Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Laugh Out Loud

My goodness, that last post was contemplative and serious.  I think it's time for something, in the immortal words of John Cleese, "completely different".

So, there's this one word that I've begun to really despise.  Every time it pops up, I grit my teeth and try not to tell off the person using it.  Is it some awful profanity?  Is it some racial slur?  No.  It's the commonly used abbreviation for Laugh Out Loud: "LOL".

Stay with me.

DID U C HOW MCH PR0N MIKE HAD ON HIS FONE?  LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quite a few of the commonly used phrases on the interwebs can trace their shady routes back to text messages.  To deal with character limits, impatient teenagers would reduce phrases to shorthand such as "OMG", "ROLFL", "NSFW", and so on (if you're reading this, it's a safe bet that you know what those mean.)  And the abbreviation that had the most permanence was the omnipresent "LOL".  But here's my problem:

It's designed to express emotion, specifically mirth.  But I can't think of any of the previously mentioned shorthands that expresses less emotion then the dreaded short.  When I get that as a response when instant messaging with someone (yes, I know) several times in a row, it makes me feel like I'm talking to a robot.

"HUMAN INTERFACE INITALIZING: REPLYING WITH ACRONYM"   
Some conversations will feel like this:

ME: [Funny joke]

OTHER PERSON: lol

ME: [Hilarious joke]

OTHER PERSON: lol

ME: [Best joke I've ever made ever.]

OTHER PERSON: lol

ME: RESPOND LIKE A HUMAN BEING, DAMMNIT!!!

OTHER PERSON: rofl

And this isn't just me imagining a lack of reaction.  I happened to have a video chat open with a friend of mine, and he was not able to speak, only type (I don't remember the reason).  I, of course, made jokes constantly, and his only reaction to my silliness was to type "lol".  Over and over again.  He didn't react, his face didn't change, nothing.  I wanted to say: "please, don't pretend you find it funny, say something different.

INCLUDE OVERUSED PHRASEBOOK!

What would I prefer?  Well, that's the key question, isn't it?  I understand that Laugh Out Loud is a useful shorthand for people who want to type fast, or for those with a more limited vocabulary (and I say that not to offend, different people are good at different things), who literally might not know a better way to express their emotion (Said people tend to prefer to express themselves in person, but that's another matter).   But a simple "hah" or "hehe" or "nice" would do, something of the sort.  Something that raises the collective intellect of communication beyond teenagers mashing their phones into submission.

Please?

In conclusion, my roflcopter goes swa-swa-swa.


Yes.


  



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