With internet messaging and the posts on social media platforms, new types of abbreviated forms or acronyms are coming out almost every day. Generally, people tend to make changes to the language for their convenience, like making out short forms and phrases. These acronyms are the same, with them being as popular as active people of different social media sites all over the world have been using such phrases for quite some time now. As a rule, though, these short forms are entirely informal, and most of them are not even recognized as proper words by many. In any regular or formal conversation or statement, you cannot expect to find the use of such acronyms as it is entirely irrational.
Usage of these acronyms is to be solely made in texts, online conversations with friends and acquaintances, or in social media posts. Apart from that, these short forms are not used much. However, since the young generation spends most of their time online and on social media platforms, they see these acronyms being used regularly. Hence, they get to understand such short phrases. As for the older generation, or for the individuals who are not active users of social media, they may not recognize such words at a glance. As a result, whenever they see such acronyms being used in a sentence, they may not be able to understand the meaning of the sentence.
Among the many such short forms that are quite popular on the internet, the acronym ROFL is probably one of the most used short forms at present. Even if you are not an active user of the social media platforms, you are very likely to see the term ROFL somewhere or the other. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, it can be very tough to understand what a person means when ROFL is being used in a sentence. Many people consider it as the initials of some organization, or a well-known personality. Others think that it is a quoting place from where users quote a statement and then give credit to it. All of these are wrong notions. In all such statements, ROFL stands for “Rolling on the floor laughing” or “Roll on the floor laughing.”
When a person is using the acronym ROFL, it means that he or she has found something incredibly funny and is expressing his or her emotions on that matter. The short term ROFL can be used in combinations with other similar acronyms that depict the same or similar meanings as well. For example, some people even use the term ROFLMAO, which is the combination of two acronyms, ROFL and LMAO. The acronym LMAO is a similarly popular short term, which denotes “Laughing My Ass Off.” When used in combination like ROFLMAO, the entire term means “Rolling on the Floor, Laughing My Ass Off.” Another similar term that is used in combination is LOL, which means “Laugh Out Loud” and “Laughing out Loud.”
As is the case with the other jargon used on the internet, these types of acronyms are not at all to be used in any formal conversations, dealings in a business, or any official work. Short terms like ROFL are mainly for casual use among close friends and known acquaintances when conversing in texts or online messengers. It can also be used in emails and posts, which are considered as informal or are not related to any official work procedures.
Usage of ROFL
As for the usage of the term ROFL, the acronym can be written entirely in uppercase letters, like ROFL, in entire lowercase letters like ROFL, or any combination, like ROFL. The term is mostly used with the first letter being in caps and the others in small letters, like ROFL. All of these expressions mean the same thing, and they are accepted in any form.
It is generally considered as a rule of the thumb that typing the entire term in uppercase letters mean you are expressing your feeling in an even stronger way. Also, typing ROFL in all capital letters like ROFL is considered as shouting by many. So, make sure that the other person is not annoyed or offended by it. Also, try to avoid writing the entire sentences in uppercase letters as it is considered rude in some cases.
ROFL usage with examples
1st example
Person 1: I was taking a nap, and my boss visited my office, catching me in the act. I was embarrassed as just yesterday, and I was scolding a junior for sleeping in the workplace in front of the boss.
Person 2: ROFL! What did you say? How did you react?
Person 1: He did not say anything, and I was too shy to make excuses. He left with a smirk on his face, trying to look cold. He probably remembered his old days ROFL!
2nd example
Person 1: Haha! I finally got the one without any hindrance. ROFL!
Person 2: What are you talking about? What did you get?
Person 1: Remember the premium sofa suit that the boss said he would buy no matter what? And employees like us cannot afford to buy it?
Person 2: Well, yes?
Person 1: I bought the last piece today, haha! I will show pictures of it tomorrow to everyone in the office!
Person 2: LMAO, poor boss! ROFL!
In these examples, you can see how the short term ROFL has been used in different places to express the amusement of the user.
Origin of the Modern Expression ROFL
The exact source from where ROFL generated is not known, but it is the most likely that the acronym; ROFL came from two different variants, and they were tried to combine into each other. These two short terms are LOL and LMAO. The presence of LOL can be detected for a quite long time, even before the existence of the WWW or World Wide Web as we know it. The first internet sites like Telnet and Usenet had these acronyms used in them.
The expression ROFL is similar to the terms LMAO and LOL, and they are generally used to express humor, amusement, and laughter. As a part of the internet conversation culture, ROFL has an essential place, and most social media users use the term ROFL at least twice a day. Once again, these expressions are to be used in informal conversations only, as these were made for playful and lighthearted conversations.
Similar Expressions as ROFL
Some of the other acronyms that are quite similar to the term ROFL, or have been devised from it are provided below.
