ha?

Instant messaging language has changed over the years. I remember I used to type like: "u didnt no?! i thot u did becuz she said she wud tell u 2nite" in 5th grade or something. I think the "no" for "know" carried over into my freshman year of high school until someone told me it was mad confusing. LOL. 

Which brings me to an integral part of instant messaging language: the "lol" - that is, the acronym for "laugh(ing) out loud." Without this handy little three-letter word, what would the Internet generation of kids ever SAY? There would be no such thing as lolcats! How would you be able to show amusement or sarcasm/teasing or even attention? (Because we all know that you say "lol" to fill up the spaces of an awkward online conversation, or when you have nothing really to say. Or when you're not paying attention at all, and you just use it to make it seem like you were reading, when actually you were watching The Office online and literally lol-ing at that.)

But it seems that "lol" is often competing with the "haha", written to imitate the sound one makes when one is indeed laughing out loud. But to what extent to people actually laugh "hahaha"-ing? (I almost wrote "hahaha"-iendo...which is in Spanish. wow.) I actually think that I do laugh "hahaha"-ing, but that's just me. I remember being wary of using or even seeing someone write out "haha" instead of "lol" because "haha" seems very mocking - like haHA! You are a noob. or haha. You are ridiculously lame. But somehow it caught on, and I find myself alternating between the two.

Which brings me to a thought I had today. There should be a lol/haha scale so that both you and your conversational partner are able to decipher exactly how humorous or amiable you/he/she are/is being in the conversation. Because some people have different degrees, and if  you don't speak with a person often (or even if you do speak with a person often...) you can't really tell how funny/entertaining/conversation-worthy they think you are until you get a sense of their levels of lol. Thus.

SARAH'S LEVELS OF LOL

Disclaimer: highly subjective scale, also includes haha's

lol/haha - mildly amused: conversational level, most akin to a real-life smile or a lightly-expelled "ha"; could be used to fill space or feel less awkward, but not often

hahaha - more amused: most akin to a real-life laugh, on the lighter to moderate side of laughing, but still a quiet laugh to oneself

LOL - amused: most akin to a real-life laugh, on the moderate to heavier side of laughing, but usually like a burst of laughter

lolllll - drawn-out amusement: most akin to a real-life sheepish laughter; sheepish, not awkward.

LOL!/HAHA! - surprisedly amused: most akin to a real-life "HA!", feels like you're slapping your forehead or knee in full amusement

LOLLLL/hahahahaha/HAHAHA - drawn-out amusement on a larger scale: most akin to a real-life laugh session, where you start hitting or slapping the ground/table/whatever's near you, including a person

I think that's about it. If you include smiley faces, then it gets complicated, so for now I will forego that smiley language. 

Happy lol/haha-ing! :)