Lolcat

{{About|the meme|the fictional cat from Fairy Tail|Happy (manga character)}} thumb|A lolcat meme using the "In ur ..." format, and employing misspellings for humorous effect A '''lolcat''' (pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɒ|l|k|æ|t}} {{respell|LOL|kat}}), or '''LOLcat''', is an image macro of one or more cats. Lolcat images' idiosyncratic and intentionally grammatically incorrect text is known as '''lolspeak'''.<ref name="latimes">{{cite news |last=Amter |first=Charlie |date=December 16, 2007 |title=Lolcat Bible Translation Project presents the Gospel according to Fluffy |url=http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-ca-lolcat16dec16,1,6069575.story?ctrack=1&cset=true |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224021046/http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-ca-lolcat16dec16%2C1%2C6069575.story?ctrack=1&cset=true |archive-date=December 24, 2007 |access-date=December 23, 2007 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

Lolcat is a compound word of the acronymic abbreviation LOL (laughing out loud) and the word "cat".<ref name="Silverman">{{cite news |last=Silverman |first=Dwight |date=June 6, 2007 |title=Web photo phenomenon centers on felines, poor spelling |url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4862013.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618165552/http://www.chron.com/business/silverman/article/Web-photo-phenomenon-centers-on-felines-poor-1809345.php |archive-date=June 18, 2013 |access-date=April 1, 2012 |newspaper=Houston Chronicle}}</ref><ref name="wsj">{{cite news |last=Rutkoff |first=Aaron |date=August 25, 2007 |title=With 'LOLcats' Internet Fad, Anyone Can Get In on the Joke |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118798557326508182 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715151951/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118798557326508182 |archive-date=July 15, 2018 |access-date=February 13, 2008 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |location=New York}}</ref> A synonym for lolcat is '''cat macro''' or '''cat meme''', since the images are a type of image macro and also a well-known genre of Internet meme.<ref name="beacon">{{cite news  |last=Salas |first=Randy A. |date=June 9, 2007 |title=Laugh at cat humor |url=http://www.freep.com/article/20070518/FEATURES10/70518038/On-Web-Cat-lovers-laugh-out-loud-crazy-kitty-humor |access-date=June 17, 2007 |work=Akron Beacon Journal, Star Tribune |quote=At first, they were called cat macros, but now go mostly by the name lolcats.}}</ref> Lolcats are commonly designed for photo sharing imageboards and other Internet forums.

== History == thumb|upright|A Brighton Cats carte de visite by Harry Pointer, {{Circa|1870s}} British portrait photographer Harry Pointer created a carte de visite series featuring cats posed in various situations in the early 1870s. To these he usually added amusing text intended to further enhance their appeal.<ref>{{cite web |title=Harry Pointer's Brighton Cats |url=http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/BTNPointerCats.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716022815/http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/BTNPointerCats.htm |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |access-date=March 22, 2012 |publisher=Photohistory-sussex.co.uk}}</ref> These souvenir cards were known as Brighton Cats. Other early figures include Harry Whittier Frees and (using taxidermied animals) Walter Potter.<ref>{{cite web |author=Cyriaque Lamar |date=April 9, 2012 |title=Even in the 1870s, humans were obsessed with ridiculous photos of cats |url=http://io9.com/5900334/even-in-the-1870s-humans-were-obsessed-with-ridiculous-photos-of-cats |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710171033/http://io9.com/5900334/even-in-the-1870s-humans-were-obsessed-with-ridiculous-photos-of-cats |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |access-date=July 7, 2012 |work=io9}}</ref>