ROGL – This denotes, “Rolling on the grass, laughing.”
PMSL – This means “Pissing Myself Laughing.”
ROFLMAO – This stands for “Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.”
ROFLCOPTER – This denotes “Rolling on the floor laughing, turning like a Helicopter.”
LOL – It stands for “Laugh/Laughing out loud.”
LULZ – It is a variation of LOL.
LMAO – It is used to denote “Laughing my ass off.”
BWAHAHA – This is usually used to denote a burst of boisterous laughter.
MWAHAHA – This is another expression of laughter where a vigorous laugh is mimicked.
To see the other examples, continue reading this article.
Preferable Etiquette for Text and Web Jargon
When you are going to use jargon in your text messages, you should always see to whom you are texting, whether the context is professional or informal, and then use your judgment. When you know a person well, conversing with that person makes it a casual conversation. You can easily use the acronyms and short forms here. On the other hand, if the person is a newly known acquaintance or a professional colleague, then it is wise to avoid using these acronyms until and unless you are close enough.
When the context is purely professional, like talking with an employee or boss, having discussions related to pay or deadlines, or having a serious meeting altogether, such acronyms have to be strictly avoided. In these cases, you have to show your courtesy and professionalism by spelling out the full words. When in doubt, always be professional at first. After the ice is broken, and you are comfortable with another person, then informal conversations may include such acronyms.
Coming back to the ROFL meaning, you should know it by now. For any doubts persisting, it means “Roll on the floor laughing” or “Rolling on the floor laughing.”
Some similar acronyms as ROFL have already been provided above. Among all of them, the terms LMAO, which means “Laughing my ass off” and ROGL, which means “Rolling on the grass laughing,” is probably the closest to the actual meaning of ROFL.
Some other ROFL meanings
Given below are some full forms that can also be described with ROFL. These are alternate phrases that do not match with the usual ROFL. Some of them are-
- Reaching Out For Love
- Riding on Flying Llamas
- Really Old Fat Landowner
- Rights Of Fingering Lesbians
- Read Only First Line
- Rise Our Father Lucifer
- Really Orange Funny Lions
Given below is the actual meaning of ROFL in a pictorial way-
Some Other Ways for Saying ROFL
This includes the expressed feelings of the various similar acronyms like ROFL
Expressions for ROFL
- It was comical
- It made me laugh
Expressions for LMAO
- I couldn’t stop laughing
- It cracks me up
- It’s hilarious
- It was humorous
- It had me dying of laughter
- I burst out laughing
Expressions for ROGL
- It cracked me up
- It was priceless
Expressions for LOL
- It was side-splitting
- It was amusing
Synonyms of ROFL provided with examples
- “It made me laugh, and I will surely admit that the situation was downright funny.”
- “It was comical and quite amusing that he had his name registered on the main event where he did not even qualify for the preliminary qualifiers.”
- “The event is so funny that it cracks me up whenever someone even mentions it.”
- “He mentioned the events so dramatically that I burst out laughing.”
- “The event is so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing, OMG!”
- “This movie is so terrible that it’s hilarious to look at.”
- “I was amused. The scene was so hilarious. It had me dying of laughter!”
- “I figured out that he was referring to the ice pack, but it was humorous to watch his reaction.”
- “When I revealed that I had the back up of the deleted data, you should have seen the face of my boss – it was priceless!”
- “I suddenly felt sudden compassion of laughing out loud.”
- “It was amusing to see how the cat rolled over the floor, trying to catch the ball.”
- “We laughed so much at the park that it was side-splitting.”
Some Other Slang Words Used In Internet
Few of the other internet slang words are-
YOLO – It means, “You only live once.”
YGM – It stands for “You’ve Got Mail.”
XOXO – it denotes, “Hugs and Kisses.”
WYCM – It stands for “Will You Call Me?”
WTPA – It stands for “Where the Party At?”
WTH – It means “What the Heck?”
WOTD – It denotes “Word of the Day.”
Some other such short terms are given in the picture below-
Variations of ROFL
Some of the Variations for ROFL is given below-
ROTFLOL – It stands for “Rolling on the floor laughing out loud.”
ROFLOL – It means “Rolling on the floor laughing out loud.”
ROFLMAO – It denotes “Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.”
ROFLAPMP – It means “Rolling on the floor laughing and peeing in my pants.”
ROFLMAOAY – It is used to denote “Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off at you.”
ROFLMAOWTIME – It stands for “Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off with tears in my eyes.”
ROFLMAOASTC – It means “Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off and scaring the cat.”
ROFLSHTMNCPAIHDHMWMLAI – It is used for the expression “Rolling on the floor laughing so hard that my neighbors called the police, and I had to have a meeting with my landlord about it.”
ROFLCOPTER – A method of laughing at someone, mimicking the laughing style with the whirring of the helicopter blades.
