- L is used in reference to negative events and personal failure goal rather than specifically losing a competitive event. While a low score on a test would be both an l and a loss, one would not say that the Rice Football team has 7 l’s this season. Like many abbreviations, l was most likely coined within the texting/ online messaging world, where abbreviations are much easier to type than entire words. This “textspeak” then proliferated into the domain of speaking.
l (241)
acronym; noun
a loss, a negative outcome of an event
Etymology : Acronym for loss
Source : “I totally took the L on that test.” (Friend, October 2017).
Last modified: 27 November 2017