“Millennials use ‘lol’ like STOP at the end of a telegram lol”

Millennials often add “lol” (for “laugh out loud”) at the end of a text message, and people have noticed that it’s like the word “STOP” in an old-time telegram.
 
“i realized the other day millennials use lol the same way operators would use stop in morse code and now i can’t unsee it” was posted on X/Twitter by “hegelian vs predator” on October 20, 2024, and this received over 27,000 likes.
 
“Millennials use “lol” like STOP at the end of a telegram lol” was posted on X/Twitter by Sulla on June 4, 2025, and this received over 66,000 likes.
   
 
HuffPost
Why Do Millennials Feel Compelled To Write ‘Lol’ After Everything?
“I’ve transitioned to ‘haha’ instead of ‘lol’ because I read that ‘lol’ is millennial-coded.”
By Brittany Wong
Apr 25, 2024, 01:36 PM EDT  
 
X/Twitter
hegelian vs predator
@reachrachelkahn
i realized the other day millennials use lol the same way operators would use stop in morse code and now i can’t unsee it
2:42 AM · Oct 20, 2024
 
Facebook
Tawny Platis
January 24, 2025 at 10:35 AM ·
I saw someone say millennials use lol the way people use to use STOP in telegrams and I can’t unsee it #funny #memes #millennials
 
Bluesky
Liz
‪@rkij.bsky.social‬
Thinking about that post that’s like “millennials use ‘lol/lmao’ the way old time telegraph operators would use ‘STOP’” and that’s SO TRUE
Also because “there is nothing to laugh about in this laughable society”
9:45 AM · Feb 4, 2025
 
X/Twitter
Sulla
@gaulicsmith
Millennials use “lol” like STOP at the end of a telegram lol
12:06 PM · Jun 4, 2025
 
Threads
nortonbreads
06/04/25
Millennials use “lol” like STOP at the end of a telegram lol
 
Bluesky
🍯 STAY GOLD🐻
‪@tysongb.bsky.social‬
I saw a post that was like “millennials use lol like an old timey telegram uses ‘stop’ “ and I have never felt more targeted
1:22 PM · Jun 6, 2025
 
X/Twitter
Tracy
@unknownmerc
that one tweet where it was like ‘millennials use lol like stop in a telegram’ is permanently burned in my brain because i’ve definitely been doing that my whole life, lol
8:27 PM · Jul 20, 2025