# I invented LOL **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2021, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128 "2021-09-05T06:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/1 "2021-09-05T06:43:55Z")
Back in the 1960s. We used it for Little Old Lady. And a matching LOM. Our dad was just the OM. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/2 "2021-09-05T06:58:05Z")
Then you had nothing to do with LOL as it currently is defined (Laugh Out Loud). I am pretty sure the three letter combination has meant many different things to many different people over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/3 "2021-09-05T07:01:47Z")
The shovel. Now _there_ was a groundbreaking invention. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/4 "2021-09-05T07:19:35Z")
I can dig it. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/5 "2021-09-05T10:44:23Z")
in spades. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/6 "2021-09-05T10:44:44Z")
Agreed, let’s call a spade a spade. mmm ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/7 "2021-09-05T10:45:10Z")
Shovels are used to move earth, not break it. Let’s call a spade a spade. (Ninja’d!) ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/8 "2021-09-05T10:48:32Z")
Not that I am going pick on anyone because I don’t have an axe to grind, but the OP’s suggestion is a hard row to hoe. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/9 "2021-09-05T13:20:19Z")
My family used it in snail and email from the early 80s…to mean Lots Of Love. I was very confused for a while when the new meaning took off! ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/10 "2021-09-05T15:51:33Z")
Can a shovel be used as a spade? ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/11 "2021-09-05T15:55:57Z")
Well, that’s the hole point. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/12 "2021-09-05T15:59:37Z")
This is a very down to earth thread. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/13 "2021-09-05T16:05:21Z")
Imagine that… another pun thread. What were the adze? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/14 "2021-09-05T16:23:06Z")
I first noticed LOL as an abbreviation for “little old lady” on ER in the 90s. They must’ve gotten it from the OP and his family. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/15 "2021-09-05T17:25:58Z")
A three-dot columnist at the Oregon Journal (evening paper, Portland) was using this (LOL as little old lady) back in the 50’s, as a term of affection. I was there, I remember seeing it. I’m sure it’s in the archives if someone wants to spend the time looking it up. Later, Herb Caen in the San Francisco Chronicle stole it and used it extensively as a term of ridicule. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/16 "2021-09-05T17:48:03Z")
Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz _both_ invented LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/17 "2021-09-05T18:13:15Z")
Interesting there’s a _Chronicle_ connection. If I recall, LOL (as Little Old Lady) is used in the second _Tales of the City_ book, which was serialized in the _Chronicle_ in the late 70s. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/18 "2021-09-05T19:45:14Z")
I have drafted maps with LOL, and that meant neither ladies nor love. In engineer-speak, it’s Layout Line. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-invented-lol/950128/19 "2021-09-06T21:45:35Z")
Well, whoever invented it, Land 'O Lakes is mighty fine butter.