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What does LOL mean? Internet abbreviations
Abbreviations such as “LOL” are often used on the Internet and are repeated over and over again in forums, chats and social networks. Users use them a lot because they allow practical communication with few characters. For this reason, most of the abbreviations of the Internet jargon have their origin in the old Internet communication, in which the number of characters and fast communication were taken care of and in which emojis were hardly used.
But what does LOL really mean? And how do you use abbreviations like this? We help you decipher Internet slang.
LOL, what does it mean?
What does LOL really mean? LOL is used on the Internet as a substitute for the expression "laughing out loud" or also "laugh out loud". In Spanish it can be translated as “breaking out of laughter” and usually replaces the classic “ha, ha, ha” reaction. Therefore, LOL is used when something is so funny that the person can't help but laugh out loud.
How to use LOL
LOL is often used as a reaction to a funny situation or anecdote and symbolizes laughter. In addition, the abbreviation can also be used to introduce a funny story or to highlight the funny character of a specific situation. Here are some examples of WhatsApp conversation streams:
What does LOL mean? and LAL, LEL, LUL…?
LOL can appear in all the variants you can imagine: lowercase (lol), uppercase (LOL) or with the first letter capitalized (Lol). The capitalization, the addition of several o's (Looool) or the repetition (lololololol) serve to intensify the reaction. There are also different variations of LOL that are frequently used on the Internet depending on the field:
- LAL
- LAWL
- LAWLZ
- LEL
- LELZ
- lol
- lololol
- LOLWUT
- lol
- LOOOL
- LOLZ
- LUL
- LULZ
Despite the different combinations of letters, the meaning is always the same. These are simply variants that function in a similar way to dialectal variants of the same word.
Like most Internet slang abbreviations, LOL is used in numerous different languages. Some languages integrate the abbreviation into their own alphabet (such as Russian, “лол”) or translate it directly to create a new abbreviation (such as “mdr” in French, “mort de rire”, translated into Spanish: “dead of laughter”).
Other abbreviations on the Internet
LOL is not the only abbreviation frequently used on the net: numerous abbreviations have settled on the Internet over time. Here you can consult a summary of the most used abbreviations in chats:
| Abbreviation | English | Spanish | Use |
| ROFL | Rolling on the floor laughing | Fall to the ground laughing | Like LOL, but with more force: when something is very funny.“He ate the door, rofl” |
| LMAO | Laughing my ass off | I'm dying of laughter | Like LOL and rofl, but with even more force: when something is extremely funny. “lmao, today he came to class in his pajamas”. |
| AFK | away from keyboard | away from the keyboard | When you are going to be absent from the computer for a while and you want to inform your interlocutor that it will take time to respond. “I am going to be afk for a while”. |
| IMHO | in my honest opinion | In my humble opinion | Kind of honestly“It's one of the worst movies ever imho”. |
| ASAP | As soon as possible | As soon as possible | When something is very urgent. "I need it asap!" |
