Oxford English Dictionary Approves LOL, OMG, FYI

The standard bearer of good English, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), has taken further steps into the internet age as it approved the acronyms LOL, OMG and FYI. In 2006, the dictionary approved the use of the word “google” as a verb. The OED said in a statement these “initialisms” are “strongly associated with the language of electronic communications” and will join other acronyms like IMHO (‘in my humble opinion'), TMI (“too much information”) and BFF (“best friends forever”). “The intention [of the abbreviations] is usually to signal an informal, gossipy mode of expression, and perhaps parody the level of unreflective enthusiasm or overstatement that can sometimes appear in online discourse,” the OED's Graeme Diamond said. In approving these acronyms, the OED also conducted some research that found OMG, FYI and LOL originated decades before the onset of the internet. The use of “OMG” can be traced back to 1917; “LOL” started in 1960 to denote an elderly woman (“little old lady”); and FYI originated in 1941. Via DesignTAXI News.

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