1906

The storefront shown here is a brilliant example of how language knows no bounds. On a street in downtown Lyon, this store is called “LOL” and is garnered with the symbol which has come to be most associated with those three simple letters, the smiley face. Emoticons and electronic shorthand were first used in online chatrooms and instant messengers, but can today, as evidenced by the photo, be seen in all walks of life. Another layer of interest for this photo lies in the social context of which it is found. The institution known as the Académie Française, which is solely responsible for the creation and upholding of all matters of French grammar, is extremely strict about the importation of foreign words, particularly those from the English language. The French have their own versions of LOL (which can be seen at the bottom of the storefront), which are “MDR” (mort de rire) for “dying laughing” and PTDR (pète de rire) for “bursting from laughing.” Yet, the owners of this store still chose the English equivalent due to its overwhelming global popularity.