The first recorded use of the term "lolcat" was used on 4chan, an anonymous imageboard.<ref>{{cite web |last=Langton |first=Jerry |date=September 22, 2007 |title=Funny how 'stupid' site is addictive |url=https://www.thestar.com/living/article/257955 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622184259/http://www.thestar.com/living/article/257955 |archive-date=June 22, 2008 |access-date=October 4, 2008 |work=The Star}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Iz not cats everywhere? Online trend spreads across campus |url=http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/11/14/News/Iz.Not.Cats.Everywhere.Online.Trend.Spreads.Across.Campus-3099929.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117142809/http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/11/14/News/Iz.Not.Cats.Everywhere.Online.Trend.Spreads.Across.Campus-3099929.shtml |archive-date=November 17, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=smith |first=david |title=the unseen face behind today's counterculture |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2008/07/23/2003418192 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819190907/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2008/07/23/2003418192 |archive-date=August 19, 2008 |access-date=August 25, 2008}}</ref> The word "Lolcat" was in use as early as June 2006; the domain name <code>lolcats.com</code> was registered on June 14, 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=WHOIS domain registration information results for lolcats.com from |url=http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=lolcats.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313204653/http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=lolcats.com |archive-date=March 13, 2012 |access-date=March 22, 2012 |publisher=Network Solutions}}</ref> Their popularity was spread through usage on forums such as Something Awful.<ref>{{cite news |author=Tom Whitwell |date=May 12, 2007 |title=Microtrends: LOLcats |url=http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1772506.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830032119/http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1772506.ece |archive-date=August 30, 2008 |access-date=October 21, 2008 |newspaper=The Times}}</ref> ''The News Journal'' states that "some trace the lolcats back to the site 4chan, which features bizarre cat pictures on Saturdays, or 'Caturdays'." Ikenburg adds that the images have been "slinking around the Internet for years under various labels, but they did not become a sensation until early 2007 with the advent of I Can Has Cheezburger? "<ref>"Lolcats' demented captions create a new Web language," Tamara Ikenberg, ''The News Journal'', July 9, 2007</ref> The first image on "I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?" was posted on January 11, 2007, and was allegedly from the Something Awful website."<ref>{{cite web |date=December 13, 2007 |title=About « Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures – I Can Has Cheezburger? |url=http://icanhascheezburger.com/about |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127200651/http://icanhascheezburger.com/about/ |archive-date=November 27, 2010 |access-date=March 22, 2012 |publisher=Icanhascheezburger.com}}</ref><ref>"Original Picture, cheezburger, ''ICANHASCHEEZBURGER'', September 26, 2007 [http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/11/i-can-has-cheezburger/ icanhascheezburger.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810192710/http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/11/i-can-has-cheezburger/|date=August 10, 2007}}</ref> Lev Grossman of ''Time'' wrote that the oldest known example "probably dates to 2006",<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Lev Grossman |date=July 12, 2007 |title=Creating a Cute Cat Frenzy |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1642897,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716080708/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1642897,00.html |archive-date=July 16, 2007 |access-date=July 16, 2007 |magazine=Time |quote=this has also spawned the digg dog which is part of the popular site titled digg.com}}</ref> but later corrected himself in a blog post<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Lev Grossman |date=July 16, 2007 |title=Lolcats Addendum: Where I Got the Story Wrong |url=http://techland.com/2007/07/16/lolcats_addendum_where_i_got_t/ |access-date=February 15, 2010 |magazine=TIME}}</ref> where he recanted his statement based on the anecdotal evidence readers had sent him, placing the origin of "Caturday" and many of the images now known by a few as "lolcats" in early 2005. The domain name "caturday.com" was registered on April 30, 2005.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whois Domain Information For Caturday.com |url=http://whois.domaintools.com/caturday.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119150249/http://whois.domaintools.com/caturday.com |archive-date=January 19, 2016 |access-date=June 18, 2015}}</ref>

