Tuesday 12 March 2013

LOL!


If aliens were to find our communication threads in fifty years they would think a few things: the first thought in their alien heads would of course be: god damn do these people like to talk about themselves…their kids, their meals, the toast they just made, their pets, & their every passing thought. (Yes, I’m guilty in several categories, I blog don’t I). The second thing they would think is, wow, that earth sure is a funny place by the amount these people LOL. I’m assuming aliens will know how decipher our text lingo. Who are we kidding, they probably read our emails more than the government.

If you’ve ever stopped and thought about it – or perhaps this is just me – think about how many times in a given day you write those three little letters. And I assure you; we’re not as a human race spending all daylong falling over in fits of giggles like a bunch of drunken hyenas. But in the world of cyber communication, apparently we find things ridiculously funny. And the LOL has morphed from its actual meaning (that was really funny. So funny I laughed OUT loud) to a three-letter annoyance that has a whole host of other meanings or intentions, be it pandering (the courtesy laugh), evasion, deflection, and ‘omg did you really just say that, I have no clue what else to say to you but, well…lol.’

I’m sure it all started out very innocently and on point. You read something funny, and hence you wanted your correspondent to know they hit the mark (it’s quite polite really). Human beings love rewards. Then the caps came into play. Not only did your correspondent say something funny, but damn it, they’re getting a big gold star cause you’re laughing out LOUD WITH EXCLAMATION. Next thing you know, it went from marking funny moments to an email littered with laughter even after the most mundane sentences...Lol. 

The primary problem, as we all know (and have learned over and over again) is that email, texts and the like lack tone. And they cannot only be brutally blunt or read the wrong way, but can lack so much 'voice' that they're hard to decipher (in the right way anyway). So we began ponying out the ‘lol’ to show that not only is the tone downright jovial, but there is no ill will intended cause I’m full of laughter, and if you’re reading this text/email in any other way but light and frivolous, then it’s on you bud, not me!

It has also became a placeholder when one isn’t sure what else to say. Wow, okay, this person I have only met a month ago has just told me about their sex life via email. I’ll just hurl back a lol and shut this thing down! In the past, my go to on the verbal front when I found myself in these situations was always the word ‘interesting.’ Whip that out and see people stop in their tracks. It’s quite hysterical really to watch their face try to weigh up the ambiguity. But in an email it of course is far too ambivalent and may start an argument you’re simply not in the mood for....unless of course it's followed by a big fat, LOL. And then it can't be misconstrued; it's downright hysterical


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