Lolcat: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:470089252 0edc71099b o d.jpg|thumb|A typical cat macro image.]] |
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'''Lolcat''' is a term used to describe an image combining a [[photograph]] of an animal, most frequently a [[cat]], with a subjectively [[humorous]] and [[Idiosyncrasy|idiosyncratic]] [[caption]] in broken English referred to as '''Kitty Pidgin'''<ref name="kitty pidgin" />, '''Kitteh''', or '''lolspeak'''. The idea originated on [[4chan]] imageboards as '''Caturday'''.<ref name="Ikenberg 2007">"Lolcats' demented captions create a new Web language", Tamara Ikenberg, ''[[The News Journal]]'', [[9 July]] [[2007]]</ref><ref>{{cite news |
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| url = http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/16-02/mf_goons?currentPage=2 |
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| title = Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers |
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| author = Julian Dibbell |
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| work = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |
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| pages = 2 |
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| date = [[2008-01-18]] |
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| accessdate = 2008-01-18 |
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}}</ref> The name "lolcat" is a [[Compound (linguistics)|compound word]]<!-- note: not a portmanteau --> of "[[LOL (Internet slang)|lol]]" and "[[cat]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radioopensource.org/i-can-has-talking-animals/ |title=I Can Has Talking Animals? |author=Robin Amer |date=[[2007-04-14]] |accessdate=2007-04-29 |work=[[Open Source (radio show)|Open Source]]}}</ref><ref name="Silverman">{{cite web |
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| author = Dwight Silverman |
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| title = I’M IN UR NEWSPAPER WRITIN MAH COLUM :) |
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| publisher = [[Houston Chronicle]] |
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| date = [[2007-06-06]] |
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| url = http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4862013.html |
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| accessdate = 2007-06-06 }} |
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</ref> The phenomenon is also referred to as '''cat [[image macro|macros]]'''.<ref name="beacon">{{cite news |
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| url = http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/living/17346291.htm |
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| title = Laugh at cat humor |
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| author = Randy A. Salas |
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| work = [[Akron Beacon Journal]], [[Star Tribune]] |
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| date = [[2007-06-09]] |
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| accessdate = 2007-06-17 |
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| quote = At first, they were called cat macros, but now go mostly by the name lolcats... |
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}}</ref> Lolcats are created for [[photo sharing]] [[imageboard]]s and other [[internet forum]]s. Lolcats are similar to other [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] animal-based [[image macro]]s such as the [[O RLY?]] [[owl]],<ref name="slate">{{cite news |
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| last = Agger |
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| first = Michael |
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| title = Cat power: You cannot resist lolcats |
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| work = [[Slate (magazine)|Slate Magazine]] |
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| date = [[2007-05-21]] |
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| url = http://www.slate.com/id/2166338/ |
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| accessdate = 2007-05-21 |
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}}</ref> and the term is often used as a catchall for images of the same genre which may or may not feature cats. |
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The term ''lolcat'' gained national media attention in the [[United States]] when it was covered by [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]],<ref name="Time">{{cite news |
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|first=Lev |last=Grossman |
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| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1642897,00.html |
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| title = Cashing in on Cute Cats |
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| authorlink = Lev Grossman |
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| date = [[2007-07-12]] |
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| accessdate 2007-07-12 |
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| work = [[Time Magazine]] |
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}} Partial scan of the print edition: http://fcrunk.wellimean.com/memes/catstime.jpg</ref> which wrote that non-commercialized [[phenomenon|phenomena]] of the sort are increasingly rare, stating that lolcats have "a distinctly old-school, early 1990s, [[Usenet]] feel to [them]." The superimposed text is assumed to be uttered by the cat in the photograph. There are parallels between the language used in lolcats and baby talk, which owners of cats often use when talking to them. |
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== Format == |
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[[Image:Wikipedia-lolcat.jpg|thumb|left|175px|A lolcat image using the "Im in ur..." format, featuring a cat "editing" <!--removed "the [[dwarf planet]] article", not relevant in context--> an article on [[Wikipedia]].]] |
