How To Laugh in Different Languages

How to Laugh in Different Languages

People around the world actually laugh in very similar ways, but the way that you communicate that laughter is often written differently. Do you think you could guess how different people would write their laughs around the world?

In English, there’s only really one option for a basic laugh: Ha Ha. From there people can be creative with other variations like “hehe” or “heehee” when they want to act cute, or “mwuhaha” when they’re trying to sound like an evil villain.

And we can’t forget about Santa Claus’s classic “Ho ho ho.” For other languages, we’ll focus on their base laughs as well.

Some languages have only one base while others have different choices. Look at this list to see if any of the laughs surprise you:

• English: ha ha
• Spanish: jajaja
• French: ah ah / ha ha
• Italian: ahahah
• German: haha
• Portuguese: rsrs / kkkk
• Russian: xaxa
• Chinese: 哈哈 (haha)
• Japanese: ふふふ (huhuhu)
• Thai: 5555

With any of these, you can add as many syllables as you want based on how funny something was; “jajaja” is a little funny while “jajajajaja” is very funny.

You can also use capital letters or punctuation to bring it up to the next level like with “JAJAJA”

Other Types of Laughs

Whether you’re online or sending a text, there are multiple ways to respond to something funny.

Gen Z will recognize the outdated terms immediately and will probably say they’re only for Boomers. In any case, all of these abbreviations are used by a lot of us and won’t necessarily disappear anytime soon.

• LOL

Starting with “laughing out loud”, this abbreviation is probably the most common option.

And this English term is actually used all around the world in languages like French, Spanish, German, and more. It basically works as a substitute for “Ha ha.”

But only for things that are funny, not hilarious. Countries that don’t use “lol” have their own equivalent like “www” in Japan, or “233” in China, or even “лол ” in Russian.

• LMAO

Next, we take a step up with “laughing my ass off.” This one is used to respond to something hilarious.

Since there is a curse word in this one, you can definitely send this to your friends but you may want to reconsider sending this to your boss.

This abbreviation doesn’t directly translate to other languages, so most languages find an alternative. For example, in French they would say MDR meaning “mort de rire” or “dying of laughter.”

• ROFL

And last, but not least, is our most dated abbreviation for laughing. ROFL stands for “rolling on the floor, laughing,” or in other words, something was so funny that you actually fell out of your chair and are now laughing on the ground.

We added this one in so that if you see it, you’ll know what it means. But if you use this one with Gen Z, you will immediately be called old.

Some Jokes in English to Make People Laugh

Now we can’t talk about laughing without giving you some jokes to use. Here are some good ones.

Hopefully they might make you “Ha ha!” a little, or even “LMAO.”

• Do you want to hear a joke about pizza? Nevermind, it’s too cheesy.
• If you’re feeling cold, then you should go to the corner because it’s always 90 degrees there.
• I stayed up all night wondering when the sun would rise, then it dawned on me.
• When does a joke become a ‘dad joke’? When it becomes apparent.
• Bakers trade recipes, on a knead to know basis.

Other Onomatopoeias

What are some other onomatopoeias used in other languages? Before you go, let’s do a little trip around the world to see some funny little sounds that you can use to give more rhythm to how you speak or text.

Sneeze

• English: achoo
• French: atchoum
• German: aatschi
• Spanish: achís

Kiss

• English: mwah
• French: smack / mouah
• Japanese: chuu
• Russian: cmok

Admiration

• English: wow
• French: waouh
• Portuguese: nossa
• Italian: uao

Eating Something Good

• English: yum
• French: miam
• Italian: gnam
• Japanese: mogumogu

Pain

• English: ouch
• French: aïe
• Russian: ой (oj)
• German: au

We hope that this article gave you a smile! That being said, if you speak another language and know other ways to write a laugh, let us know and we’d be happy to add your suggestions to our article.