[Lexicog] words for different kinds of laughter

[Fritz Goerling]

John,

 

Good analysis!

 

I hope one day we don't have to communicate with acronyms like:

BWL = bursting with laughter

FOFL = falling on the floor laughing

LMSO = laughing my socks off

LOL = laugh out loud 

LSHTTARDML = laughing so hard that tears are running down my leg

 

That reminds me of a joke: 

A new prisoner joins the group of other prisoners who sit in a circle in the
evening and obviously have a good time.

One of them shouts "12", everybody laughs. Another shouts, all men guffaw.
One shouts 112, they all slap their thighs.

The new prisoner wonders what is happening and asks his neighbor in the
circle why they all laugh when someone calls out a number.

The other guy says: "We are telling jokes and have given a number to each
joke. As we have already heard all of these jokes, it is enough just to call
out the number." The new prisoner thinks "That is easy, I can do that
myself." So he shouts "71." Noone laughs.

So he turns to his neighbour asking "Why does noone laugh?" His neighbour
answers: "one has to know how to tell jokes."

 

I wonder what kind of "laughter" (smile) this provokes with you. I hope I
havn't spoilt the joke by the way I told it.

 

Fritz

Fritz,

I would say the English vocabulary describing laughing has about 2 or 3 
levels of intensity with 'laugh' itself describing the 'norm':

Describing a restrained laugh: chortle, chuckle, crease up, giggle, 
snicker, snigger, titter,
Norm: laugh, bubble/cackle with laughter
Describing an unrestrained laugh: guffaw, 
hoot/howl/roar/scream/shake/shriek/snort with laughter
Completely uncontrolled laughter: fall about/ split one's sides/ have 
hysterics/ piss oneself laughing.

The pattern seems to be the more unrestrained the laughing, the more 
unrestrained the descriptive vocabulary. :-) I think the terms 'giggle' 
and 'titter' would typically have female agents and 'guffaw' would 
typically have a male agent, but I don't think the other expressions 
have this restriction.

John Roberts

-- 
********************
John R Roberts
SIL International Linguistics Consultant
dr_john_roberts@ <mailto:dr_john_roberts%40sil.org> sil.org
********************

 

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