The evolution of internet speach
 

When did LoL change from meaning Lots of Laughs or Laugh out Loud to: I really don't have anything important to say ?

Context:

18 Shammy LFG... LOL

WTB thing of the uber.. lol

and while on this topic WTF is a LUL ?! (I'm assuming lulz has nothing to do with reducing agro on mobs?)

Anyhow...

lol

I saw my first "lol" at the beginning of my very first Starcraft game a month after it came out.

Here's a wikipedia page for ya. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOL

Lulz is kind of like lol lite, lul even more so? Heck I dunno.

Lulz are an end unto themselves, my friend, and you'd do well to remember that always. Hope I've evaporated any and all confusion.

Lulz is like Lawlz lite. Maybe.

Well...they both have z's, anyways.

Zomg.

when it comes to the internet, mo' Zs mo' bettah

^ factz

4chan posters spotted

I was inspired by this thread to do some research intolulzography

Here is the evolution of Lulz as far as I was able to determine.
lol
lols
lolz
lawl
lawlz
lul
luls
lulz
epic lulz

Some contrasting data here leads to a few different conclusions:
1. Lul and its derivatives (luls, lulz, etc) are simply a corruption of the abbreviation Lol, from the phonetic Lawl.
2. Lul and its derivatives are in fact their own abbreviation for Lame Uncomfortable Laugh.
3. There are also a few altering views on the derivatives. Generally the -s ending (lols or luls, interestingly there is no officially recognized -s form of lawl) is recognized as a plural form of the base, while the -z (lolz, lulz, lawlz) is a more "spunky" variant of this plural form. Alternatively, the -z ending may also stand for "zebra", which would give Lulz the possible interpretation, "Lame Uncomfortable Laugh, Zebra".

It is generally accepted however that lulz are the one and only good reason anyone does anything, leading to the popular phrase "Did it for the Lulz".

QFT