Modern technology is gaining a foothold in the world of crosswords. (If that's a mixed metaphor, I apologize.) In addition to the terms used in today's Times puzzle, I've recently been seeing several text abbreviations in puzzles: BRB (be right back), IMO ("In my opinion"), IMHO ("In my humble opinion"), YOLO ("You only live once"---which, to be grammatically proper, should be "You live only once"), and LOL, which means "Laugh out loud" and which is unarguably the most overused expression in the world. I don't need to be told that something is funny. Adding "LOL" to a written message is like adding a laugh track to a television program. And many people affix the abbreviation to almost everything they write, even things that aren't the least bit funny, such as "I had pizza for breakfast, LOL" and "My dog got a haircut, LOL" and "I might build a snowman today, LOL." Arrggghh!
In response to comments from others, I'm restricting myself to making no more than one complaint per week. The above is the one for this week. Opposing viewpoints---if there are any---are welcomed.
