Not long ago, The New York Times ran an in-depth article about IJBOL—the new acronym replacing LOL (Laughing Out Loud), ROFL (Rolling On The Floor Laughing), and LMAO (Laughing My Ass Off) on social media.
According to the paper, Gen Z–ers are going wild for IJBOL (I Just Burst Out Laughing) because “it describes something people actually do: explode into an audible, full-belly guffaw.”
The Times article continued, quoting a 27-year-old “content creator” from Melbourne, Australia. “I associate LMAO with millennial humor. But then I associate IJBOL with Gen Z humor, which is funnier.”
WTF? Is IJBOL the best Gen Z–ers have got? How about creating some useful shortcut acronyms for those of us who aren’t digital natives? You could even do it WFH.
Ah, the heck with Gen Z slackers. I’ve gone and done it myself.
ROF; FCGU: Rolling On Floor; Fallen and Can’t Get Up
MTF: Moving To Florida
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
CT; IDWR: Can’t Talk; In Doctor’s Waiting Room
CDAN: Can Drive At Night
BYOC: Bring Your Own Caretaker
HMS: How Many Stitches?
WAL: Widowed And Loaded
ATS: Are There Stairs?
EBS: Early Bird Special
MBIKM: My Back Is Killing Me
TTYATW: Talk To You At The Wake
WITA: Who Is This Again?
John Ficarra is the former editor of Mad magazine