# What does LOL stand for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917 "2008-06-23T15:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/21 "2008-06-23T19:41:26Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] WAG = Wild-Assed Guess. [/QUOTE] You, of all people, should know that on this board we use a SWAG, rather than a WAG. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/22 "2008-06-23T19:49:31Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] And she’s an internet-savvy 27-year-old. Odd. [/QUOTE] Well, she is under 30, ya know. That explains it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/23 "2008-06-23T19:56:41Z")
[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong] Huh, the wikipedia article cites a claim that BFN is one of the three most popular abbreviations in internet slang. The other two being LOL and IMHO. This is the first time I’ve ever seen BFN (bye for now) and I’m an internet gamer, does anybody here use that? [/QUOTE] Weird. I’ve seen TTFN (ta-ta for now) a decent amount of the time, but I haven’t seen BFN. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/24 "2008-06-23T21:51:25Z")
I also see TTFN rather than BFN. ‘Bye’ happens more often than either. It’s just as short or shorter. I’ve seen afk (away from keyboard) and brb (be right back), though. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/25 "2008-06-23T21:54:20Z")
“afk for bio, lol” ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/26 "2008-06-23T22:01:45Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] I’ve seen afk (away from keyboard) and brb (be right back), though. [/QUOTE] Both of those are things I picked up from my BBSing days back in the early 90s. It always momentarily perplexes me when I’m chatting with someone in IM who doesn’t know what AFK means. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/27 "2008-06-23T22:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] “afk for bio, lol” [/QUOTE] I’ve had people **say** all of those on Vent (in-game voice chat) – though not all in the same sentence. Saying “afk” is pretty common, as is “bio break”… and one person really would say “lol” (in an ironic fashion). ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/28 "2008-06-23T23:54:38Z")
[QUOTE=Švejk] In my country the word ‘assistent’ is regularly abbreviated by taking the first three letters of the word… The job description of a friend of mine is ‘ass. manager’. 🙂 [/QUOTE] A few years ago I saw a picture of a business card on a website. The card was for Bob Jones, an assistant manager. Unlike your example where only the first word was shortened, both were on this business card. It said: Bob Jones Ass. Man. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/29 "2008-06-24T00:35:31Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] I also see TTFN rather than BFN. ‘Bye’ happens more often than either. It’s just as short or shorter. I’ve seen afk (away from keyboard) and brb (be right back), though. [/QUOTE] I hadn’t figured out BFN yet, … so now I know. I too would expect “ttfn” or “brb”. If you start out “BF…”, I’m thinkin’ the next letter’s gotta be “D”. (Big “Freakin’” Deal) ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/30 "2008-06-24T01:03:22Z")
WC = water closet = AFK for bio = I gotta pee-pee. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/31 "2008-06-24T01:52:19Z")
A long time ago I predicted that while usage of terms like “LOL” would likely continue indefinitely, people would in time come to forget their original meanings entirely. Perhaps we are not so far from that day? 😛 [QUOTE=zweisamkeit] Weird. I’ve seen TTFN (ta-ta for now) a decent amount of the time, but I haven’t seen BFN. [/QUOTE] Likewise. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of that acronym, and I definitely spend more time than is probably healthy on the Internet. If I had to pick the three 'net acronyms I see most often just off the top of my head, they would probably be “WTF,” “LOL,” and “IMHO,” though entries such as “ROFL” and “STFU” might be contenders as well. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/32 "2008-06-24T04:34:06Z")
[QUOTE=Švejk] In my country the word ‘assistent’ is regularly abbreviated by taking the first three letters of the word… The job description of a friend of mine is ‘ass. manager’. 🙂 [/QUOTE] You might as well go all the way and call him an “ass. man.” ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/33 "2008-06-24T05:42:37Z")
The Urban Dictionary definition of lol is perfect. I remember when lol first started and it was cool for about three days. But before long, it would bug me like crazy when people would say lol to the most mundane things. me: “What are you doing?” other person: “Just hanging out” other person: “lol” me thinking: WTF? When AFK first started, I thought it was a cheesy way of saying “Away From Komputer” and I still associate it in my head that way. It took me a while to figure out IANAL has nothing in common with an ass. man. It means “I am not a lawyer” (followed by legal advice). I’ve never seen BFN. Never seen “bio” either but I haven’t used a chat program in years so maybe I’m not up on all the cool slang the young whippersnappers are using (I’m 30), plus I usually look away in disgust when I see chat acronyms or crap like “talk 2 u b4 2morrow.” LOL-ROFLMFAO. AFK, c u l8r! BFN lol ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/34 "2008-06-24T08:04:38Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] WAG = Wild-Assed Guess. [/QUOTE] I’m obviously bad at this, 'cause in the UK WAG also means “Wives And Girlfriends” and relates to the partners of footballers and other sporting figures. Thanks for all the help so far. I don’t think I’ll be adopting abbreviations in my posts, being a bit of a pedant when it comes to punctuation. I even write text messages in full, it takes ages but at least I know the recipient will understand it. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/35 "2008-06-24T09:39:53Z")
[QUOTE=Apollyon] I’ve had people **say** all of those on Vent (in-game voice chat) – though not all in the same sentence. Saying “afk” is pretty common, as is “bio break”… and one person really would say “lol” (in an ironic fashion). [/QUOTE] On Vent we’ll actually say “Be right back” or “Going for a pee” but we still say “AFK” too. I’ve also never heard of BFN before this thread. In MMO games I’ve typically seen GTG used instead (Got to Go) ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/36 "2008-06-24T09:43:11Z")
