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• SomeGuy
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Birthday
• 1983-08-05
Gender
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Male
Location
• Vancouver, BC
Member Since
• 2003-08-02
Occupation
• Writer; Part-Time Hero
Real Name
• James
Personal
Achievements
• Visiting eight different myO friends in person thus far
Anime Fan Since
• Winter 2001
Favorite Anime
• Neon Genesis Evangelion, .hack//SIGN, Naruto, Bleach, Beck, Peacemaker Kurogane, Ranma 1/2 (the guilty pleasure)
Goals
• Visit the myO friends I've missed thus far; complete a cosplay from 300
Hobbies
• Writing, Gaming, Kung Fu, Movies, Acting somewhat strange in general
Talents
• Can recognise most quotes from almost any movie/show on first listen; Can recite the entire 12 days of Christmas by memory
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Friday, January 23, 2004
STREET PHILOSOPHY #9: Laughing OnLine
As some of you may know by now through my postings here or through just chatting with me, I don't use internet shorthand - heck, I rarely even use smileys, if ever! So yeah, you know the good ol' "elle-oh-elle"? Yeah, I don't think I have ever used it online in context before . . .
Personally, I guess I just like being able to type quickly, so I like to present words as I see fit (again, you may or may not have noticed that I always spell out "okay" in full) . . . but that's besides the point here. Here, I am going to explain my somewhat skewed sense of online humour . . .
For me, I just don't think the "lol" is enough for me; it's much too broad in its sense. I mean, I've known people who have used this for anything from a quick exhale type laugh to a lost-for-words explosion. True, there is also the "rotflmao" and other such deals . . . but come on, you know I'm not rolling around, I know I'm not rolling around . . . again, what it conveys is not what I want it to be conveying.
This should explain my somewhat excessive use of the "heh" in many of my posts around here. It's a good, straight-forward, social expression of amusement, I feel: not too big, yet enough to take notice. There's a sense of abruptness that I just really like about it . . .
Now if I need to stretch out the "heh", then I'll add a few letters or words. Here's where it gets subtle . . . . .
I actually see distinction between using the "heh heh heh" and the "eheh heh heh". Though they both have that sly, almost unintentionally insulting tone to them, I feel that in the case of the latter, there's a more relaxed, laid-back feel to it . . . it might just be me, of course, but there is a slight difference . . .
Now, if I'm feeling especially mischievous, I'll probably end up using a "tee hee", a "khee hee hee", or a "teh heh heh". Again, I consider these three as synonyms for each other: more or less meaning the same thing, yet different enough to require different wordings.
And then, what good is an internet persona if you're not going to enforce your will towards others? That said, there is the "bwah hah hah", the "gyah hah hah", the "kyah hah hah", and to a lesser extent the "bah hah hah" (for that last one, I find that it's a little harsh - really insulting, ya know?). These are the ones you use when there's evil afoot . . . especially when perpetrated by yourself . . . ya know, evil mastermind laugh but not quite.
And yet, there are the times when all you really want to do is just laugh out loud . . . just a solid wall of laughter. Ya know, this is where the "lol" probably reigns supreme . . . but I can't do it! There are a few intersting ways I get by in this situation . . .
First, there is the typed-out "Haha!" or "Aha!" Again, I do find different uses between the two.
Second, is a truly much more subtle thing . . . in fact, it probably goes against the whole doctrine of internet laughter! But if something has honestly got me rumbling with pure mirth, I will actually type something along the lines of:
". . . okay, that last thing has got me laughing like a lunatic in an empty room right now . . . . ."
What can I say? When 90% of communication is non-verbal, I have to make up for it with something, right?
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