The term ''lolcat'' gained national media attention in the United States when it was covered by ''Time'', which wrote that non-commercialized phenomena of the sort are increasingly rare, stating that lolcats have "a distinctly old-school, early 1990s, Usenet feel to [them]".<ref name="Time">{{cite magazine |last=Grossman |first=Lev |author-link=Lev Grossman |date=July 12, 2007 |title=Cashing in on Cute Cats |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1642897,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714083604/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1642897,00.html |archive-date=July 14, 2007 |access-date=July 12, 2007 |magazine=Time}} Partial scan of the print edition: [http://fcrunk.wellimean.com/memes/catstime.jpg fcrunk.wellimean.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809212902/http://fcrunk.wellimean.com/memes/catstime.jpg|date=August 9, 2008}}</ref> ''Entertainment Weekly'' put them on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Da cutest distractshun of da decaid? Y, lolcats of corse! We can neber haz enuf of deez capshioned pics of cuddlie kittehs."<ref>Geier, Thom, et al. (December 11, 2009). "[https://ew.com/article/2009/12/04/100-greatest-movies-tv-shows-and-more/ The 100 Greatest Movies, TV shows, Albums, Books, Characters, Scenes, Episodes, Songs, Dresses, Music Videos, and Trends that entertained us over the past 10 Years] ". ''Entertainment Weekly''. (1079/1080):74-84</ref> "Lolcat" was also a runner-up under the "Most Creative" category under the American Dialect Society Word of the Year Awards, losing out to "Googlegänger".<ref>{{cite web |title=Americandialect.org |url=http://www.americandialect.org/Word-of-the-Year_2007.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126023409/http://www.americandialect.org/Word-of-the-Year_2007.pdf |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |access-date=March 22, 2012}}</ref>

== Format == thumb|A lolcat image on the icanhascheezburger.com website in 2007<ref>{{cite web |author=tofuburger |date=18 October 2007 |title=I ARE SERIOUS CAT « lolcats 'n' funny pictures |url=http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/07/19/i-are-serious-cat/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018020541/http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/07/19/i-are-serious-cat/ |archive-date=October 18, 2007 |access-date=6 December 2024 |website=I Can Has Cheezburger?}}</ref>

Lolcat is a compound word made from the acronym "LOL" and "cat". Lolcat images comprise a photo of a cat with a large caption characteristically superimposed onto the image in a heavy, sans-serif font such as Impact or Arial Black.<ref name="cats has grammar">{{cite web |author=Anil Dash |author-link=Anil Dash |date=April 23, 2007 |title=Anil Dash: Cats Can Has Grammar |url=http://www.dashes.com/anil/2007/04/cats-can-has-gr.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826113454/http://dashes.com/anil/2007/04/cats-can-has-gr.html |archive-date=August 26, 2013 |access-date=May 3, 2007}}</ref> Such images and memes following the format are often digitally edited for comedic effect.

Captions act as a speech balloon encompassing a comment from the cat, or as a description of the depicted scene. The caption is intentionally written with deviations from standard English spelling and grammar,<ref name="cats has grammar" /> featuring "{{Sic|hide=y|strangely|-}}conjugated verbs, but a tendency to converge to a new set of rules in spelling and grammar".<ref name="cats has grammar" /><ref name="Newitz 2007">{{cite web |author=Annalee Newitz |author-link=Annalee Newitz |date=April 27, 2007 |title=I'M IN YR X Y-ING YOUR Z – A Grammar of Lolcats |url=http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2007/04/im_in_yr_x_ying.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070430021504/http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2007/04/im_in_yr_x_ying.html |archive-date=April 30, 2007 |access-date=April 29, 2007 |publisher=Table of Malcontents, a Wired blog |quote=These images ... usually include a cute cat saying something related to buckets, cheeseburgers, or whatever else with {{Sic |hide=y|strangely|-}}conjugated verbs.}}</ref><ref name="kitty pidgin">{{cite web |author=Mark Liberman |author-link=Mark Liberman |date=April 25, 2007 |title=Language Log: Kitty Pidgin and asymmetrical tail-wags |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004442.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428035037/http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004442.html |archive-date=April 28, 2007 |access-date=April 28, 2007}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=April 2011}}

