# I Don't Care If You ARE Laughing, LOL THIS! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 2, 2000, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876 "2000-08-02T18:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/81 "2000-08-04T01:58:27Z")
I’m glad to see this potential bruhaha turned into a quasi-cordial debate, but I must revisit something: > [@](#): > > _I stated that:_ > Everybody in this country and this board has a right to say whatever > they want > [@](#): > > _To which mouthbreather responded_ > Wrong. Care to elucidate? Unless you are going to tell me that I have no right to yell “fire” in a crowded movie house. In which case I concede the point. I should have clarified - Everyone has a right to offer their personal opinion on anything. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/82 "2000-08-04T02:26:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Jodi, sweetcheeks, let’s have a chat. Uh, escuse me. Sweetcheeks would be me. (Hint - see my e-mail address.) ---
**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/83 "2000-08-04T03:55:48Z")
**DavisMcDavis** said: > [@](#): > > LOL does not do that. That, kiddies, was my point. That is why it is lame. I have never used LOL in any context, even chatrooms or IMs, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about post counts or registration dates. But here’s a brainwave, Mac–nobody’s gonna change their posting style because you get your panties in a bunch over it. I’ll post my appreciation of somebody’s humor if I damn well please, and I’ll say it in any way I damn well please–right up to starting to use LOL if I damn well please. You don’t like the way I or anyone else posts? Tough shit. ---
**Author:** ![Tymp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Tymp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tymp)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/84 "2000-08-04T13:35:06Z")
**DavisMcDavis** , I’m very glad to see that you’ve come back to your own thread. I would have felt really silly if I were beating my chest and howling over a hit-and-run thread. **Jodi** , I really want to just let this go. I’d love to concede that I am just a stubborn bastard who doesn’t know when he’s wrong. Unfortunately, I am right once again. I hate that. To address your 08032000 19h33 post I’d like to point out how well you and I have disagreed. You and I have a very different take on this issue, yet neither one of us has felt the need to respond to each other with random, incomprehensible posts. Such behavior would accomplish nothing. I think that, if you didn’t have a leg to stand on in this argument, you would have just stayed quiet. I seriously doubt that you would have jumped in to call me a goat-felcher or LOLed in lieu of expressing yourself. That’s a beautiful thing. The thread I posted here in the Pit about excessive felching was met with general agreement. However, there are some who still overuse that word. That thread had a lot of views and not terribly many posts. I feel safe in the assumption that some of the people, who read but did not post to that thread, disagreed with some or all of its content. In other words, **MysterEcks** , they didn’t give a rat’s ass about my view of their posting style. Obviously, if they did not post, they felt that my thread had not earned refutation or that their arguments would be ineffective. Lovely. In response to **DavisMcDavis** , some people, yourself included, posted replies with content in order to show the reason for your disagreement. Others posted shit that served no purpose. The second group really pissed me off because they seemed to feel justified doing this to **DavisMcDavis**. Why would they feel justified and safe in this? Well, because it’s been pretty well established, and reinforced in this thread, that those with low post counts are free targets if they choose to comment on board behaviors or trends. * * * Now, I completely understand the point that has been made repeatedly that trolling cannot be tolerated. Trolling was the behavior that **ChrisP** (whom I like and I’m sorry I pissed off) was describing with his analogy. Criticism after observation of board trends is not the same as trolling. If **DavisMcDavis** were trolling for responses, s/he probably would have use more inflammatory language with less of an explanation. Replying with nothing but “LOL”, “ROFLMAO”, and “Fuck you, troll” would have been expected from the dopers - also expected by a troll, I might add. Those who make disagreeable comments are not trolls and do not deserve the abuse that would be given to a troll. Trolls will always be known by their trolling. Can’t you just flame, argue with, or ignore someone with whom you disagree? Quit being so goddamn defensive. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/85 "2000-08-04T14:43:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Are you saying, Milo, that it’s fine to disregard the content of a post if you are unfamiliar with the poster? No, I’m saying people who are unfamiliar with a poster \*\*won’t particularly care \*\* what he or she likes or dislikes about their posting style. That’s true no matter how long you’ve been here, but especially so if I don’t know who you are, and evidence indicates you haven’t been here long enough to be talking about what you don’t like here. Two things are absolutes on this board: 1. Tell someone not to do something, and scores will do that very thing in an instant. 