Everyone has these little things that drive their friends crazy, it's true. One of the things that makes me roll my eyes and sigh is when I'm talking to someone online, and they respond with the dreaded "lol." It's not so bad if it's just an occasional slip-up, or if it's in a situation where one would actually be laughing.
But, somehow, it seems to have morphed from "laughing out loud," to "I have nothing to say." It's become the typed equivalent of a sigh and nod, given in hopes that the other person will shut up and leave. This is nearly as bad as someone typing "brb," which essentially means:
I'm leaving, but don't have the balls to say that I've checked out of this conversation.
Now, not everyone types these fraudulent phrases; sometimes, people legitimately do come back after saying they'll be right back... likewise, some people do actually laugh out loud, like a freak without a life, in a room by themselves. Granted, this is actually preferred to not laughing out loud like a freak, because then, at least they're being honest. Realistically, though, at the rate that some people throw LOLs around, they would either be high or insane.
Along with the laziness of LOLing, I dislike it for its perceived neutralizing powers. You can essentially insult anyone to any extreme, if you just add a little LOL to the end of your statement. "I think you smell... like a bed of roses, lol." Has anyone actually ever smelled a bed of roses? They smell like garbage to me. Hello, not a very nice compliment; you might as well ask if the person's taken a shower in the last week. Adding a LOL to the end of this statement does not nullify the aforementioned trash-can-esquousness of said person's pungent odor. (This can be applied to any backhanded compliment in the book, as well as the flat out insults.)
It also makes the writer sound like s/he's about 12, and shouldn't be talking to adults online.
Like, OMG! I cannot believe I actually have computer privileges this week, lol! I always wonder what kind of pedophile I'm talking to when nearly every other word crossing out of their fingers is encased by one of these horrendous acronyms. I say this because you tend to pick up slang and typing habits from those you talk to, semiotics and shared meaning can explain that, if common sense doesn't.
Anyway, most adults do not preface their comments with a LOL; they just say what they're going to say, and then they're done with it. I can accept minor infractions of its use, or variations of it, but I do expect people to not use it constantly, as seems to be common among some of my friends. (Admittedly, I use "haha" a lot, which I feel is more natural, since it indicates that you think something's funny - not that you're laughing like a freak, by yourself...)
Essentially, it says the same thing to me as cussing does to those of the old, proper school, who believed that one only swore when their vocabulary and intellect were insufficient enough to garner the use of other, more appropriate language. With that in mind, all I can think of when I see a swarm of LOLs is: What a sucker, lol.
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