[QUOTE=Fubaya] The Urban Dictionary definition of lol is perfect. I remember when lol first started and it was cool for about three days. But before long, it would bug me like crazy when people would say lol to the most mundane things. me: “What are you doing?” other person: “Just hanging out” other person: “lol” me thinking: WTF? [/QUOTE] lol (or LOL if it’s really funny), saves me having to type out, “That made me chuckle”, on a regular basis. For someone with a 12 wpm prodding rate ( up from 6 wpm when I started out!), that is an invaluable service. Don’t knock the lol… ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/37 "2008-06-24T10:30:40Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] lol (or LOL if it’s really funny), saves me having to type out, “That made me chuckle”, on a regular basis. For someone with a 12 wpm prodding rate ( up from 6 wpm when I started out!), that is an invaluable service. Don’t knock the lol… [/QUOTE] You could go with haha or hehe like I do, short and gets the point across very nicely. LOL seems to be a bit deprecated anyway, at least it seems to me like it’s going out of style, save for ironic uses (probably because the daylight dodging denizens of the internet have found it becoming mainstream, and therefore it is an enemy that must be avoided at all costs). [QUOTE=essell] On Vent we’ll actually say “Be right back” or “Going for a pee” but we still say “AFK” too. I’ve also never heard of BFN before this thread. In MMO games I’ve typically seen GTG used instead (Got to Go) [/QUOTE] Which can cause issues since a lot of people also use GTG for “Good to go.” Some people make it clear that, for them, G2G is got to go and GTG is good to go. However many also reverse this so we’re back to where we started. \>.\< > [@fubaya](#): > > The Urban Dictionary definition of lol is perfect. I remember when lol first started and it was cool for about three days. But before long, it would bug me like crazy when people would say lol to the most mundane things. > me: “What are you doing?” > other person: “Just hanging out” > other person: “lol” > me thinking: WTF? > > When AFK first started, I thought it was a cheesy way of saying “Away From Komputer” and I still associate it in my head that way. > > It took me a while to figure out IANAL has nothing in common with an ass. man. It means “I am not a lawyer” (followed by legal advice). > > I’ve never seen BFN. Never seen “bio” either but I haven’t used a chat program in years so maybe I’m not up on all the cool slang the young whippersnappers are using (I’m 30), plus I usually look away in disgust when I see chat acronyms or crap like “talk 2 u b4 2morrow.” > > LOL-ROFLMFAO. AFK, c u l8r! BFN lol My friend always thought AFK was short for away from komputer too, we almost beat her over the head (then again she also thought she was a vampire, that required quite a nice intervention so it evened out eventually). Bio is a “polite” way of saying “biological waste” or “bathroom,” in fact I’ve been in one group that considered the use of it etiquette because of some puritanical aversion to feces or something (never mind all the penis jokes and poop jokes that went on), nevermind everyone KNEW what bio meant anyway and knew it meant bathroom. I agree though, I’m only 18 and I still type out every single letter as well as punctuation on text messages, because “u” and its ilk are really annoying to me, needless to say I’ve sent about 4 messages in my life considering I’m also slow at maneuvering around those god forsaken phone letter entry systems (no, really, my total is around four). I don’t mind WTF (it has real world application if you want to express something without cursing it gets the message across and acts as a censor) I also AFK (no clue why, probably because AFK is faster in games and you need to notify your team immediately you’re leaving for a second because a fire just started) Listing all the ones I don’t mind would take a while, but quite a few annoy me except in game combat situations where it’s necessary and you don’t have voice. Second/Third/Whatever never hearing of BFN before today though. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/38 "2008-06-25T00:02:33Z")
[QUOTE=Jragon] Which can cause issues since a lot of people also use GTG for “Good to go.” Some people make it clear that, for them, G2G is got to go and GTG is good to go. However many also reverse this so we’re back to where we started. \>.\< [/quote] Yep, confused me the first time I used “GTG” in a PUG (_snerk_ yet another TLA) and the leader thought I was leaving; my guild uses it exclusively for “Good to go” == “I’m ready”, and I hadn’t come across its other use. > [@](#): > > I also AFK (no clue why, probably because AFK is faster in games and you need to notify your team immediately you’re leaving for a second because a fire just started) In WoW it’s also part of the game vocab too – not moving for a period causes “\” to appear next to your character’s name (or it can be invoked manually), so it’s pretty pervasive. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/39 "2008-06-25T02:26:55Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] lol (or LOL if it’s really funny), saves me having to type out, “That made me chuckle”, on a regular basis. For someone with a 12 wpm prodding rate ( up from 6 wpm when I started out!), that is an invaluable service. Don’t knock the lol… [/QUOTE] That’s not so bad. What is so irritating is when people use it for things that aren’t even meant to be amusing. It’s more like puncuation. Like: What did you do today? nothing lol I thought you had to work? no lol Do you work tomorrow? I’m off tomorrow lol ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917/40 "2008-06-25T03:05:41Z")
[QUOTE=Fubaya] That’s not so bad. What is so irritating is when people use it for things that aren’t even meant to be amusing. It’s more like puncuation. Like: What did you do today? nothing lol I thought you had to work? no lol Do you work tomorrow? I’m off tomorrow lol [/QUOTE] Indeed. I’m like, okay, so I’m talking about my day and the listener comes back with ‘lol’, and I’m like, fine. My day wasn’t all that great and you’re laughing your head off? Well, _snap_, honey. What about TTYL? (Talk To Ya Later) WTF isn’t cursing? _blink_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-lol-stand-for/453917.md?page=1)