This matter should not be taken lightly. Generation Z has officially canceled the widely popular acronym LOL and replaced it with a more intricate term: IJBOL, which stands for “I just burst out laughing.” For those unfamiliar with the term, it carries more weight and conveys a stronger reaction than the traditional LOL or other acronyms like LMAO and ROFL. The younger, slang-savvy generation has discarded these long-standing acronyms, just as they have done with the thumbs-up emoji, skinny jeans, and blond hair.
According to 27-year-old content creator Michael Messineo, who resides in Melbourne, Australia, using LMAO doesn’t align with his sense of humor. “I associate LMAO with Millennial humor. But then I associate IJBOL with Gen Z humor, which is funnier,” he expressed to the New York Times. The term IJBOL, pronounced as “eej-bowl,” made its first appearance in Urban Dictionary over a decade ago and has recently resurfaced within the K-pop community. It has since gained significant popularity.
However, not everyone is on board with IJBOL. On the “Today Show,” hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager admitted to being unaware of the new slang term. Critics on TikTok have deemed it “too long,” “looks stupid,” and claimed that the letters do not flow well together. Despite the naysayers, the popularity of IJBOL continues to rise, with the hashtag receiving over 2 million views on TikTok. Sebastian Champagne, a 20-year-old college student from Massachusetts, shared that within his friend group, the term has been embraced. He stated, “This is going to be our word now!”
Professor Michelle McSweeney from the City University of New York Graduate Center believes that IJBOL provides a more professional alternative to other informal slang terms. She explains that while you might use LOL or even LMAO with your boss, it is essential to introduce new terms for different contexts. “That’s why we need to bring new terms into circulation because you’re not going to write to your best friend the same thing you would write to your boss,” she shared with The Times.
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