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These images usually consist of a photo of a cat with a large caption characteristically formatted in an uppercase [[sans serif]] font such as [[Impact (typeface)|Impact]] or [[Arial Black]].<ref name="cats has grammar">{{cite web|url=http://www.dashes.com/anil/2007/04/23/cats_can_has_gr|title=Anil Dash: Cats Can Has Grammar|author=[[Anil Dash]]|date=[[2007-04-23]]|accessdate=2007-05-03}}</ref> The image is, on occasion, [[Photo editing|digitally edited]] for effect. The caption generally acts as a [[speech balloon]] encompassing a [[cat communication|comment from the cat]], or as a description of the depicted scene. The caption is intentionally written with deviations from standard English spelling and syntax,<ref name= "cats has grammar" /> featuring "strangely-conjugated verbs, but [a tendency] to converge to a new set of rules in spelling and grammar."<ref name="Newitz 2007">{{cite web |
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| url = http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2007/04/im_in_yr_x_ying.html |
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| title = I'M IN YR X Y-ING YOUR Z -- A Grammar of Lolcats |
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| author = [[Annalee Newitz]] |
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| publisher = [[Table of Malcontents]], a ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' blog |
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| date = [[2007-04-27]] |
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| accessdate = 2007-04-29 |
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| quote = These images... usually include a cute cat saying something related to buckets, cheeseburgers, or whatever else with strangely-conjugated verbs. |
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}}</ref> These altered rules of English have been referred to as a type of [[Pidgin English|pidgin]]<ref name= "cats has grammar" /> or [[Baby talk#Baby talk with pets|baby talk]].<ref name="kitty pidgin">{{cite web |
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| url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004442.html |
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| title=Language Log: Kitty Pidgin and asymmetrical tail-wags |
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| author=[[Mark Liberman]]|date=[[2007-04-25]]|accessdate=2007-04-28 |
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}}</ref> The text parodies the grammar-poor [[patois]] stereotypically attributed to [[Internet slang]]. Frequently, lolcat captions take the form of [[snowclone]]s in which nouns and verbs are replaced in a phrase.<ref name="kitty pidgin" /> Some phrases have a known source<ref>{{cite web |
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| url = http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/06/jokes_for_nerds.html |
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| title = Jokes For Nerds: Schrödinger's LOLcat |
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| author = Scott Gilbertson |
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| publisher = Compiler, a ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' blog |
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| date = [[2007-06-04]] |
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| accessdate = 2007-06-17 |
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}}</ref> while others seem to be specific to the lolcat form. |
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Common themes include jokes of the form "Im in ur ''noun'', ''verb''-ing ur ''related noun''."<ref name="tampa">{{cite news |
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|title= This be funny storyz |
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|work=[[Tampa Bay Times]] |
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|author=Jay Cridlin |
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|date=2007-06-01 |
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|url=http://www.tbt.com/entertainment/news/article41041.ece?lol |
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}}</ref>; "I has a ''noun''" pictures show a cat in possession of an object while "Invisible ''noun''" show pictures of cats apparently interacting with said invisible object.<ref name="tampa" /> The related "flavor" shots specifically show a cat (or another animal) licking/eating an item, person or animal (including sometimes themselves) and remarking how "[noun] haz a flavor."<ref name="flavor">{{cite web |
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| url = http://icanhascheezburger.com/?s=flavor |
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| title = Lolcats serched 4 ur wurdz ["flavor"] |
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| publisher = Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures - I Can Has Cheeseburger? |
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| date = [[2007-01-12]] |
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| accessdate = 2008-01-03 |
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}}</ref> "My ''noun'', let me show you it/them" pictures are accompanied by cats apparently presenting or offering an object. Another common lolcat displays a cat with a specific look, which is described by ''adjective'', and the text, "[adjective] cat is [adjective]", "[adjective] cat is not [adjective]" or "Your offering pleases [adjective] cat." A version of this is also stated as [[We are not amused|"''adjective'' cat is not amused"]], or "[adjective] cat has run out of [adjective]" (when the cat in related picture seems to be feeling the opposite of the adjective used to describe it.) |
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== History == |
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[[Image:Yet another lolcat.jpg|thumb|200px|A cat in an [[iMac]]]] |
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Many of the first lolcats are believed to have originated from [[4chan]] sometime around [[2005]],<ref>http://www.thestar.com/living/article/257955</ref><ref>{{cite web |
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| url = http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/11/14/News/Iz.Not.Cats.Everywhere.Online.Trend.Spreads.Across.Campus-3099929.shtml |
