The Internet Keeps Inventing More Dramatic Ways to Say “I Laughed”

At some point, simply saying something was funny stopped being enough.

We used to have “ha.”

Then “haha.”

If something was particularly funny, maybe you gave it a “hahaha.”

That should have been plenty.

It was not.

Now if something makes us laugh online, we're crying, screaming, dying, deceased, unable to breathe, leaving the planet, demanding someone stop immediately, or communicating entirely through a human skull.

Nobody just laughs anymore.

Apparently laughter wasn't dramatic enough.

We Started With “LOL”

LOL was once powerful.

It meant Laughing Out Loud, which, in retrospect, was already generous. Most of the time nobody was laughing out loud. You were sitting completely expressionless at a computer typing LOL because someone sent you something mildly amusing.

But LOL worked. It was efficient. Everyone understood it.

Then we used it too much.

LOL became punctuation.

“See you tomorrow lol.”

“I forgot to buy milk lol.”

“My marriage is falling apart lol.”

Eventually, LOL stopped necessarily meaning “I'm laughing” and started meaning everything from “I'm trying to make this sentence sound less serious” to “Please understand that I'm not mad at you.”

Poor LOL got promoted into a job it never applied for.

Then We Needed Something Stronger

Once LOL became ordinary, we needed a way to communicate that we were actually laughing.

Enter LMAO.

This was serious.

LOL meant funny.

LMAO meant FUNNY.

You had escalated from laughing out loud to losing an entire body part.

Then came LMFAO, because apparently even your ass coming off was not sufficient evidence that something had amused you.

The internet had discovered a fundamental problem with language: once everyone starts using the strongest possible reaction, you need to invent a stronger one.

We were only getting started.

😂 Had a Very Good Run

Then we got the face with tears of joy.

Finally, an image that captured what we had been trying to say all along: this is so funny I am physically crying.

And we used the absolute shit out of it.

One 😂 became two.

Then three.

Then 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 because apparently the number of identical faces was directly proportional to how funny something was.

At its peak, 😂 was everywhere. Oxford Dictionaries even named it its 2015 Word of the Year, which is still funny because it is very specifically not a word.

Then, as the internet always does, we collectively decided we'd had enough.

Not everyone, obviously. Plenty of people still use 😂. But online language moves fast, and younger users in particular started reaching for something else.

Which is how death entered the conversation.

💀 Somehow Means “That's Hilarious” Now

The skull emoji has had an interesting career.

Traditionally, a skull represented death.

Reasonable.

Then the internet looked at 💀 and decided:

Perfect. Laughter.

The logic is actually pretty simple.

“That killed me.”

“I’m dead.”

“I’m deceased.”

💀

We eliminated the entire sentence and went directly to the corpse.

Efficient, really.

If someone responds to your joke with 💀, do not call emergency services. They are probably fine.

Probably.

😭 Is Also Laughter Now, Because Of Course It Is

The loudly crying face presents another problem for anyone attempting to understand internet language literally.

😭 can mean:

I'm devastated.

I'm overwhelmed.

That's adorable.

I can't believe this.

I'm laughing so hard.

This is the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Good luck determining which one without context.

We've somehow taken the visual representation of emotional collapse and turned it into one of the internet's most versatile reactions.

Send someone a sad story: 😭

Send someone a puppy: 😭

Send someone a video of a man falling off a paddleboard while trying to look cool: 😭😭😭

Same face.

Entirely different Tuesday.

Then We Stopped Mentioning Laughter Altogether

This is where things got interesting.

Some of the strongest ways to say “I'm laughing” online no longer contain any reference to laughing.

“I'm crying.”

“I'm screaming.”

“STOP.”

“I can't.”

“BYE.”

“Please.”

“This took me out.”

“I'm deceased.”

“I'm done.”

None of these sentences technically mean “that was funny.”

But online, they absolutely can.

Imagine explaining this to someone who has never used the internet.

“My friend sent me a joke.”

“Did you laugh?”

