First there was LOL (“laugh out loud”), an acronym that first appeared in the 1980s and became the reigning shorthand online for what people found funny. Then came ROFL (“rolling on the floor laughing”), LMAO (“laughing my ass off”) and even nonverbal cues like smiling emojis. Still, most type these terms straight-faced, relegating them to dull punctuation added carelessly to the end of a message. Now, the internet wants to revitalize laughing online with a new term: IJBOL.
Though it may sound like a Korean word or the name of a new boy band, IJBOL (pronounced “eej-bowl”) actually stands for “I just burst out laughing.” The term is not necessarily novel or different from how other iterations of internet laughter are used, but it describes something people actually do: explode into an audible, full-belly guffaw. It homes in on a type of laugh that may come in inappropriate or untimely settings — perhaps at a funeral, in reaction to a punchline just a beat too late or when you suddenly remember something funny.
– NYT
What can I say… IJBOL
