Acronym for "laugh(ing) out loud"
Popularized by America Online subscribers in the early-to-mid nineties, spotting someone using the expression was a fairly reliable way to infer that this person was an AOLer. The fact that the L and O keys are adjacent may have helped the acronym find common usage among those who carefully observed their keyboard while typing.
With the decline of AOL, usage of "lol" and its variants spread to any fucktard who somehow found his or her way onto the Internet.
Then:
05:33:20 <Phil> hey, how much ram do you have now?
05:33:30 <robman17426> hi lol
05:33:41 --- mode: Phil set +b *!*@*.ipt.aol.com
05:33:41 --- kick: robman17426 was kicked by Phil (aoler)
05:33:47 <LiteratiSam> 32MB
05:33:55 <Phil> nice
05:34:09 <LiteratiSam> yeah, it helps
Now:
05:33:20 <Phil> hey, how much ram do you have now?
05:33:30 <robman17426> hi lol
05:33:41 --- mode: Phil set +b 67.10.159.226
05:33:41 --- kick: robman17426 was kicked by Phil (lol!)
05:33:47 <LiteratiSam> 2GB
05:33:55 <Phil> nice
05:34:09 <LiteratiSam> yeah, it helps
37👍 38👎