LOLcats were big among Gen Y's in '06. In '07, they had become ubiquitous, but they were still funny. And now, in '08, they've hit the WSJ. Consider this trend officially dead.

Basically, LOLcats are funny photographs of cats with phrases photoshopped on top of the image. The photo and the phrasing serve to humanize the cat, making it seem like a banker, or a mischieveous child, or an internet genius. The LOLcat language borrows heavily from IM shortcuts (i.e. "ur" for "your"), which makes it even funnier. The speed with which the LOLcats took over the imagination of Gen Y makes it an impressive example of viral marketing. It began with a 15-year-old in his Long Island bedroom, and within a few months, every Gen Yer in America knew about LOLcats and had them posted on their Myspace profiles.