2. Newcomers to the SDMB who bitch about the board or the way people who’ve been here a while do things will get some grief. If it makes you feel better to say, “All of you people suck, and I’m right,” say it. Rules 1 and 2 won’t be changing on your behalf. ---
**Author:** ![DavisMcDavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@DavisMcDavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavisMcDavis)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/86 "2000-08-04T15:44:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tymp \* > **DavisMcDavis, > In response to DavisMcDavis, some people, yourself included, posted replies with content in order to show the reason for your disagreement. Others posted shit that served no purpose.** IAWTYA (I Agree With Tymp Yet Again) I think I was being fairly sensible - I should check again when I registered, but I was reading the board for awhile before that, and it doesn’t take that long to encounter an excess of LOL’s. So I went to this little forum to register my complaint. I actually do have a sense of humor, and I kinda thought it was funny that people followed up my OP with extended ROFL variants. I was expecting agreement, honestly, but getting poked with what I was complaining about was kinda funny - people got very creative, which I like. Calling me a McDipshit? Not so creative, which I don’t like. And puh-leeze, if anyone thinks they’re the first person to make a Ronald McDonald reference to my name in any format, please be forewarned that you are about 18 years too late. Why did the chicken cross the road? He was hoping to hear a joke that wasn’t done to death by Henny Youngman’s grandfather. Not the sort of thing to make him ROFL, or even LOL. And I didn’t mean to be dictatorial, I guess it just came out that way. I think I meant to say someting along the lines of “can’t we all make a little promise to ourselves” but I suppose that wording might have offended as well. * * * “I’m going to go home and sleep with my wife.” - Professor Plum ---
**Author:** ![DavisMcDavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@DavisMcDavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavisMcDavis)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/87 "2000-08-04T15:49:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MysterEcks \* > \*\ ***DavisMcDavis** said: > > > [@](#): > > > > LOL does not do that. That, kiddies, was my point. That is why it is lame. > > I have never used LOL in any context, even chatrooms or IMs, and I don’t give a rat’s ass about post counts or registration dates. But here’s a brainwave, Mac–nobody’s gonna change their posting style because you get your panties in a bunch over it. \*\* I understand that, I just thought I’d let everyone know if they did that, I’d think they were lame. Like if you wanted to wear a powder blue poet-shirt tuxedo combo to your wedding, I’d figure that you wouldn’t necessarily change on my behalf, but at the same time I would let you know it made you look like an idiot. Overuse of LOL makes one look like they have very little to say and lots of time to say it in. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/88 "2000-08-04T16:04:31Z")
LOL! IALSHATDFTWIWJOMYSOTEOMCAMTPMITE!!! ---
**Author:** ![Tymp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Tymp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tymp)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/89 "2000-08-04T16:21:17Z")
A pox on you, **Mr. Cynical**. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/90 "2000-08-04T16:23:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Care to elucidate? > Unless you are going to tell me that I have no right to yell “fire” in a crowded movie house. In which case I concede the point. Well, I had two issues when I posted my “wrong”. Point one you addressed above, and the second issue (which was an assumption on my part – you may or may not be guilty of this) is when people come to this board and then start spouting off about first amendment rights, which do not have any relevance here. > [@](#): > > I should have clarified - Everyone has a right to offer their personal opinion on anything. > Carry on. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/91 "2000-08-04T16:56:08Z")
DMcD says: > [@](#): > > Actually, Jodi, some people did that, and that is to be expected. But is crap like “DavisMcDipshit” and “RonaldMcDork” something I complained about? I was surprised by that. Then you _are_ new. You gratuitously attack other people’s posting style; label it “lame shit” just because you don’t happen to like it; and accuse them of posting merely to pad their post count. Then you throw up your hands in shock when you’re met with a modicum of hostility. Quelle suprise. In any event, I have never defended anyone for mocking your chosen Board name, though it occurs to me that if you continually receive shit about it you might have considered choosing a different one. > [@](#): > > That’s truly lame shit, and not really what I was talking about. I don’t think you did that yourself, but you seem to be defending the practice, inexplicably. If it appears to you that I have defended to practice of insulting you personally, I suggest you read my posts again. > [@](#): > > Did I strike a nerve? Were you ROLFing when I posted or something? Actually, no. Tymp struck a nerve by wading in to call us all assholes after some people flipped you shit by posting ridiculous acronyms – something you at least, unlike Tymp, saw a modicum of humor in. I thought your initial post was gratuitiously critical, without any context, and I wasn’t surprised to see you get flamed about it, because I thought you deserved a bit of a low-level flame – which, believe me, is all you got. > [@](#): > > Although I only have few posts - on THIS board - I think