Are you looking for a quick way to let a friend know that something they said, or something that just happened, was extremely funny? Try the abbreviation "LMAO". Keep reading to discover where LMAO came from, and how it's used in practice.
Meaning
The internet abbreviation "LMAO" stands for "laughing my ass off". LMAO serves as an amplified version of the much more commonly used "LOL", which means "laughing out loud", and is meant to indicate that the user experiences the subject matter as genuinely funny.
In practice, "LOL" and "LMAO" are both often used by people who understand that the message they received, and are replying to, what meant to be humorous or funny, but who are not laughing at all.
LMAO can be in uppercase letters, but the abbreviation also frequently appears in lowercase letters, as "lmao".
Example Usage
The online abbreviation LMAO, meaning "laughing my ass off", is used used as a stand-alone message. If someone sends you a funny video or a funny message, you can simply respond with "LMAO".
LMAO may also be incorporated into wider written sentences, such as:
- "You'll never believe who I just ran into... that guy we pranked last month, LMAO."
- "LMAO my cat is so funny."
- "Have you seen Jesse's new haircut LMAO?"
Origin
The origins of the online abbreviation LMAO date further back than most people are aware of, and are also much more interesting.
As "LMAO" means "laughing my ass off", it's prudent to start with the origins of the original saying. All evidence indicates that people only started "working", "sweating", and "laughing" their assess off sometime after the Second World War came to an end.
Early literary references to this phenomenon can be found in the 1948 book The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer (in which a character "worked his ass off") and JD Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye (wherein people "laughed their assess off" at the dinner table).
"Laughing our assess off" gradually became part of our everyday lexicon, so when the internet started rising in popularity, this phrase clearly needed its own abbreviation — LMAO.
LMAO was first used in 1990, on an early online gaming website dedicated to the fantasy tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons. The credit belongs entirely to a Dungeons & Dragons elven Ranger called Torquin.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Words Similar to LMAO
Humor is an important part of human interaction, so it is not surprising that there are many similar online abbreviations. These include:
- LOL — "laughing out loud".
- ROTFL — "rolling on the floor laughing".
- LMFAO — "laughing my fucking ass off".
- LMAOOOOOOO — "laughing my ass off", but with additional Os to amplify the effect.
- XD — Meant to resemble a laughing face.
Words Opposite to LMAO
Emotions that can include anger and sadness can be seen as opposites to laughter. If something isn't funny at all, internet slang terms you may use include:
- Shrug — meaning you're indifferent about the joke, or don't care.
- :/ or ._. — meaning "meh" or "this sucks". Both of these marks represent faces.
- WTF — meaning "what the fuck", can be used to indicate that something is not funny at all.
What Is the Correct Abbreviation?
The correct abbreviation is "LMAO", meaning "laughing my ass off". It is exclusively used on the internet and in text messages.
Ways People May Say LMAO Incorrectly
The online abbreviation LMAO has increasingly come to be used in contexts where people aren't really laughing. LMAO may be used to express mild enjoyment of a comment, or for no reason at all.
This is likely why "escalating" versions, like LMFAO, have emerged to express that someone is actually laughing. If you stick to using LMAO only when you're genuinely laughing, you will help to keep this abbreviation meaningful.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase LMAO
You can write LMAO in reply to any comment, video, or situation that causes deep laughter. You can also, of course, type LMAO in response to anything you know was intended to be funny, even if you aren't laughing — the other person won't be around to see your indifferent face.