Click the tartan to view its entry in The Scottish Registers of Tartans which includes registration details, restrictions, and registrant information.
Unregistered tartans may link to one of the web's online design environments for similar information.
For any questions about reproduction of designs or weaving of these tartans, please contact the registrant directly or via this website.
Dictionary Day
Nigel (UK): “I must say, my favourite neighbour has impeccable taste—the colour of that aluminium theatre façade is simply smashing!”
Billy Bob (US): “Howdy! Totally agree—my favorite neighbor’s got great style—the color of that aluminum theater facade is awesome!”
Nigel: “I paid for my ticket by cheque, of course.”
Billy Bob: “Oh, I just wrote a check.”
Nigel: “And I wore my finest grey trousers.”
Billy Bob: “Nice! I wore my best gray pants.”
Both: “LOL.”
For those with a love of words, you may be rejoicing or despairing over the rapidity of the changing language and the impossibility of keeping up with the newest generational slang. And then there's always the tell-tale spelling differences between British and American words.
For professional etymologists, linguists, spelling bee champions, those of us for whom the dictionary was a favourite reading source in our youth, or wags who enjoy a bit of cryptic slang in their dignified attire, this dictionary-hued tartan embodies just the right amount of tartan humour/humor.
Designed in honour of one of the newer "words" which have made it into the pages of the Oxford English Dictionary, "LOL", meaning "Laugh Out Loud", is fortunately spelled the same way on both sides of the pond.
Variations include ROTFL, ROTFLMAO, lolz, lul, and the laughing emoji of your choice.
The Oxford English Dictionary itself began life in the mid-19th century as an ambitious Victorian project to record every word in the English language, with definitions, histories, and usage citations. The first fascicle appeared in 1884, and it took nearly 50 years to complete the first full edition—an unparalleled monument to the love of words.
A little earlier, Noah Webster (1758–1843), American educator, lawyer, and lexicographer best known as the “Father of the American Dictionary" published his dictionary in 1828 after more than 20 years of research. It contained over 70,000 entries and introduced simplified spellings—such as “color” instead of “colour” and “center” instead of “centre”—that became standard in the United States.
English is famously difficult for non-native learners to both spell and pronounce, and even native speakers get tripped up as vocabulary and spelling is inheritd from many languages (Latin, French, Greek, Old Norse, etc.), each bringing different spelling conventions.
Regardless, all native spellers should rejoice at having the benefit of natural language acquisition, regardless of minor spelling variations! An as Mark Twain said, ‘Simplified spelling is all right, but, like chastity, you can carry it too far.’ LOL ❤️ 🖤 🤍 ❤️ 😆 🤣 😅 😄
These days, “LOL” has spawned a whole family tree of variations—some old classics, some newer and very online. Here’s a rundown of the more common ones you’ll see:
Classic & Early Variations
LOL – Laugh(ing) Out Loud (still widely used, sometimes ironically now)
ROFL / ROTFL – Rolling On (the) Floor Laughing
ROFLMAO – Rolling On the Floor Laughing My *** Off
LOLZ / Lulz – Plural or ironic LOL; “for the lulz” = for fun/mischief
LMFAO – Laughing My *** Off (with extra emphasis)
Short, Text-Snappy Variants
LMAO / LMBO – Laughing My Butt Off (politer version)
LOLWUT – Laugh Out Loud + “what?” (expresses baffled laughter)
LOLOL – Extended laugh, sometimes sarcastic
Newer / Social Media-Driven
ICL – I Can’t Lie (TikTok slang, often before a funny or blunt statement)
I’m crying / I’m dead / I’m deceased – Exaggerated “so funny I died” vibe
💀 (skull emoji) – “I’m dead” shorthand for hard laughter
😭 (crying emoji) – Used to mean “crying from laughter”
🤣 (rolling on the floor laughing emoji) – The emoji equivalent of ROFL
HAHAHAHA / hehe / hhh – Text-based laughter styles (varies by culture)
Hyperbolic / Meme-y
HAHAHAH HELP – Like “too funny, send help”
asdfghjkl – Keyboard smash
Kek / keks – Gamer/Internet meme version of LOL (originating from World of Warcraft)
For more on the evolution of Text Talk, click the dictionary!