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# History of teh LOLcats
- URL: https://katecarruthers.com/history-of-teh-lolcats/
- Published: 2008-01-13T01:03:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-04T22:46:11.000Z
- Author: Kate Carruthers
- Tags: lolcats, #Migrated-1775015344493, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-04-01 14:49

> Teh LOLcats, dey has a history ...  
>  
> A **lolcat** (pronounced [/ˈlɒlkæt/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English?ref=katecarruthers.com) [*LOL-kat*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation%5Frespelling%5Fkey?ref=katecarruthers.com)), or **LOLcat**, is an [image macro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image%5Fmacro?ref=katecarruthers.com) of one or more [cats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat?ref=katecarruthers.com). Lolcat images' [idiosyncratic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiosyncrasy?ref=katecarruthers.com) and intentionally [grammatically](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatically?ref=katecarruthers.com) incorrect text is known as **lolspeak**.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat?ref=katecarruthers.com#cite%5Fnote-latimes-1)

> Lolcat is a [compound word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound%5F%28linguistics%29?ref=katecarruthers.com) of the [acronymic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronymic?ref=katecarruthers.com) abbreviation [LOL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOL?ref=katecarruthers.com) (laughing out loud) and the word "cat".[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat?ref=katecarruthers.com#cite%5Fnote-Silverman-2)[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat?ref=katecarruthers.com#cite%5Fnote-wsj-3) 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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet%5Fmeme?ref=katecarruthers.com).[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat?ref=katecarruthers.com#cite%5Fnote-beacon-4) Lolcats are commonly designed for [photo sharing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo%5Fsharing?ref=katecarruthers.com) [imageboards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imageboard?ref=katecarruthers.com) and other [Internet forums](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet%5Fforums?ref=katecarruthers.com).  
> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat?ref=katecarruthers.com)
  
  
By Carruthers via [Aide-mémoire](http://carruthk.blogspot.com/?ref=katecarruthers.com)