We’re bombarded daily on social networks (especially Facebook, Instagram and YouTube) with expressions such as WTF, OMG and LOL to name but a few. Maybe you even use them too, but what do they actually mean?

The acronism LOL, widely used on social networks and online video games, literally means Laughing Out Loud. It can also be interpreted as ‘lots of laughs’.

An acronism is an abbreviated form of a set of words, that are formed from a combination of both an initialism and an acronym. It comes from acros (ἄκρος - extreme) and chroma (ὄνομα - name). Its literal translation would be ‘extreme name’ or ‘specific name’. ASAP (as soon as possible), just like LOL, is an example of an acronism and is pronounced ay-sap but written as an acronym with only the first letter of each word.

So there you have it! The next time you see LOL, you know it either describes a funny situation or place, or is there to make you laugh.

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