Lolcow

About

Lolcow (portmanteau of internet acronym LOL and the word cow) is a derogatory slang referring to a person whose online behavior, especially when dealing with trolls, may be exploited to amuse onlookers, in a typical Schadenfreude way.

Origin

While it’s unclear if the slang was used online prior, one of the earliest mentions of the word “lolcow” was a definition submitted to Urban Dictionary by DreadSmile on April 15th 2007^[1]. There, DreadSmile said the slang described overly confident people engaging in online arguments against trolls and were too proud to quit. He also explained the terminology behind it as the victim was seen as a “cow” in which amusement (or “lolz”) could be milked out as long as they were coming back for more (entire post shown below).

lolcow
A phenomena, usually observed on forums and/or imageboards. A person, most often someone who tries to look exceedingly knowledgeable in the topic discussed, is being flamed/trolled to the point where they can no longer present “sane” arguments that will “fit their level”, but yet are too proud to just quit.

This produces a considerable amount of lolz and win, for which the said person can be “milked” until they finally give up. Or drop dead. Hence the name.
( )
(oo)
/-------\/
/ | LOL ||
* ||----||
^{^ ^}
LolCow

Spread

[wip]

Between 2007 and 2011, five additional definitions were submitted to the site^[2]. As of April 2015, the most popular one with over 180 upvotes was made on December 16th 2007. That same year, the slang reached satirical wikiEncyclopedia Dramatica displaying a non-exhaustive list of potential “lolcow” personalities^[3]. On January 24th 2010, an entry for “lolcow” was registered to Wiktionary^[4]. On March 13th 2012, Force of Geek writer Jonathan Dantzler made an article about the phenomenon, titled The anatomy of a Lolcow^[7], that analyzed the appeal found by trolls in the people they call “lolcows”, mentioning notable personalities such as Chris-Chan.
In 2014, a wiki-based encyclopedia was launched at lolcow.wiki^[5], devoted as a primary source for referencing “various Internet phenomena, especially the antics of people”. A whole imageboard was created for the slang as well^[6].

Search Interest

External References