they’re fairly well-thought out, although rather less quote-filled than some might enjoy. People here will reach their own conclusions about the quality of your posts; you don’t need to assure us of your brilliance, we’ll decide for ourselves. > [@](#): > > If we’re comparing penis sizes, I started reading Cecil about 14 years ago and know what a MOO is. If you don’t, you’re probably newer to this internet thing than I am. Actually, we weren’t, because no one here gives a shit if you were present at the dawn of time. You will be judged on what you post here and how you interact with people here, and you will find that gratuitously insulting others – especially people you don’t know – goes over as well here as it does in real life. > [@](#): > > If you’d like, I can go LOL on every thread and get that count up to whatever number you’d like, but does that mean my points would be more valid? I have already said that no one here would notice or care if _you_ never “LOL” again in your life. Hold the line on acronyms! Refuse to use them! But when you take it upon yourself to insult others for using a stylistic device that you yourself just don’t happen to like, do us a favor and don’t act surprised if some people who _might_ like it and use it take umbrage. > [@](#): > > However, LOL does not do that. That, kiddies, was my point. That is why it is lame. Just say what you mean. You think someone’s post is funny? Why not say “That post was really funny”. Don’t have time to write out the words? I think a few of you have way more than enough time to add those extra letters. You know, I fail to see why you just don’t get this. “LOL” is a perfectly acceptable way to indicate appreciation of humor. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. But no one has any obligation to “take the time” to “add those few letters” just because you don’t happen to like how they post. Nobody died and made you the King of Style around here. TYMP says: > [@](#): > > Jodi, I really want to just let this go. And yet . . . > [@](#): > > To address your 08032000 19h33 post I’d like to point out how well you and I have disagreed. You and I have a very different take on this issue, yet neither one of us has felt the need to respond to each other with random, incomprehensible posts. Such behavior would accomplish nothing. I think that, if you didn’t have a leg to stand on in this argument, you would have just stayed quiet. I seriously doubt that you would have jumped in to call me a goat-felcher or LOLed in lieu of expressing yourself. That’s a beautiful thing. Tymp, you seem to have missed the point. Those posts were _supposed_ to be random and incomprehensible; having announced that he doesn’t like “LOL”, Davis was then treated to lots of meaningless LOLs. That was the whole point. I’m cutting a lot of your post out, because you either see the point by now or you don’t. I’m not certain how long I will continue to assist you in beating this horse to death. > [@](#): > > Others posted shit that served no purpose. The second group really pissed me off because they seemed to feel justified doing this to DavisMcDavis. Why would they feel justified and safe in this? Well, because it’s been pretty well established, and reinforced in this thread, that those with low post counts are free targets if they choose to comment on board behaviors or trends. You know, this in turn aggravates me. It was **DAVIS** who raised the issue of low post counts first, by implying that people post LOL only to pad. I’m amazed that either you or he would then be surprised that it was pointed out that he’s been here the cyber-equivalent of two minutes, and is still a poster-boy for low post counts himself. He made himself a target by taking it upon himself to criticize others for some minor stylistic usage that he will just have to suck up and deal with. People don’t have to clear with you their motivations for posting. Maybe they weren’t posting to attack him because he’s new; maybe they were posting because they thought he was being a jerk. > [@](#): > > Those who make disagreeable comments are not trolls and do not deserve the abuse that would be given to a troll. Trolls will always be known by their trolling. Can’t you just flame, argue with, or ignore someone with whom you disagree? Quit being so goddamn defensive. But, you see, they _did_ flame him. You just don’t like the way in which they flamed him, because you apparently didn’t find enough content in it, or something. You, too, will just have to suck it up and deal. MILO says: > [@](#): > > No, I’m saying people who are unfamiliar with a poster won’t particularly care what he or she likes or dislikes about their posting style. That’s true no matter how long you’ve been here, but especially so if I don’t know who you are, and evidence indicates you haven’t been here long enough to be talking about what you don’t like here. Exactly. DAVIS then says: > [@](#): > > I think I was being fairly sensible - I should check again when I registered, but I was reading the board for awhile before that, and it doesn’t take that long to encounter an excess of LOL’s. So I went to this little forum to register my complaint. Yeah, and people disagreed with you, and resented you calling their posting style “lame shit” and implying that they only post to pad their post-count. Now you apparently have a problem with that, as if only you are authorized to post your opinion. I’m trying to work up an iota of sympathy for the treatment you’ve received, but I’m not succeeding. > [@](#): > > And I didn’t mean to be dictatorial, I guess it just came out that way. I think I meant to say someting along