51吃瓜

LOL and beyond

We can听chuckle and . We can听snicker and snort. We can cackle,听, and crack up.听We can even听. There are many words to express laughter鈥攁nd these are just in English.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that there are plenty of ways to show when you’re in stitches on social and in text messages as well. Of course, LOL听(辞谤 lol) is the classic way to express laughter online. The acronym, standing for laughing out loud, dates back to online message boards in the 1980s. Given its age, however,听LOL听has since inspired many offshoots.

From internet acronyms like ROTFLOL听to the number 555, unique ways to “laugh” using text have always added a听little fun to our communications. How many of these LOL synonyms do you recognize?

lulz and lel

One synonym for听LOL is lulz, which is based on a colloquial pronunciation and informal spelling of the plural form of LOL. Lulz usually refers to laughter that comes at someone else’s expense.

Then there’s lel, another playful or ironic version of LOL associated with trollish behavior online. It听emerged on the popular image-board site听4chan听in the mid-2000s, with its听E听apparently a random substitute for the听O听in听LOL.

Be careful: in some internet contexts,听lel听developed a darker side, with some users pairing听lel听with听a Trollface image, a meme based on a听rage comics听character used by some troublemakers online. (Some might even consider听lel听a听dank听meme,听a meta-meme which parodies conventional internet humor.)

馃槀 and 馃ぃ

In the mid-2010s, emoji took over, including two popular emoji depicting laughter:听Face with Tears of Joy 馃槀听and Rolling on the Floor Laughing听馃ぃ.听Face with Tears of Joy听馃槀听is consistently one of the most popular emoji across the globe, used for expressing varying degrees of amusement and happiness. People may add the听Rolling on the Floor Laughing 馃ぃ when something is beyond funny and downright . Both are perfect for use on their own or combined to express laughter online and in text messages.

Speaking of rolling on the floor laughing听鈥�

ROFL and roflcopter

The听Rolling on the Floor Laughing听emoji听馃ぃ听is in part inspired by听ROFL鈥�an acronym meaning听rolling on听the floor laughing, of course.

Sometimes pronounced to rhyme with awful, ROFL is found as early as 1989.听By the 1990s it became the ultimate combo:听ROFL was combined with LOL in ROTFLOL.

Another play on听ROFL is the roflcopter,听a blend of听helicopter听and ROFL. The term was allegedly coined in 2003 by moderators on a听World of Warcraft III听forum in reference to a vehicle in that online game, the gyrocopter. Gamers may use听roflcopter听as a response to something they find extremely funny in allusion to the meme and as an intensification of听ROFL. (Dude,听roflcopter, that was hilarious!)

Other variants of ROFL include听ROTF (just听rolling on the floor) and ROTFL, which includes the initial for听the.听The possibilities are endless … try one out!

XD or xD

We’re going early internet for this synonym. Before emoji,听many people used听emoticons (remember those?) like听XD or xD to convey laughter.听XD/xD are supposed to resemble someone’s eyes scrunched closed and mouth opened wide in laughter. Their exact origin is unknown, but they likely emerged in the 1990s and early 2000s. An听Urban Dictionary entry for XD/xD dates them to 2003, while noting they are “better than lol.” That year, others also began to use a phonetic rendering of XD, ecks dee, as a play on the emoticon.

As emoji have become more popular and widespread, XD has dropped in use, though it’s still found online. In some situations, it may be the easiest way to communicate laughter. (But feel free to also use it for old times’ sake!)

kek

Not all synonyms for LOL are funny. Used originally by gamers, Kek听is an online term with a similar meaning to听LOL听or听haha, but it has taken a controversial turn.

The expression听kek听in the context of gaming originated from Blizzard鈥檚 1998 real-time strategy game听Starcraft.听The game did not support the Korean writing system, so the Korean equivalent to the English hahaha, or 銋嬨厠銋�, became written as 鈥渒ekeke,鈥� and soon became an in-joke to gamers.

As it turns out,听Kek听is also the name of an ancient Egyptian deity often represented as a humanoid figure with the head of a frog. In 2015, an anonymous user on 4chan posted information and pictures of听Kek, with users comparing the god to听Pepe the Frog, an innocent cartoon character that has, since the 2016 US presidential election, been turned into a hate symbol by the alt-right听supporters of Donald Trump. By 2016, Pepe, Trump, and听Kek听had become linked.

Due to the alt-right鈥檚 hijacking of the term,听kek听has become linked to the alt-right movement鈥檚 ties to white supremacy, anti-Semitism, and other hateful ideologies. This development has been much to the dismay of gamers who enjoyed using听kek听as an expression of laughter.

Our next Asian-language-inspired form of laughter, however, remains squeaky-clean.

wwww

All around the world, LOL has some unique synonyms. Wwww (pronounced “wah-rah-wah-rah-wah-rah-wah-rah”)听is the Japanese equivalent of the English听hahahaha, used to express laughter online and in text messages.

The use of听wwww听to represent laughing comes from the Japanese听wara听(绗�), 鈥渢o laugh.鈥澨齏ith the rise of text-messaging and the internet in the 1990s鈥�2000s, Japanese users adapted the kanji听绗� to denote laughter (similar to听LOL). People eventually found it easier, though, to use the letter听w,听from the romaji of听绗�,听wara.

Like听hahahaha听or听lolololol, Japanese users string together multiple听Ws听to intensify the intended emotion. Someone noticed that all those听Ws looked like blades of grass, prompting people to refer to听wwww听as听kusa听(鑽�), Japanese for 鈥済rass.鈥� Also like a curt听haha听or听lol, a shortened听w(ww)听can have an ironic tone or even mocking subtext (e.g., Haha, real funny. Not.)

Some speakers of Asian languages forgo the Latin alphabet altogether to express laughter 听鈥�

233 and 555

Some Chinese speakers use the number听233 as shorthand for laughter. This comes from the popular Chinese online forum Mop.com, which has custom, emoji-like characters. On Mop, the 233rd character is a GIF of a small, furry creature pounding the ground in laughter. As a result, 233 spread as shorthand for laughter.

Like other forms of online laughter, the longer the string of numbers, the more enthusiastic the laughing. So, if 233 means “haha,” then 2333333333 is more like “hahahahahaha.”

Thai speakers also use numbers to express laughter, but this use is more onomatopoeic than the Chinese example above. The word for the number 5 (喙�) in Thai is ha (喔�喙夃覆). So, Thai users will often write 555 in Arabic numerals for a hahaha or LOL.

Speaking of onomatopoeic ways to express laughter online …

jaja and jeje

In Spanish,听J is usually pronounced with a strong H听sound. For example, the Spanish word mija is pronounced [mee-hah], not [mee-jah].

That’s why many Spanish speakers often will write haha听as jaja. Just like when English-speakers write long strings like hahahahaha to express lots of laughter, Spanish speakers will string together JAs depending on how funny something is.

Spanish speakers will also use jejeje to express (often more mischievous or trollish) laughter, like the English听hehehe.