It's evolved into something that is much subtler.
它已演变成某种更微妙的东西。
This is an actual text that was done by a non-male person of about 20 years old not too long ago.
这是一段真实的短信对话它是由一个20出头的姑娘在前不久写的。
I love the font you're using, btw.
第一句：顺便说一句，我喜欢你用的字体。
Julie: lol thanks gmail is being slow right now.
朱莉: lol谢谢谷歌邮箱现在变得好慢。
Now if you think about it, that's not funny.
如果大家想想看，这可不好笑。
No one's laughing.
也没有人在笑。
And yet, there it is, so you assume there's been some kind of hiccup.
但是，这个字（lol)却在那里，你会认为这可能就是打错了。
Then Susan says lol, I know,
然后苏珊说lol，我知道，
again more guffawing than we're used to when you're talking about these inconveniences.
再一次，真让人捧腹大笑。这可不是我们一般遇上这样麻烦事的态度。
So Julie says, I just sent you an email.
朱莉接着说，我刚给你发了封邮件。
Susan: lol, I see it.
苏珊：lol,我收到了。
Very funny people, if that's what LOL means.
非常有趣的两个人，如果这是LOL的真实意思的话。
This Julie says, So what's up?
朱莉说，最近怎么样？
Susan: lol, I have to write a 10 page paper.
苏珊：lol,我得写一篇10页的作文。
She's not amused. Let's think about it.
这么看的话，她可不开心。
LOL is being used in a very particular way.
LOL是以一种特别的方式被使用的。
It's a marker of empathy. It's a marker of accommodation.
它代表着感同身受，代表着某种无奈妥协。
We linguists call things like that pragmatic particles.
我们语言学家称之为口头禅。
Any spoken language that's used by real people has them.
任何口语都有这些词语。
If you happen to speak Japanese, think about that little word ne that you use at the end of a lot of sentences.
如果你会说日语的话，想想你在很多句子后面加上的那个ne字。
If you listen to the way black youth today speak,
如果你听现在的年轻黑人说话，
think about the use of the word yo.
想想这个词yo的使用。
Whole dissertations could be written about it,
这都够写学术论文的了，
and probably are being written about it.
说不定人们已经开始写了。
A pragmatic particle, that's what LOL has gradually become.
LOL已经逐渐演变成了一个口头禅。
It's a way of using the language between actual people.
这就是人们使用语言的一种方式。
Another example is slash.
另外一个例子是slash.
Now, we can use slash in the way that we're used to,
看看这个句子，我们要去一个派对,
along the lines of, We're going to have a party-slash-networking session.
同时（slash)来扩展一下人脉slash这里连接派对和扩展人脉两个活动。
That's kind of like what we're at.
我们通常这么使用这个字。
Slash is used in a very different way in texting among young people today.
今天Slash这个字用在年轻人的短信里却有非常不同的意思。