the lines of “can’t we all make a little promise to ourselves” but I suppose that wording might have offended as well. Davis, can’t we all make a little promise to ourselves that we will not take it upon ourselves to criticize people we don’t know the first thing about; assign them nefarious motives for acting the way they do; and offensively label a style they may choose to adopt, just because (wah) we don’t happen to like it? I really hope that we can. > [@](#): > > I understand that, I just thought I’d let everyone know if they did that, I’d think they were lame. Like if you wanted to wear a powder blue poet-shirt tuxedo combo to your wedding, I’d figure that you wouldn’t necessarily change on my behalf, but at the same time I would let you know it made you look like an idiot. And you see no problem with this, do you? When in fact it is a very good example of _precisely_ what is wrong with your post. You have proactively announced that if people happen to act one way, you will think they are lame – the assumption being that you are oh-so-important that even though no one around here knows the first thing about you, they will give a shit what you think is lame. You have walked up to a group of people you do not know, some of whom you perceive as wearing powder blue tuxedos, and told them all that powder blue tuxedos make them look like idiots. And that’s your perogative; just do me a favor and don’t act surprise that you have succeeded in insulting people. Oh, and for myself personally – when I want your opinion on what I do or how I do it, I assure you I will ask you for it. Until I do, Total Stranger, you can just keep it to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Tymp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Tymp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tymp)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/92 "2000-08-04T17:35:38Z")
> [@](#): > > You just don’t like the way in which they flamed him, because you apparently didn’t find enough content in it, or something. You, too, will just have to suck it up and deal. No, you’re wrong. I will bitch, I will argue, I will complain, I will call foul. I will have the decency to post explanations of why I believe certain things are inappropriate. Suck it up and deal. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/93 "2000-08-04T18:08:15Z")
Jesus, Jodi, you’re using up all the electrons. Enough. ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/94 "2000-08-04T18:24:30Z")
From the OP (emphasis mine): > [@](#): > > I don’t actually care if you were reading someone’s funny response to a post and it caused to ROLF, LOL, IMNAL, spit tea out your nose, cause you to muffle your guffaws amidst curious co-workers, **or anything else**. Why? Because it’s not actually funny to hear that lame shit. **If something’s funny, it’s self-evident. I don’t think we need to chime in** From the follow-up (ditto): > [@](#): > > IMHO and **smilies can help clarifty your tone and intent. I didn’t complain about them.** However, LOL does not do that. That, kiddies, was my point. That is why it is lame. Just say what you mean. **You think someone’s post is funny? Why not say “That post was really funny”.** Don’t have time to write out the words? I think a few of you have way more than enough time to add those extra letters. > > … > > And whoever said they liked Bwaahaahaa - I agree with you, it is kinda funny. I didn’t complain about it. **Just LOL, really.** I didn’t take the OP that seriously, it was just a rant. Everyone’s entitled. It _does_ bother me when someone rants, gets flamed, and then suddenly becomes the voice of reason, backtracking on what they originally said. Your OP cleary states that you don’t like _any_ response to humor. Not just LOL. A lot of the flak you got was directed at that. You could save yourself a lot of trouble by either A) saying what you mean or B) ignoring the reponse. Backtracking just damages your credibility. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisP\_One\_Kenobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@ChrisP\_One\_Kenobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisP_One_Kenobe)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/95 "2000-08-04T20:04:37Z")
Oh come on Davis! You didn’t find the McDipshit thing amusing? I was LOL when I read it, why shouldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![aenea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@aenea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aenea)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2000, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/96 "2000-08-04T20:58:23Z")
Fuck You! :mad: BTW, that’s not talking shit, that’s my personal opinion of the shit you spewed in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2000, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/97 "2000-08-05T07:59:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _Silver\_Fire wrote:_ > AOL-ish? I don’t think so. Since I started passing notes in second grade I’ve been using “LOL” and other acronyms to indicate that whatever I had written was to be taken lightly. Alright, so you don’t think so. However, while you might consider your argument persuasive enough to change my opinion on the matter, I’m afraid it ain’t so. A phrase or word need not originate in a particular location or setting (in this case AOL) to become associated with it (Harry Carry didn’t invent the phrase “Holy Cow”, but it is nevertheless associated with him). In my case, I’ve never been on AOL itself, and I have not the slightest idea where and when the acronym ‘LOL’ originated. However, I