The text parodies the grammar-poor patois stereotypically attributed to Internet slang. Frequently, lolcat captions take the form of phrasal templates.<ref name="kitty pidgin" /> Some phrases have a known source, usually a well-known Internet meme, such as All your base are belong to us or Do not want,<ref name="virgin_myths">{{cite web |title=Top ten Star Wars myths and legends: Do not want |url=http://www.virginmedia.com/movies/movieextras/top10s/top-ten-star-wars-myths-and-legends.php?ssid=10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216135049/http://www.virginmedia.com/movies/movieextras/top10s/top-ten-star-wars-myths-and-legends.php?ssid=10 |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |access-date=December 30, 2008 |work=VirginMedia.com}}</ref> while others don't. The language of lolcats has also been likened to baby talk,<ref>{{cite news |last=Svensson |first=Peter |date=April 24, 2008 |title=Lolcat site needz ur skillz |url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2008-04-24-lolcats-job-search_N.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212135431/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2008-04-24-lolcats-job-search_N.htm |archive-date=December 12, 2008 |access-date=October 15, 2008 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> however it draws on a variety of linguistic resources, not just the imitation of baby talk.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Gawne |first1=Lauren |last2=Vaughan |first2=Jill M. |date=January 2012 |title=I can haz language play: The construction of language and identity in LOLspeak |url=https://www.academia.edu/2579344 |access-date=June 30, 2016}}</ref>

Common themes include jokes of the form "Im in ur [noun], [verb]-ing ur [related noun]."<ref name="tampa">{{cite news |author=Jay Cridlin |date=June 1, 2007 |title=This be funny storyz |url=http://www.tbt.com/entertainment/news/article41041.ece?lol |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104070709/http://www.tbt.com/entertainment/news/article41041.ece?lol |archive-date=November 4, 2010 |access-date=April 7, 2008 |work=Tampa Bay Times}}</ref> Many lolcat images capture cats performing characteristically human actions or appearing to use modern technology, such as computers.{{citation needed|date = April 2012}}

There are several well-known Lolcat images and single-word captions that have spawned many variations and imitations, including "Ceiling Cat" (see below). Others include Fail (a cat with a slice of processed cheese on its face)<ref>{{cite web |author=Charles Bremner Toulouse |title=Microtrends: Failure – Times Online |url=http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article3304328.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515211114/http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article3304328.ece |archive-date=May 15, 2008 |access-date=March 22, 2012 |work=The Times}}</ref> and "I Can Has Cheezburger" (a portrait of a blue British Shorthair).<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Tozzi, John |date=July 13, 2007 |title=Bloggers Bring in the Big Bucks |url=http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jul2007/sb20070713_202390.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215230339/http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jul2007/sb20070713_202390.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2008 |access-date=January 10, 2008 |magazine=Business Week}}</ref> Another popular format is "[Adjective] cat is [adjective/noun]."

== Recurring characters == thumb|The sculptural recreation of the "Ceiling Cat" meme, created in 2016 by artists Eva & Franco Mattes "Ceiling Cat" is a character spawned by the meme. The original image was an image macro with a picture of a cat looking out of a hole in a ceiling, captioned "Ceiling Cat is watching you masturbate."<ref>{{cite web |date=January 24, 2007 |title=I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER? » Blog Archive » ceiling cat is watching you masturbate. |url=http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/24/ceiling-cat-is-watching-you-masturbate/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204143319/http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/24/ceiling-cat-is-watching-you-masturbate/ |archive-date=February 4, 2007 |access-date=September 13, 2017 |publisher=icanhascheezburger.com}}</ref> There followed numerous examples with the format "Ceiling Cat is watching you [''verb'' ending in / rhyming with -ate]" with Ceiling Cat superimposed in the upper left hand corner of an image macro depicting the appropriate action. The underlying theme is that the cat is looking down on one, almost in a form of judgment.

"Ceiling Cat" and the corresponding "Basement Cat" (a black cat who lives in the basement) are said to represent good and evil in the lolcat universe, and in some cases God and Satan, as in the LOLCat Bible Translation Project.<ref name="latimes" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Horan |first=Brianna |title=How one hungry 'kitteh' can has the Internet lol |url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/today/s_568828.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215050105/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/today/s_568828.html |archive-date=February 15, 2009 |access-date=June 18, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Guzman |first=Monica |date=October 19, 2007 |title=Time killer: The "lolcat" Bible |url=http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/124063.asp?from=blog_last3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415165033/http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/124063.asp?from=blog_last3 |archive-date=April 15, 2008 |access-date=June 18, 2008}}</ref> Limecat was also created either around this time or earlier.

