Guest Post: LOL by Dan Helm

Yes! Finally done with finals! (The Urban Economics exam was a cruel and unusual punishment...) Winter break begins tomorrow, and it's certainly been an enjoyable night with my friends. So, without further ado, because it's the holiday season, here's my gift to you! This is a guest post written by a good friend of mine, Dan Helm. He's quite comedic, so enjoy!

I really don’t understand the obsession with typing ‘L-O-L.” It makes no sense when you think about it. “LOL” stands for laughing out loud. But really, what other kind of laughing is there? You cannot tell me that you can laugh silently, because that’s not laughing. That’s only thinking something’s funny, or smiling. According to dictionary.com, laughing is “to express mirth, pleasure, derision, or nervousness with an audible, vocal expulsion of air from the lungs that can range from a loud burst of sound to a series of quiet chuckles and is usually accompanied by characteristic facial and bodily movements.”

You see, making noise is in the definition of laughing. Now we have unoriginal children everywhere typing “LOL” on instant messenger between every two words. It’s nauseating. And because it’s so popular among young people, you can’t see one advertisement for a comedy that’s coming out without hearing the phrase “It’s laugh out loud funny!” Really? Well, yeah it’s a comedy with Adam Sandler for fuck’s sake. I’m pretty sure that’s the whole point of a comedy; to make people laugh. Why else would I be seeing it?

Now let’s look at “lol” in context when used on instant messaging:

Person 1: I was looking for my wallet for ten minutes before I realized I had it in my pocket the whole time.

Person 2: lol.

The second person is basically calling the first person silly. Seriously, that’s what typing “lol” is most of the time. It sounds like you’re calling someone silly. Shouldn’t Person 2 be replying with something else such as “Wow, you’re a dumb-ass.” Replying with “lol” all the time just sounds so feminine. This is why it’s confusing as to why guys use it so much. I can somewhat understand when you’re typing to a girl, because they use the phrase so much. But when typing to a fellow male, we need hope, we need change, and yes we can; the power is at your finger tips.