_A. int. Originally and chiefly in the language of electronic communications: ‘ha ha!’; used to draw attention to a joke or humorous statement, or to express amusement.
B. n. An instance of the written interjection ‘LOL’.
In 2011, the internet slang term “LOL” (laughing out loud) has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. When the Oxford English Dictionary traced the origins of the acronym, they discovered 1980s computer fanatics were responsible. The oldest written records of “LOL” (used to mean laughing out loud) are in the archives of Usenet, an early internet discussion forum.
Many mistake “LOL” for “lots of love”, leading to some unintended “LOLs”, such as the infamous tale of the mother who wrote: “Your grandmother has just passed away. LOL.”
Love it or loathe it, “lol” is now a legitimate word in our lexicon.
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Language is alive and forever changing. Approximately 25,000 new words are introduced into English on an annual basis. In the spirit of teaching you vocabulary skills in an entertaining way and to keep you with a finger on the linguistic pulse, the language network Verbalisti brings favourite ‘new’ words and expressions to the language in our FunVOCAB. Click here and enjoy!