Sometimes the online slang in a tweet or the caption of a viral TikTok is so incomprehensible you have to wonder, is this in a different language?
That's exactly what happened with "ijbol," the acronym for "I just burst out laughing." Much like bestie and slay once were, ijbol is quickly becoming the summer's ironic term.
SEE ALSO:We're living through the age of delusionAccording to Urban Dictionary, the term dates back to 2009 and its counterpart, jbol (just burst out laughing) to 2011, but unlike other acronyms to convey laughter – notably lol and lmao – ijbol lacked staying power. That is, until the word began cropping up again in 2021 and gained traction in the K-Pop fan community last year, much to many's bewilderment.
Some of the earliest recent conversations online about ijbol are out-of-the-loop K-Pop fans wondering what it means. In March 2022 someone tweeted, "idk what ijbol means and at this point I'm too afraid to ask." Then in October someone on a Kpop forum asked, "Do you know what ijbol means?" to which another fan replied, "I literally just learned that it means, 'I just burst out laughing.' I thought this entire time it was a foreign word." Thinking ijbol is a Korean word is not an uncommon sentiment among some fans. Some of the confusion stems from English-speaking K-pop fans'proclivity to phonetically spell out Korean words. For example, fans write the exclamation 제발 as jebal.
However in recent weeks, ijbol has escaped the confines of fandom (and niche ironic circles) and gone mainstream thanks to a trend of posting videos or images of someone bursting out laughing with an ijbol related caption. A tweet of a video of a woman spontaneously laughing while eating soup reads, "Me eating alphabet soup and I eat the word ijbol." The tweet garnered over 63,900 likes.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
The word sparked similar puzzlement among the general public. Just two days ago (July 4) someone tweeted, "wdym ijbol is i just burst out laughing i thought it was a korean word…" The tweet received over 3,000 likes. The week prior another user wrote, "I THOUGHT IJBOL WAS A KOREAN WORD EVERYONE WAS USING AND GATEKEEPING THE MEANING????????? Why am I so stupid lol."
Tweet may have been deleted
The confusion over ijbol's true meaning just adds to its allure. It's a term that's caught on due to its ridiculous nature. Brooklyn, a 21-year-old student in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who specializes in tweets about United States Vice President Kamala Harris winning the "ijbol war" told Mashable, "[Ijbol] is sort of funny just to say? It’s a rather unusual abbreviation which makes it more intriguing / funny. It’s also being used in conjunction with "idgaf" which a lot of Twitter users find funny at the minute."
Ijbol is so silly that using it frankly makes you want to ijbol. As my roommate so wisely texted me, "I stay ijboling when I say ijbol."
TopicsTikTokTwitterMemes
(责任编辑：熱點)
Did our grandparents have the best beauty advice?
John Heard, beloved 'Home Alone' dad, is dead at 72
Not again: Hackers steal $32 million worth of Ethereum
With this move, China will effectively choke off all VPN usagePlane makes emergency landing after engine rips apart during flightDespite IOC ban, Rio crowds get their political messages across
The Olympics aren't meant to be a place for political expression -- the International Olympic Commit
...[详细]It appears that 'US Weekly' has accidentally encouraged cannibalism
US Weekly published a roundup of pricey beauty supplements on Friday. Unfortunately, they also encou
...[详细]Bizarre wearable wants to shock you awake so you don’t fall asleep at the wheel
Forget guzzling down energy drinks and coffee to stay awake while driving, a new bracelet has been d
...[详细]YouTube discontinues its Video Editor and Photo slideshow tools
If you're editing on a long video project directly on YouTube, you now have a deadline. The Google-o
...[详细]This German startup wants to be your bank (without being a bank)
BERLIN -- “That is f*cking clever,” said Ben Floyd, 33, as we sat in a trendy cafe in Be
...[详细]GM will allow developers to test their apps in real cars
GM is giving developers a fast lane to make it easier to build connected car apps for infotainment s
...[详细]Ed Sheeran doesn't need Twitter, but Twitter needs him
Two Grammy awards. An album that went double platinum. An unparalleled number of weeks at the number
...[详细]Anthony Scaramucci joined Team Trump, then started deleting old tweets
Sean Spicer has officially resigned from his role in Trump's Administration and Anthony Scaramucci h
...[详细]Major earthquake and multiple aftershocks rock central Italy
UPDATE: Aug. 25, 2016, 8:22 a.m. BST 。 Death toll is now at least 247 dead: 190 in Rieti province and
...[详细]Halle Berry chugs an entire freaking glass of whiskey at Comic
We already knew Halle Berry was a total badass, but girl can drink. And we mean REALLY drink.Thursda
...[详细]