still consider it AOL-ish. And by AOL-ish I don’t mean used solely or even primarly on AOL, but rather often used by people who more or less correspond with the stereotypical view of AOL users, and often used in situations that more or less correspond with the stereotypical view of what AOL is like, i.e. overly cutesy, chatty, flirty, with little emphasis placed on a decent command of written english. (My writing is far from perfect, and before anyone points them out, I have no doubt I’ve made grammar errors and misspellings in this post. I rarely, if ever, critisize others for making grammar or spelling mistakes, but I do try to have a certain level of readability in my writing, and I don’t use certain abbreviations that are common on the internet, such as ‘y’ for ‘why’, ‘r’ for ‘are’, or ‘u’ for ‘you’ among others, and in my opinion there is little difference between using those and LOL/ROFL.) Does that mean I consider every situation where I encounter LOL or every person I meet who uses it to be AOL-ish? No. But I do consider the words themselves to be that. And this is based on nothing more than my personal experiences on the internet and the experiences of some people I’ve meet who feel the same way. Its possible our experiences are atypical, and LOL is not AOL-ish at all. But one ancedotal example of real life use is unlikely to change my mind. Having said that, if you want to LOL, feel free to do so to ad infinitum. I don’t like the word, so I don’t use it. I wouldn’t ask anyone to not use it here simply because I don’t like it, and even if I did, I’m sure no one would stop using it because of me. > [@](#): > > _Guinastasia wrote:_ > I always thought that LOL and the like are used because this is the INTERNET, and we can’t see facial expressions, or hear tones of voice, etc. Sometimes, unfortunately, some posts come off as serious, sarcastic, etc, without that intention. I don’t see how using LOL/ROFL helps in those cases. Could you provide an example? Now, if you were talking about smilies, I’d freely concede the point, but in my experience LOL and ROFL are rarely used to inform others that a person is just kidding or what not (the most common use of smilies); rather they are used to show the writer found something funny (which is not the same thing). I’ve certainly never considered LOL or ROFL to be interchangable with a winking or smiling image (either the kind we use here or the more traditional ascii versions). For instance, if someone wrote “Amok, you’re a stupid fool.”, I’d consider that an insult, but if they wrote that followed by a winking or smiling face, it would occur to me that they were possibly just teasing me, or joking. However if they wrote “Amok, you’re a stupid fool. LOL!” that has an entirely different meaning than that phrase followed by a smiley would. I would interepret it to mean they did think I was a stupid fool and they were either laughing at (what they perceived as) my stupidity and/or foolisness or their own wit in insulting me. From what I read of the **Tymp/Jodi** flame war, Tymp drew a parrellel between the OP request to not use LOL/ROFL and another pit thread about the overuse of felch and certain other terms. What this reminded me of though is of certain posters who apparently dislike the use of similies. Where I think the OP overreached himself though, and the parrellel ends, is that he either advocated not replying to let another poster know a post was funny ever, or he appeared to advocate that. ---
**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2000, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/98 "2000-08-05T09:30:07Z")
**DavisMcDavis** said: > [@](#): > > I just thought I’d let everyone know if they did that, I’d think they were lame. Ok…and why do you think anyone cares whether you think it’s lame? > [@](#): > > Like if you wanted to wear a powder blue poet-shirt tuxedo combo to your wedding, I’d figure that you wouldn’t necessarily change on my behalf, but at the same time I would let you know it made you look like an idiot. I don’t think there’s any “necessarily” about it. But I’m sure that I or anyone else would appreciate your opinion on our idiocy, just as I’m sure you’ll appreciate my opinion that “DavisMcDavis” is a pretty stupid thing to be calling yourself. (But I’ll understand if you don’t go change it just because _I_think it’s lame.) ---
**Author:** ![DavisMcDavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@DavisMcDavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavisMcDavis)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2000, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/99 "2000-08-05T13:16:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jodi \* > **DMcD says: > Davis, can’t we all make a little promise to ourselves that we will not take it upon ourselves to criticize people we don’t know the first thing about…?** You first. As for backtracking - I think I should clarify - to me there’s a difference between “That was a very funny joke” and “I was at work and started laughing so hard I spilled my latte onto my Star Trek mousepad”. The first is a commentary on the original post, the second is the equivalent of, “Great joke, now I’m going to talk about myself.” But I suppose that’s just me. I like my name, MysterEcks. Actually, I like yours, too. So there. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2000, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876/100 "2000-08-05T15:21:04Z")
_“Bones” McCoy kneels over the unmoving horse._ It’s dead, Jim. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-if-you-are-laughing-lol-this/27876.md?page=6)