Lolcat Style

Lolcats come in a variety of forms, but there are certain characteristics that are almost always present.  Lolcats are usually captioned with white text outlined in black.  Impact is a commonly used font for lolcat captions.  The specific font and color choices are almost inseparable from the lolspeak language itself, which can found in a number of non-cat related images.  Using typical lolcat font to caption an image of something other than a cat is a way of evoking the goofy nature of lolcats, even when cats aren’t involved.

Lolcat captions frequently come in two parts–one line at the top of the image, and another at the bottom.  This creates a natural pause in the text, allowing lolcats to have something close to comedic timing.  The purpose of captions, after all, is to make an image funnier.

Captions in lolspeak are usually from the cat’s perspective, although it is important to note that not all lolcats are captioned in lolspeak.  There are a number of attitudes which cats are portrayed as displaying in lolcat captions.

• Childish/naive

This type of caption is almost always in lolspeak, a main component of which is childish grammar and spelling.  In these lolcats, the cats are characterized as simple or ignorant.

• sad/pathetic

Lolcats that are captioned in the ‘sad’ voice are also frequently in lolspeak, and depict cats who seem to be somehow distressed or saddened.

• articulate/intellectual

This caption voice is not as common as the others, and rarely utilizes lolspeak.  Instead, these captions are usually written in standard English, with proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  It’s common for these types of captions to depict the cat as cynical or annoyed with humans.

• Evil

In sharp contrast to the childish/naive captions, some captions are meant to demonstrate that a cat is evil or demonic.