(n.) A drowning man. On some of the more literacy-conscious chatrooms, whenever anyone (usually a n00b) says lol, they are invariably greeted with cries of "Oh no! He's drowning!" or something of the
like. The lol is a drowning man, his
head (the 'o') and upraised arms (the two '
l's) visible above the
water line. There have been numerous attempted positive spins on this meme,
like the Headshot of Someone at a
Party Theory, or the He's Not Drowning- He's Just Cheering Theory, etc., but none of them have really taken hold
like the Drowning Man Theory. There are also numerous text variations, supporting various theories. Ex: *lol* is a variation on the Cheering Theory, where the cheerer has somehow obtained a pair of
pom-poms, and ~~~lol~~~^~~~ is a yet more ominous version of Drowning Man, for, as you can see, there is clearly a shark slicing through the stormy waves towards the hapless lol. Prevent this slaughter of innocent swimmers. Don't lol.
In a chatroom:
n00b: haha lol
Regular: Oh noes! A drowning man!
In real life (ish):
Bob:
Well, this is a pleasant day to walk along the
beach *sees man drowning* Oh no! A lol!