A very common way people communicate nowadays is over texting (sometimes even more than face-to-face communication!), and, because we are so innovative and need to save time, we have found many ways to shorten our words.
The following commonly known acronyms are used so often that they are considered basic vocabulary for some. However, they have been around a lot longer than we thought!
1: LOL – “Laughing Out Loud” – Used when something is funny.
Before becoming commonly used on the internet, this was common in letter-writing, meaning “lots of love” or “lots of luck." The online version can date back to the early 80’s in Canada when a student, Wayne Pearson, coined the term.
“I always emphasized that it was to be used only if you truly laughed out loud,” Pearson wrote in a post giving him the crown of inventing the phrase.
Although this phrase was intended to be used when someone is laughing out loud, it is most commonly used now whenever someone thinks this is funny in the slightest. When one sees a meme or a lame joke online, the most common response is "LOL" even if it didn't make that person truly laugh out loud, therefore slowly diminishing the intended purpose of this acronym to now being the placeholder for when one doesn't have anything else to say.
2: YOLO – “You Only Live once” – Often used as an excuse to make irresponsible decisions.
Commonly known from the song “The Motto” by Drake, surprisingly enough this phrase goes back to the 18th century when Johann Wolfgang von Goethe used an expression translating to “one lives but once in the world” in the play “Clavigo."
Fast-forwarding to the modern use of the acronym, the exposure began in at least 2004. Adam Mesh, a former contestant on the reality show “Average Joe,” printed the phrase on a line of T-shirts. In 2012, Mesh tweeted, “When I created the word it was meant as inspiration to live life to the fullest. Disappointed in current use. I have moved on.” This is referring to the social stimulus of using the acronym to skip a class, get drunk, or do anything that doesn’t contribute to the full potential of life in a responsible sense.
3: OMG – “Oh My Gosh” – Used when shocked or surprised.
This acronym dates back to 1917 when John Arbuthnot Fisher, 75-year-old Fist Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, sent a letter to Winston Churchill. This letter (pictured above) concluded with “I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis – O.M.G. (Oh! My God!) – Shower in on the Admiralty! [(Knight me, please!)]”
In 1994, the Oxford English Dictionary traced it back to a post on a Usenet Forum about TV soap operas that read, “OMG! What did I say?”
I am definitely guilty of using all of these acronyms on a daily basis. I am innocent, however, of using them in my verbal dialogue; I only use them online or over text messaging. I will admit I have used a few in person just to be funny, but, as an English major, I die inside every time they're spoken, so I’ve learned to refrain from it.
I had no idea these phrases have been around so long. Winston Churchill receiving a letter with “OMG” in it? I would never have guessed seeing this because of the millennials who use these phrases and the social acceptance of the irresponsible meaning behind using each one.
However, not all who use these acronyms are irresponsible people who want to party all night. The beginning intention of these slang terms was and continues to be shortening a word, or series of words, to make it faster to type out a message, saving us all time to get on with our lives. Some people just use that time different'y than others; creating the social stereotype of people who use these acronyms regularly to be unpractical beings.
