What Does “ROFL” Mean, and How Do You Use It?

ROFL and ROTFL both stand for “rolling on the floor laughing.” When you read it, you likely have a very vivid image of someone cracking up while ... 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MattiaMenestrina/Shutterstock.com Ifyousaysomethingfunnyinthegroupchat,someonemightreplywith“ROFL!”Whatdoesthisacronymmean,andhowisitdifferentfromLOL?We’lltakealookattheterm,itsorigins,andhowyoucanuseitinyourownconversations. RollingontheFloorLaughing ROFLandROTFLbothstandfor“rollingonthefloorlaughing.”Whenyoureadit,youlikelyhaveaveryvividimageofsomeonecrackingupwhilerollingontheground.That’sbecauseit’sanacronymusedwhenyouwanttoshowstrongamusementaboutsomething. ROFLwasoneoftheearliestacronymsthatgainedwidespreadpopularityontheinternet,alongwithLOLandLMFAO.Youcanfinditeverywhere,frompostsonthebiggestsocialmediawebsitestotextsyouhavewithfriendsandfamily. Dependingonthecontext,ROFLandLOL(laughingoutloud)canbeusedinterchangeably.However,theformerisusedinfunniersituationswhereadifferentacronymjustwon’tcutit,andyouneedtoshowthatyou’relaughingharderthananordinary“LOL.”Also,ROFLisuseddeliberatelyinmessages,unlikeLOL,whichpeoplethrowaroundinsentenceswhereitdoesn’tnecessarilymakesense. Oneoftheveryfirstwrite-upsfortheacronymontheUrbanDictionarystatesthatROFLisusedwhenyou’re“strainingthefactthatitisalotmorefunnythanyourusuallol.” MoreInternetPhrases InternetSlang LOL|LMK|TBH|IDK|JK | NSFW|BTW|IDC|TBF |TLDR|Yeet|FOMO|IRL| FWIW|SMH|IIRC|TIL|ICYDK|AFK|NVM|ICYMI |HMU|IKR|AMA|GG |TTYL|HBU|LMAO|ROFL |IYKYK|YSK|SUS |TMI |TFW |NGL |OP |VPN Networking ISP,LAN,WAN,IPv4,andothers Browseourfullcollectionofinternetabbreviations! TheOriginofROFL ROFLhasbeenaroundsincetheveryearlydaysoftheworldwideweb.EarlyadoptersuseditinIRCorinternetrelaychatasanalternativetoLOL. Advertisement ThefirstentryfortheinitialismonUrbanDictionarydatesbacktoOctober2002,withseveralotherpopularentriesemergingin2003. Lateron,itwaspopularininternetforumsandmessageboardsbeforepeakinginpopularityintheearly2010sasitbecamewidelyusedininternetmemes. Duetoitspopularityonline,ithasbecomeatermspokeninreallifeaswell.Mostpeoplepronounceitlike“rawfull,”similartohowyou’dsay“waffle.”Youmightsaysomethinglike,“I’msoscrewed.Ididn’tstudyforthetestatallrofl.” I’m“Rolling!” ROFListhatitisn’tthefirsttime“rolling”hasbeenusedtodescribesomeonelaughinghysterically.TheEnglishidiom“rollingintheaisles”hasbeentracedbacktoasfarastheearly20thcenturyandisusedtomeanthatsomeoneislaughingveryloudly. BecauseofhowpopularROFLhasbecomeontheinternet,theentirephrase“rollingonthefloorlaughing”isnowoftenshortenedtojust“rolling.”Therefore,youmightseeasentencesuchas“thathasmerolling,”whichconveysthatthepersonislaughing.Inthiscase,“rolling”andROFLmeanthesamething. ErinCadigan/Shutterstock.com Thereareotherinternet-relatedusesoftheword“rolling”aswell.Oneofthemisaspartofthememephrase,“theyseemerollin’,theyhatin.'”ThisphrasecomesfromalyricfromChamillionaire’shit2003song“Ridin.”Ithasbeenturnedintoamemethatinvolvesdrivingtosomewhereinvariousformsofabsurdtransportation. Funnyvs.ReallyFunny WhenshouldyouuseROFLinsteadofLOL?Whenyouwanttoletsomeoneelseknowthatsomethingisabsolutelyhilarious. Advertisement Justlikeotherwords,internetslangtermsshouldn’talwaysbetakenatfacevalue.WhileLOLandROFLbasicallymeanthesamething,thewidespreaduseofLOLineverykindofmessagehassomewhatmadeitloseitspower.Ontheotherhand,ROFLhasalwaysmeant“rollingonthefloorlaughing,”sopeoplerarelymisconstrueitassarcasticorpassive-aggressive. Capitalizationalsomatters.Theuppercase“ROFL”isviewedasmuchmoreenthusiastic,especiallywhenpairedwithanexclamationmark.Thelowercase“rofl”isabitmoresubduedbutstillconveysthatyoufindsomethingfunny. HowtoUseIt ROFLandROTFLcanbeusedinterchangeably,butROTFLhasfallenoutoffashioninrecentyears.Youcanalsopairitwithotherinternetslangtermstoformasingleinitialism,themostpopularofwhichis“ROFLMAO,”whichmeans“rollingonthefloorlaughingmyassoff.” Hereareafewwaysyoucanaddthisacronymtoyourmessages: “Islippedonabananarofl.” “ROFL,Ijustsawthefunniestthingoutsidemywindow!” “ROFLMAO,It’s3inthemorning,andIcan’tstoplaughing.” Ifyouwanttolearnaboutotherinternetslangterms,checkoutourarticlesonIDC,RN,andYeet! RELATED:WhatDoes"Yeet"Mean,andHowDoYouUseIt? READNEXT ›WhatDoes“LMAO”Mean,andHowDoYouUseIt?›HowtoFindYourSpotifyWrapped2021›CyberMonday2021:BestPCDeals›5WebsitesEveryLinuxUserShouldBookmark›CyberMonday2021:BestAppleDeals›TheComputerFolderIs40:HowtheXeroxStarCreatedtheDesktop›CyberMonday2021:BestTechDeals JOINGEEKTALKONFACEBOOK Theabovearticlemaycontainaffiliatelinks,whichhelpsupportHow-ToGeek. 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