SBNAL: Start the Revolution

SBNAL = "Smiling But Not Actually Laughing".

This new acronym is the savior to the ailing overusage of the phrase that we all know as LOL, or "laughing out loud" for those who have been under a rock for the past 8 years. The aforementioned phrase is one that has become so popular that it has crawled out of the acceptable arena of typos that we know as Instant Messaging and has made its way into our common vernacular. This word has become a terror to clueless parents and frazzled English teachers alike, and frankly, it should be stopped.

However, I do not call for complete eradication of the acronym in question from our day-to-day speech; when used in the appropriate context it provides a universal inside joke for the millenial generation. My frustration actually does not lie in the fact that it is overused per se. I am more perplexed by the fact that when one writes--or utters-- "LOL" they more than likely ARE.NOT.LAUGHING.OUT.LOUD.

And just like that, a tiny phrase, a mere initialled word has turned our youth into a generation of LIARS. LIARS, I TELL YOU. This must be stopped. Our children are the future, the hope for tomorrow, and if something as little as a mere phrase is going to corrupt and demoralize the very fiber of what the future has to offer, then God help us, we are screwed.

Oh, the humanity.

I present to you a solution, a remedy to this acronym. SBNAL is a phrase that can be typed with just a little more effort than it takes to write "g2g", and MUCH MUCH less effort than it takes to write "ROTFL" (which is a WHOLE nother issue, because i have yet to perform the described action after reading a humorous comment during an IM chat). More than anything, SBNAL allows the conversationist the freedom of using a few facial muscles to express their amusement instead of buckling under the social pressure of mustering up the strength to generate actual laughter, even if it is for only a warm chuckle. It is effortless, it is moral, and it is true.

Please use the amendment well, for woe is the day that it falls into the category of the annoying or the obsolete, where timed phrases such as "Far out", "Groovy", "As If" and "Psyche" have suffered a very ill fate. I willingly give SBNAL to you. Use it wisely. Tell your friends.

Postscript:
Accolades to a Mr. Cantrell, who actually came up with the acronym.