Emojerks.

Recently the New York Times published an article entitled "What Is IJBOL? A Korean word? A new boy band? This new acronym is replacing LOL and ROFL on social media." 

I didn't read the article, because I don't subscribe to the paper and wouldn't give them a nickel if my hair was on fire and they were selling buckets of water for five cents each. 

But to answer the question, IJBOL means I Just Busted Out Laughing (or Burst or some other appropriate B). It makes more sense than the stupid ROTFL, because no one ever saw something so funny online that they literally R on the F. 

The article is just another in a long series by the Times that could be described as "What Are Those Weird Ordinary People Doing Out There?" They love to look at human beings as if they themselves are some strange Olympian race occupying the planet rather than the overeducated trust-fund bizarros that they are. Make sure to check out next Sunday's exposé, "Canned Vegetables: Are They Having a Moment?" 

Translations for Internet initialisms goes back to the earliest days of networks. LOL broke through into the common culture, and from there it was a race to see what silly thing would catch on next but be inscrutable to outsiders -- especially among teens whose parents monitored their electronic communications. Urban Dictionary, a place where you can always check in if you want to lose your faith in humanity and you want to do it fast, has about a million disgusting initialisms that the contributors just make up off the top of their tiny craniums for the lulz.

But, thanks to the smartphone, most of us are content to send emojis to one another, at least once we figure out what each new update of emojis is supposed to mean. I could probably tell you in a general way what each emoji on my phone is supposed to represent, but I wouldn't put money on it. 

It was different when we were young. 

 Ah, the days of real sport!