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| title = Iz not cats everywhere? Online trend spreads across campus}}</ref> ''[[The News Journal]]'' states that "some trace the lolcats back to the site [[4chan]], which features bizarre cat pictures on Saturdays, or 'Caturdays'." Ikenburg adds that the images have been "slinking around the Internet for years under various labels, but they didn't become a sensation until early 2007 with the advent of [http://www.icanhascheezburger.com icanhascheezburger.com]"<ref>"Lolcats' demented captions create a new Web language", Tamara Ikenberg, ''[[The News Journal]]'', [[9 July]] [[2007]]</ref> The first image on "I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?" was posted on [[January 11]], [[2007]] which was allegedly from the [[Something Awful]] website."<ref>http://icanhascheezburger.com/about</ref><ref>"Original Picture, cheezburger, ''ICANHASCHEEZBURGER'', [[26 September]] [[2007]] http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/11/i-can-has-cheezburger/</ref> Lev Grossman of [[Time (magazine)|Time]] wrote that the oldest known example "probably dates to 2006",<ref>{{cite web |
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| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1642897,00.htmlthis has also spawned the digg dog which is part of the popular site titled digg.com |
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| title = Creating a Cute Cat Frenzy |
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| author = Lev Grossman |
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| publisher = [[Time (magazine)]] |
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| date = [[2007-07-12]] |
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| accessdate = 2007-07-16 |
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}}</ref> but later corrected himself in a blog post<ref>{{cite web |
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| url = http://time-blog.com/nerd_world/2007/07/16/ |
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| title = Lolcats Addendum: Where I Got the Story Wrong |
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| author = Lev Grossman |
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| publisher = [[Time (magazine)]] |
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| date = [[2007-07-16]] |
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| accessdate = 2007-07-17 |
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}}</ref> where he recapitulated the anecdotal evidence readers had sent him, placing the origin of "Caturday" and many of the images now known by a few as "lolcats" in early 2005. The domain name "caturday.com" was registered on the [[30 April]] [[2005]]. |
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More recently, the syntax of lolcat captions was used as the basis for [[LOLCODE]], an [[esoteric programming language]] with interpreters and compilers available in [[.NET framework]], [[perl]], etc.<ref name="Silverman"/> There is also an effort underway to translate the [[Christian Bible]] into the language of the lolcats, called the [[LOLCat Bible Translation Project]].<ref>http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-ca-lolcat16dec16,1,6069575.story</ref><ref>http://www.modbee.com/2219/story/169247.html</ref> |
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== See also == |
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{{Commonscat|Lolcats}} |
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* [[List of Internet phenomena]] |
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* [[Image macro]] |
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* [[LOLCODE]] |
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* [[LOLCat Bible Translation Project]] |
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* [[Meow Wars]] |
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* [[O RLY?]] |
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== References == |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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== External links == |
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<!--Please review [[WP:EL]] and discuss on talk before adding anything else here.--> |
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* [http://icanhascheezburger.com/ ICanHasCheezburger.com] |
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* [http://macrocats.com/ Macrocats image gallery] |
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* [http://lolcatbible.com/ lolcat Bible Translation Project] |
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===Articles=== |
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* [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118798557326508182.html With 'LOLcats' Internet Fad, Anyone Can Get In on the Joke], [[Wall Street Journal]], 25<sup>th</sup> August 2007 |
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* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/21/business/21online.html?ex=1187668800&en=b63b5b4971bececb&ei=5070 Can Green Make Green?: New Media, New Methods], [[New York Times]], 21<sup>st</sup> July 2007 |
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* [http://www.gazette.com/articles/cat_25284___article.html/sites_web.html If you give a cat a keyboard], [[Minneapolis Star Tribune]], 26<sup>th</sup> July 2007 |
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* [http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jul2007/sb20070713_202390.htm Bloggers Bring in the Big Bucks], [[BusinessWeek]], 13<sup>th</sup> July 2007 |
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* [http://www.receiver.vodafone.com/19-oh-hai Oh Hai! Cats, the internet, and tactical communities.], Joshua Green in receiver magazine, Autumn 2007 |
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[[Category:Internet memes]] |
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[[Category:Internet slang]] |
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[[Category:Web humor]] |
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[[Category:Photography by genre]] |
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[[Category:Cats in popular culture]] |
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[[nl:Lolcat]] |
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[[hu:Lolcat]] |
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[[no:Lolcat]] |
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