''Ceiling Cat'' by Eva & Franco Mattes, a 2016 taxidermy cat installation mimicking the meme, is in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kennicott |first=Philip |date=April 8, 2019 |title=Museums wants 2 show u memez now. They shud be careful |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/museums-wants-2-show-u-memez-now-they-shud-be-careful/2019/04/05/6a44b5a4-559d-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906191512/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/museums-wants-2-show-u-memez-now-they-shud-be-careful/2019/04/05/6a44b5a4-559d-11e9-814f-e2f46684196e_story.html |archive-date=September 6, 2020 |access-date=January 17, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en}}</ref>

== Offshoots and parodies == The syntax of lolcat captions was used as the basis for LOLCODE, an esoteric programming language with interpreters and compilers available in .NET Framework, Perl, etc.<ref name="Silverman" />

<code>lolcat</code>, a variant of the Unix utility <code>cat</code>, outputs text in rainbow colours.<ref>{{cite web |date=June 13, 2015 |title=Lolcat – A Command Line Tool to Output Rainbow Of Colors in Linux Terminal |url=https://www.tecmint.com/lolcat-command-to-output-rainbow-of-colors-in-linux-terminal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111527/https://www.tecmint.com/lolcat-command-to-output-rainbow-of-colors-in-linux-terminal/ |archive-date=March 6, 2019 |access-date=March 6, 2019 |work=Tecmint}}</ref>

== See also ==  * List of Internet phenomena * Cats That Look Like Hitler – a type of LOLcat specifically made to look like Adolf Hitler * Cute cat theory of digital activism – using lowbrow but popular online subjects for activism * Catvertising – cats in advertising, especially the parody of commercialization of cat viral videos by ''st. john'' * Grumpy Cat – an Internet celebrity cat who was known for her grumpy facial expression * I Can Has Cheezburger? – a weblog featuring lolcats * Laugh-Out-Loud Cats – a comic inspired by lolspeak and other Internet humor * LOLCat Bible Translation Project – bible translation project to lolspeak * LOLCODE – an esoteric programming language inspired by lolspeak

== Notes == {{Reflist|2}}

== References == * [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118798557326508182 With 'LOLcats' Internet Fad, Anyone Can Get In on the Joke], ''The Wall Street Journal'', August 25, 2007 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004547/http://www.gazette.com/articles/cat_25284___article.html/sites_web.html If you give a cat a keyboard], ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', July 26, 2007 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070717023131/http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jul2007/sb20070713_202390.htm Bloggers Bring in the Big Bucks], ''BusinessWeek'', July 13, 2007 * {{cite journal |url=http://www.receiver.vodafone.com/19-oh-hai |title=Oh Hai! Cats, the internet, and tactical communities |first=Joshua |last=Green |journal=Receiver Magazine |issue=Autumn |year=2007|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709043936/http://www.receiver.vodafone.com/19-oh-hai |archive-date=July 9, 2008}} * {{cite news |last=Agger |first=Michael |title=Cat power: You cannot resist lolcats |work=Slate |date=May 21, 2007 |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2166338/ |access-date=May 21, 2007}}

== External links == {{Spoken Wikipedia|Lolcat.ogg|date=2008-04-04}} {{subject bar|auto=y|d=y|wikt=y}} * {{Wiktionary-inline|lolspeak}} * {{Wiktionary-inline|caturday}} {{Internet Dialects}} {{Internet slang}} {{4chan}}

Category:Internet memes about cats Category:Internet slang Category:Internet humor Category:Photography by genre Category:4chan phenomena Category:Fictional cats Category:Internet memes introduced in 2006 Category:2006 neologisms

he:תופעת אינטרנט#Lolcat