5 ms·

This is the role "lol" used to play. "I accidentally created a scheme lol"

benj111 3y ago
Doesn't "I accidentally a" predate lol? I seem to recall it from high school, and that was before mobiles were widespread.
- kubanczyk 3y ago
  Interesting. Did you mean before mobiles or before smartphones? As of today, it has been dated to ~2004 (knowyourmeme).
  - benj111 3y ago
    No, I'm old. Mobile phones
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- vidarh 3y ago
  I now really want a comprehensive history of its use. It feels recent, but it's also the type of thing it'd be unsurprising to find isolated examples of independent "invention" of from long before it came into common use...
  - benj111 3y ago
    I've been considering this further. Lol would have become widely used with text messages which is when I came across it, it could have been used back in the BBS days. "I accidentally a" is basically just teenage humour. I accidentally <implied sexual thing> a $X. (Obviously becoming more funny the more unlikely it is for any sexual thing to work on whatever $X is). On top of that you've got the weird language construction, just like speaking like Yoda is hilarious, and you have the perfect thing to spread throughout the playground. Although internet usage doesn't imply the sexual act. I accidentally a house Means i accidentally built? A house. Not I accidentally had sex with a house.
    - vidarh 3y ago
      It's exactly because it's such easy humour I'm curious if there are any older expected uses... It seems pretty clear it gained prominence with the YouTube video someone has referenced, and it may indeed be the first, but we may never really know.
- grncdr 3y ago
  No chance, "lol" has been in usage for at least 25 years, possibly more than 30.
  - benj111 3y ago
    Well this was in real life, so you aren't going to get records. Wikipedia suggests lol is more like 40 years old, but you actually have a written record to back that up. All I have is my own experience, I wasn't really on the internet until the 2000s so I wouldn't have come across lol until mobile phones and texting became widespread (around 1999/2000). "I accidentally a" would have been in the 1995 - 2000 time frame. But again that's just my experience of it.
    - seanhunter 3y ago
      Yeah LOL comes from the BBS days as do a bunch of other acronyms/initialisms https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/05/lol-s-25th-anniversary-origins-of-still-popular-internet-abbreviation-trace-back-to-may-1989-newsletter.html https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/05/lol-s-25th-annivers...
    - pohl 3y ago
      I’ll stand as witness to the fact that ordinary people playfully tortured the language towards humorously cute long, long before one TRS-80 could call another over the phone. The tech just helped these people find and feed off of each other.
      - zem 3y ago
        look up the (speculative) etymology of OK for instance
    - Izkata 3y ago
      Knowyourmeme has a confirmed usage of "lol" from 1989, along with a list of others from the same document: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lol https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lol "I accidentally" started in 2008, and they have a link to the youtube video it came from: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally
- junon 3y ago
  Nah, "I accidentally" came way after "lol". I remember using "lol" as a kid on MSN/ICQ/IRC and "I accidentally" wasn't around until I was a teen at the earliest.
- jordigh 3y ago
  We have good record of when "I accidentally" started. Circa 2008. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally "LOL" goes back to IRC so at least 1980s or so. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/LOL#cite_note-mcculloch-1 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/LOL#cite_note-mcculloch-1

Doesn't "I accidentally a" predate lol? I seem to recall it from high school, and that was before mobiles were widespread.

kubanczyk 3y ago
Interesting. Did you mean before mobiles or before smartphones? As of today, it has been dated to ~2004 (knowyourmeme).
- benj111 3y ago
  No, I'm old. Mobile phones
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
vidarh 3y ago
I now really want a comprehensive history of its use. It feels recent, but it's also the type of thing it'd be unsurprising to find isolated examples of independent "invention" of from long before it came into common use...
- benj111 3y ago
  I've been considering this further. Lol would have become widely used with text messages which is when I came across it, it could have been used back in the BBS days. "I accidentally a" is basically just teenage humour. I accidentally <implied sexual thing> a $X. (Obviously becoming more funny the more unlikely it is for any sexual thing to work on whatever $X is). On top of that you've got the weird language construction, just like speaking like Yoda is hilarious, and you have the perfect thing to spread throughout the playground. Although internet usage doesn't imply the sexual act. I accidentally a house Means i accidentally built? A house. Not I accidentally had sex with a house.
  - vidarh 3y ago
    It's exactly because it's such easy humour I'm curious if there are any older expected uses... It seems pretty clear it gained prominence with the YouTube video someone has referenced, and it may indeed be the first, but we may never really know.
grncdr 3y ago
No chance, "lol" has been in usage for at least 25 years, possibly more than 30.
- benj111 3y ago
  Well this was in real life, so you aren't going to get records. Wikipedia suggests lol is more like 40 years old, but you actually have a written record to back that up. All I have is my own experience, I wasn't really on the internet until the 2000s so I wouldn't have come across lol until mobile phones and texting became widespread (around 1999/2000). "I accidentally a" would have been in the 1995 - 2000 time frame. But again that's just my experience of it.
  - seanhunter 3y ago
    Yeah LOL comes from the BBS days as do a bunch of other acronyms/initialisms https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/05/lol-s-25th-anniversary-origins-of-still-popular-internet-abbreviation-trace-back-to-may-1989-newsletter.html https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/05/lol-s-25th-annivers...
  - pohl 3y ago
    I’ll stand as witness to the fact that ordinary people playfully tortured the language towards humorously cute long, long before one TRS-80 could call another over the phone. The tech just helped these people find and feed off of each other.
    - zem 3y ago
      look up the (speculative) etymology of OK for instance
  - Izkata 3y ago
    Knowyourmeme has a confirmed usage of "lol" from 1989, along with a list of others from the same document: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lol https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lol "I accidentally" started in 2008, and they have a link to the youtube video it came from: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally
junon 3y ago
Nah, "I accidentally" came way after "lol". I remember using "lol" as a kid on MSN/ICQ/IRC and "I accidentally" wasn't around until I was a teen at the earliest.
jordigh 3y ago
We have good record of when "I accidentally" started. Circa 2008. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally "LOL" goes back to IRC so at least 1980s or so. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/LOL#cite_note-mcculloch-1 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/LOL#cite_note-mcculloch-1