thought they came from America. If I saw such anachronism on a history programme, I would probably groan, not laugh.

[Octavius]

Why thank you bernardo for quoting me verbatim. However.....

Beavers are semi-aquatic rodents native to North America and Europe. The European Beaver (Castor fiber) was hunted almost to extinction in Europe, both for fur, and for castoreum (a secretion of its scent gland believed to have medicinal properties). This beaver became extinct in Britain in the sixteenth century, but there is now a project which is reintroducing the species to Europe and the UK. Six European Beavers will be released into a lakeside area in Gloucestershire and allowed to roam wild. There are also plans to bring the beaver to Scotland.