“No, I told her to stop, said goodbye, announced my death and sent her a skull.”

“I see.”

“STOP” Does Not Mean Stop

This may be one of my favorites because it requires complete faith in context.

Someone sends you something hilarious.

You respond:

“STOP.”

They do not stop.

In fact, if they stopped, you'd probably be disappointed.

“STOP 😭” generally means, “Continue immediately. This is excellent.”

Compare this with an actual “Stop.”

Same word.

Very different evening.

Human communication was already complicated. Then we decided capitalization and a crying face could reverse the meaning of a verb.

Honestly, impressive.

“I Can't” Is a Complete Thought Now

You can't what?

Doesn't matter.

You simply can't.

“I can't.”

That's it.

The sentence has ended.

Your inability to complete the thought is itself evidence of how funny the thing was.

Sometimes it becomes:

“I literally can't.”

Which is rarely literal.

You can.

You are.

You just did.

But nobody needs that kind of negativity while they're trying to enjoy a TikTok.

“BYE” Is Not Necessarily a Departure

Someone says something hilarious in a group chat.

“BYE.”

Nobody leaves.

This is important.

If you are new to internet language, do not assume someone typing BYE has concluded the conversation. They may simply be laughing.

In fact, they might continue messaging for another 45 minutes.

Internet BYE is less of a departure and more of an emotional evacuation.

The body remains.

The spirit has left.

And Then There's the Keyboard Smash

Eventually words themselves become inadequate.

So you get:

“HAHAHAHAHAHA”

“AHHHHHHH”

“JSKSKSKSKSK”

“ASDFGHJKL”

At this point, we have abandoned language.

Your fingers have been given control of the situation.

There is something wonderful about this because a keyboard smash requires absolutely no agreed-upon vocabulary. You just attack several letters and trust the other person to understand your emotional state.

And somehow they do.

“JFKSKDKSKD”

Perfectly clear.

No notes.

The Funniest Part Is That None of This Is Universal

Internet language isn't one giant shared dictionary.

Age matters. Platform matters. Friend group matters. Culture matters. Context matters.

One person's 😂 is another person's 💀.

One person's “LOL” means “that was funny.” Another person's “lol” means “I am trying desperately to make this message sound less hostile.”

And somewhere, someone is still typing “ROFL.”

I hope they're doing well.

That's what makes online language so interesting. We don't just inherit it. We constantly fuck with it.

A phrase becomes popular. Everyone starts using it. It loses some of its force. Something more dramatic replaces it. Then that becomes normal, and we start again.

Ha became haha.

Haha became LOL.

LOL became LMAO.

LMAO became 😂.

😂 became 😭.

😭 became 💀.

And eventually we just started announcing our own deaths.

Seems reasonable.

We Keep Finding New Ways to Say the Same Thing

That's really what all of this is.

One thought:

That was funny.

Endless ways to say it.

“That made me laugh.”

“LOL.”

“LMAO.”

“I'm crying.”

“I'M SCREAMING.”

“STOP 😭.”

“BYE.”

“I'm deceased.”

“💀💀💀”

“JDKSKSKSKSK.”

Same basic thought. Completely different personality.

Which is probably why I find this stuff so fascinating. Language isn't nearly as fixed as we pretend it is. We keep stretching it, exaggerating it, shortening it, breaking it and turning things that objectively mean death into a perfectly normal response to a video of a dog wearing shoes.

And somehow everybody keeps up.

Mostly.

BiteDraft Was Basically Built for This Kind of Nonsense

The same thought can sound completely different depending on who's saying it, where they're saying it and how dramatic they're feeling that day.

Funny. Sarcastic. Witty. Gen Z. Boomer. Medieval Knight. Mob Boss. Valley Girl. Tudor King. Group Chat Cat.

One thought can go in a hundred directions before you've even gotten to the skull emoji.

That's the whole idea behind BiteDraft.

You know what you want to say. Now choose how you want to say it.

BiteDraft is coming soon. Visit BiteDraft.com for launch updates.