Is "lol" overused?

[earllogjam]

Ever feel "lol" is overuse? It seems like it is almost every text message or internet interaction with another person. I understand it is used to soften or make more friendly the text but do you think it's so overused to the point of it becoming meaningless? lol.

 

[aninnymouse]

Yes. That's why I use a smiley, or say Ha, instead.

 

[mickstl]

No worse than saying "well" or "yeah" or "um" when speaking.

LOL

 

[pcghabsy]

Depends on who you are chatting with. But yes, it's true, I can't help but say "laughed out loud" aloud in my mind everytime someone types lol. And some people do type it every couple of lines which makes me think they might suffer from some kind of manic laughter disorder.

 

[D_Olga Steponyatova]

The people whore are especially bad for over loling slip into verbal conversations

 

[pcghabsy]

The people whore are especially bad for over loling slip into verbal conversations

A friend has accidentally said "lol" a couple of times instead of actually, err, laughing. That did make me laugh out loud!

 

[petite]

It depends on context. If someone keeps making one liner funnies in a chat conversation, then I think feedback that you are appreciating their humor is good. It's a substitute for the fact that they cannot hear you or see your face. I suppose that one could try to think of unique ways to tell the other person each time you laughed at something funny that they said, but that would slow down the conversation and be a lot more awkward. And with chat, immediate feedback is helpful, since without it you don't know if the person walked away from the keyboard, or had a stroke, or what until they respond to the last thing that you type. You could just keep saying, "Oh I read that last thing and you're really clever. I'm still here." Or you could say, "Lol!"

It's also a way of letting someone know that a line was meant facetiously or sarcastically instead of deadpan serious without writing "I was being sarcastic just now." That actually makes it a lot less funny than "lol."

In those ways I think it's a useful substitute for things like tone of voice and facial expressions.

 

[LaFemme]

It depends on context. If someone keeps making one liner funnies in a chat conversation, then I think feedback that you are appreciating their humor is good. It's a substitute for the fact that they cannot hear you or see your face. I suppose that one could try to think of unique ways to tell the other person each time you laughed at something funny that they said, but that would slow down the conversation and be a lot more awkward. And with chat, immediate feedback is helpful, since without it you don't know if the person walked away from the keyboard, or had a stroke, or what until they respond to the last thing that you type. You could just keep saying, "Oh I read that last thing and you're really clever. I'm still here." Or you could say, "Lol!"

It's also a way of letting someone know that a line was meant facetiously or sarcastically instead of deadpan serious without writing "I was being sarcastic just now." That actually makes it a lot less funny than "lol."

In those ways I think it's a useful substitute for things like tone of voice and facial expressions.

I agree with Petite. Especially the bit about worrying about the other person having a stroke if there's no response. lol

 

[SilverTrain]

Brilliantly put.

It depends on context. If someone keeps making one liner funnies in a chat conversation, then I think feedback that you are appreciating their humor is good. It's a substitute for the fact that they cannot hear you or see your face. I suppose that one could try to think of unique ways to tell the other person each time you laughed at something funny that they said, but that would slow down the conversation and be a lot more awkward. And with chat, immediate feedback is helpful, since without it you don't know if the person walked away from the keyboard, or had a stroke, or what until they respond to the last thing that you type. You could just keep saying, "Oh I read that last thing and you're really clever. I'm still here." Or you could say, "Lol!"

It's also a way of letting someone know that a line was meant facetiously or sarcastically instead of deadpan serious without writing "I was being sarcastic just now." That actually makes it a lot less funny than "lol."

In those ways I think it's a useful substitute for things like tone of voice and facial expressions.

 

[B_Hickboy]

You're a bunch of fucking cunts lol.

 

[ghb69]

You're a bunch of fucking cunts lol.

Takes one to know one. "LOL"

 

[nudeyorker]

I can't wait for Bbucko's response to this thread. My own personal opinion is it should only be used if you actually laughed out loud. I think many actually use the expression when perhaps they only had a wan smile or a tiny chortle. (it's just wrong) LOL!

 

[Endued]

It used to annoy me a little how often it seems to get used in place of a full stop. But it doesn't bother me now lol

 

[petite]

A long time ago people used j/k to indicate when they were joking. It meant "just kidding." It seems like lol has replaced that now.

How about smilies? Is it better to respond with or than with lol?

 

[B_Hickboy]

I can't wait for Bbucko's response to this thread. My own personal opinion is it should only be used if you actually laughed out loud. I think many actually use the expression when perhaps they only had a wan smile or a tiny chortle. (it's just wrong) LOL!

chortle.

 

[rob_just_rob]

I think it's a gross exaggeration most of the time. It is used to signify amusement, but I've probably laughed out loud during a text conversation less than ten times in my life.

some alternative suggestions:

good, that's (a) funny one - GTFO
really, that's (a) funny message - RTFM
seriously, that's funny - STFU
you should seriously consider comedy - YSSCKY

 

[erratic]

Yeah, I think it's pretty overused. It's like "epic" (that movie was epic, that grind was epic, that pizza was epic) or "solutions" (office solutions, business solutions, mathematical solutions, Christmas solutions). It's used for so many things that it's kind of losing its meaning. That can work (witness the word "like"), but when words are used as punctuation I think it's time to consider how over-applied they may be.

 

[B_Over_Endowed_EMT]

I do catch myself do it a lot. It seems like its become a sort of nervous habit for me in my online lexicon. But apparently its not yet since it hasnt been added to the "banned" words list.

 

[OhWiseOne]

If you walk around saying LOL yes you use it to much.

 

[D_Budd_Hert]

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