oh internet

█▄ █▄█ █▄ ▀█▄ is laughter at someone else's expense (from the German concept of "Schadensfreude"). Sometimes you may see the word spelled as luls or lolz if the writer doesn't know what they're talking about. Lulz is said to be engaged in by Internet users who have witnessed one major economic/environmental/political disaster too many, and who thus view a state of voluntary, gleeful sociopathy over the world's current apocalyptic state.

It is not a substitute for lol.

If you want an idea of what lulz is, consider A Streetcar Named Desire and The Simpsons. With the former, think of what Stanley Kowalski "tells" Blanche Dubois after he exposed her true past to her suitor and tore down all of Blanche's fantasies. He, in her face, yelled "HAA HAA!" With the latter, consider Nelson Muntz's "ha ha!" laugh. Both Stanley Kowalski and Nelson Muntz are having "lulz."

Common usage

The term 'lulz' was first coined by Jameth, an original Encyclopedia Dramatica administrator, and the term became very popular on that website. From there it went on to be adopted vehemently by the group anonymous who were known to frequent that website.

Knowledgeable users of the term state that after every action taken, you must make the epilogic dubious disclaimer: "I did it for the lulz" and this will clear you of all guilt.

Current Status

Today, the term has virtually lost all meaning of its original definition. Unlike many internet slang terms that have aged into obscurity, 'lulz' has managed to transcend the dark corners of the Internet to find new life as a commonplace slang term. Peppering the language of pasty preteens and 30-year-old neckbeards alike, 'lulz' can be found on your newsfeed, Reddit, and even in meatspace. Just about everyone using the term before the idiots at 4chan, which was then picked up by other sites that steal memes and content from the aforementioned, spammed the term to death now cringe from reading it in disgust. Because of its persistence among NORPs and basement-dwellers alike, it is difficult to call lulz an old meme. However, this does not make it any less oversexed and annoying than an old meme. At this point, it has ingrained itself into pop culture as a slang term and deformed into another form of "LOL" as memes and general internet culture had become more mainstream and milked for money.

Improper usage

To be quite frank, using "lulz", along with other words that similarly cringe-worthy such as "epic" or "fail", should never be used, ever. Period!

• Oh man, that LOLCATS macro was epic lulz!
• LULZ xDDD

Example Sentences

Images

Videos

Related Pages

I did it for the lulz

Lol

lolcow

Urban Dictionary

External Links

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