# Do all humans use "ha ha" to laff? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749 "2018-05-24T19:38:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RichardSRussell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/47e85d/32.png) [@RichardSRussell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RichardSRussell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/1 "2018-05-24T19:38:02Z")
I’m sure that people all over the world sneeze and cough the same way, because they’re involuntary, but how about laffing? Does everybody do “ha ha”, or is that something cultural or language-specific? ---
**Author:** ![MedellinMike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@MedellinMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MedellinMike)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/2 "2018-05-24T20:00:30Z")
In Latin American spanish it’s the same sound but spelled “jajaja” or “jejeje”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/3 "2018-05-24T21:06:43Z")
[In French](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r7dveDEv-I&t=0m15s). ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/4 "2018-05-24T21:08:07Z")
The “words” used for laughter, like all other onomatopoeia, are cultural. There are a lot of [Japanese onomatopoeia for laughter](http://www.fuzita.org/jpculture/howmanyi/jplaugh.html). A lot of the variation is tied up in traditional cultural expectation of different ages and sexes; for instance, women are expected to be more modest than men, so their laughs are less boisterous and more closed-mouthed (and supposed to be executed behind a hand hiding the mouth). There are also variations related to loud laughter, snickering, chuckling, and the like. Also the perceived vulgarity of the subject of the laughter. Japanese is complicated. ETA: However, something sounding like “Hahaha” (“はははは”) is the “default” laughter for the “default” person: an adult male laughing “normally”. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/5 "2018-05-25T04:57:33Z")
:What fascinates me is that cows don’t go “moo”, cats go “meow” and dogs don’t go “woof woof” in other languages. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/6 "2018-05-25T08:34:33Z")
> [@MedellinMike](#): > > In Latin American spanish it’s the same sound but spelled “jajaja” or “jejeje”. And giggling is _jijiji_ and that fat guy in red laughs _jojojo_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/7 "2018-05-25T08:54:52Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > ETA: However, something sounding like “Hahaha” (“はははは”) is the “default” laughter for the “default” person: an adult male laughing “normally”. [ha ha ha ha](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blpe_sGnnP4) ---
**Author:** ![CeleTheRef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@CeleTheRef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CeleTheRef)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/8 "2018-05-26T21:45:15Z")
In Italian it is usually [vowel+H](http://topolino.it/assets/BLOG/PAPERINO/_resampled/croppedimage314314-paperino59.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/9 "2018-05-27T14:36:40Z")
> [@RichardSRussell](#): > > I’m sure that people all over the world sneeze and cough the same way, because they’re involuntary Most people sneezing within earshot of my office do some recognizable variation on “a-choo”, but a former Pakistani native co-worker was the only person I’ve ever heard whose sneezes sounded like “heh-shoo!” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/10 "2018-05-27T15:00:39Z")
My Italian teacher related that the Italian verbalization for a sneeze, instead of “ah-choo,” was supposed to be _azzìn_. But that no Italians he’d ever known in real life sneezed by going “azzìn.” Except his mom. If he heard “azzìn” in a crowd, in church, or anywhere, he’d know it was his mom. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/11 "2018-05-27T15:39:38Z")
The Thai word for 5 is pronounced “ha.” So where an English speaker might end a Facebook post with “hahaha” or “lol,” a Thai will close with “555.” ---
**Author:** ![Mnemnosyne](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mnemnosyne/32/3347_2.png) [@Mnemnosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mnemnosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/12 "2018-05-27T16:12:33Z")
I get the impression that the OP was asking about how people actually laugh, not how they write the representation of laughing (otherwise the part about sneezing and coughing being involuntary would be really incoherent and incongruous). So a possibly better phrasing might be, ‘do humans all over the world make a very similar sound when they laugh and do it in a highly similar way?’ Assuming that’s what was meant, it’s an interesting question. I’d be curious to know for sure, because although my guess would be yes, I have no knowledge to confirm that. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/13 "2018-05-27T20:55:17Z")
Portuguese speakers on the Internet will often type out “kkkkkk” for laughing. The letter K in Portuguese is pronounced “ka,” so “ka ka ka ka ka.” Kinda the same sound. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/14 "2018-05-27T22:00:58Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > My Italian teacher related that the Italian verbalization for a sneeze, instead of “ah-choo,” was supposed to be _azzìn_. But that no Italians he’d ever known in real life sneezed by going “azzìn.” Except his mom. If he heard “azzìn” in a crowd, in church, or anywhere, he’d know it was his mom. My mother in law doesn’t sneeze like anyone else. It sounds like she’s screaming, loudly. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!. My husband says he used to try to teach her how to sneeze properly, "you say “ah-choo, mom. with the ‘choo’.” Now if she remembers, it’s “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-choo”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/15 "2018-05-28T00:49:03Z")
The King of Korean laughs Lee Soo Geun: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPyp0\_-EuIE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPyp0_-EuIE) ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/16 "2018-05-28T14:55:25Z")
Thai’s write 555 to mean laughing. You guessed it, the thai for 5 is “ha”. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/17 "2018-05-28T15:25:32Z")
Mary Poppins explains it as follows with Bert’s help: [I Love To Laugh - Mary Poppins - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOMqqI-kzHY) (skip to 1:00 mark) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/18 "2018-05-29T02:42:36Z")
So I looked it up, and I find the Italian for “achoo” is [eccì](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ecc%C3%AC). Which is close enough to what I remembered; either I misremembered (it was many decades ago; I was 12) or my teacher was talking dialect. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/19 "2018-05-29T02:56:46Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > :What fascinates me is that cows don’t go “moo”, cats go “meow” and dogs don’t go “woof woof” in other languages. 😃 [The cow goes “shazzu”.](https://youtu.be/-0MTn8sP_9s) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-humans-use-ha-ha-to-laff/814749/20 "2018-05-29T03:29:46Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > (skip to 1:00 mark) For future reference, you can link to a specific time on YouTube [here](http://youtubetime.com).