LOL and OMG officially added to Oxford English Dictionary; purists alarmed
Much to the dismay of language purists, internet slangs LOL and OMG have entered into Oxford English Dictionary. Some feel happy about, some anticipate literary crisis.
Much to the dismay of language purists the internet slang term LOL has been officially inserted into the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) on March 24, 2011. Their dismay gets converted into horror when they find that giving company to LOL is the internet slang OMG! Love it or loathe it, the official induction of these two initialisms in the 'Bible of Lexicons' Oxford English Dictionary stands as a foolproof proof of overwhelming influence of internet on our lives and on the society in general. Internet enthusiasts are going gaga over this and are viewing this as a 'victory'.
The OED defines LOL as “as an interjection "used chiefly in electronic communications... to draw attention to a joke or humorous statement or to express amusement". The guardians of the dictionary have cited the growing occurrence of LOL and OMG in emails, SMSes, social networking and even in verbal communication as a reason for inducing them in the OED.
Love it or loathe it, "lol" is now a legitimate word in our lexicon, says Graeme Diamond, the OED's principal editor for new words. "The word is common, widespread, and people understand it, he further adds.
Expressions like LOL have become a part of our “internet lives” and needless to mention that internet is a big part of our daily lives. LOL has acquired massive popularity among a section of youngsters who are addicted to the internet.
The other day I was a part of a hilarious discussion in an engineering college in Patiala. One of the guys actually said LOL 3-4 times instead of actually laughing when a joke was cracked!
LOL is one of the most widely-used online initialisms. It stands for “laughing out loud”. Other unrelated expansions include the now mostly historical "lots of luck" or "lots of love" used in letter-writing.
Back in 1917 LOL stood for a little old lady. Teens in 90s used it as saying “lots of love”. Now it is widely used in electronic communications.
People even use it as a token of acknowledgement apart from implying its usual meaning. It was first used on Usenet, an early internet discussion forum.
With the advent Yahoo! Messenger, the popularity of LOL soared and now in the age of Facebook, it's all over the internet.
Many believe that such expressions (LOL, ROFL, LMAO et al) have become necessary evils. For them, the word is as exasperating as a power cut during the live broadcast during the final over of a close IPL match. Entry of such words into mainstream English is also being called as infiltration which might pose a threat to the language. There are at least half a dozen anti-LOL groups on Facebook. Even adults have been found mimicking the teen-speak and this is one trend which the purists feel is alarming.
LOL has definitely gained more popularity than its cousins like LMAO, ROFL, BRB, OMG etc. It is a phenomenon on the internet. Here are a few guesses: it's simple to understand, it's subtle, and it can mean something more than just 'funny' and helps us connect better with our friends. Even as the purists continue to frown upon this and go to the extent of predicting literary crises in near future, we should understand that there's nothing much we can do to stop such slangs. The best way out is embrace such additions with open arms as English, much like any other language, subscribes to evolution.
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