# People can't control their giggling? I disagree. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 8, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274 "2011-07-08T03:57:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/41 "2011-07-09T01:02:40Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > In fact, this discussion occurred precisely because some of us suggested that people should try to avoid giggling during partner dances, lest one’s partner get the wrong impression. Others objected, saying, “Oh, but laughing isn’t something you can stop. If it happens, it happens” – and that’s simply a defeatist attitude, unworthy of civilized adults. You’re not getting it. Laughter is not something you can control. You can try to control it but ultimately you may fail. You know that, you’ve said as much in this thread, I don’t understand why you don’t see that the people you’re talking to are saying the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![CoffinMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@CoffinMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoffinMan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/42 "2011-07-09T01:17:25Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > At a funeral and you get the giggles? This happens more often than you would believe. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/43 "2011-07-09T01:36:22Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > For the life of me though, I can’t understand how any reasonable adult can say, “Oh, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. It’s not the sort of thing that people can control.” **Of course then can! Not always successfully, I’ll admit.** \ For the record, JThunder, I agree with you. Folks cannot always successfully control their laughter. mmm ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/44 "2011-07-09T05:42:29Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > You’re not getting it. Laughter is not something you can control. You can try to control it but ultimately you may fail. You know that, you’ve said as much in this thread… No, that is NOT what I said. I said that it’s not always possible to control it completely. Obviously, that is not the same as saying that it is simply beyond one’s control. To say that it’s simply beyond one’s control is precisely the sort of defeatist attitude that **Anaamika** was lamenting. It also defies common sense. People do learn to suppress it at various times and to varying degrees. > [@](#): > > I don’t understand why you don’t see that the people you’re talking to are saying the same thing. One of us is misrepresenting with the others have said in this thread, and it’s not me. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/45 "2011-07-09T05:57:36Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > To my surprise, most of the people in this group said, “The thing is, giggling and laughter aren’t the sorts of things that one can control. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, and you just can’t stop it.” I take “if it’s going to happen,” to mean that “I’ve done what I could do. I’ve pinched myself, tried to distract my brain, thought of sad things, stuffed my fist in my mouth and willed, and the laughter is still coming up. Clearly, it was fate for me to laugh at this point so I shall laugh,” because if the laugh can be defeated by these methods then it’s not going to happen. It may be that people are making it into a self-fulfilling prophecy but I don’t see the quoted statement as meaning that as opposed to what seems to me to be the more logical interpretation of “I tried and I can’t stop it so katie bar the door, I’m gonna larf.” Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/46 "2011-07-09T11:40:20Z")
Laughter can sometimes be caused by others, a trigger word or so may cause the uncontrolled response, not to mention tickling could also, both out of the control of the person. It’s just one of those ‘human’ things you just have to get used to down here. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/47 "2011-07-09T13:23:10Z")
You know, if everybody’s “misrepresenting” your argument in exactly the same way, maybe it’s not everybody that’s the problem. If you conducted your real life discussion the same way you are here, appearing to be in agreement while insisting over and over that you weren’t, I can see why the people you were talking with dug in their heels and insisted that you can’t control the giggling. Perhaps they’re using a different definition of “going to happen” and “try to control it” than you are. Do you really think they were saying that if you ever even slightly feel like laughing, you shouldn’t even TRY to do ANYTHING AT ALL to moderate your behavior; just go ahead, bust out laughing, collapse on the floor, roll around, pound your fist a few times while heaving for breath with tears running out of your eyes, while everybody else at the funeral looks at you funny? Or were they simply acknowledging that gee, sometimes you’re going to snicker and while you can avoid the hysterics, you’re just going to have to live with making SOME noise? Which comes right back to the concession you’ve been making all along. Or maybe it’s something in between, where they feel that it’s better to give up and let out a giggle than go through what it takes to suppress it, maybe clamping your hands to your mouth and turning red with the effort. Who knows. I still think we’re all more in agreement than you seem to think we are. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/48 "2011-07-09T15:26:09Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > You know, if everybody’s “misrepresenting” your argument in exactly the same way, maybe it’s not everybody that’s the problem. If you conducted your real life discussion the same way you are here, appearing to be in agreement while insisting over and over that you weren’t, I can see why the people you were talking with dug in their heels and insisted that you can’t control the giggling. Get real. I’m agreeing with some of the statements here, but not all of them. That’s hardly unusual. I agree with people when they say that laughter can’t always be controlled – after all, I said as much in the OP. And I disagree with them when they insist that I was adopting the contrary view. And so forth. This is NOT the same as what you’re describing. **Anaamika** got the point because she read carefully, and because she doesn’t tend to shoot from the hip. Not everyone is as careful. She also mentioned that people sometimes behave as though they lack reading comprehension, and I agree that this tends to happen sometimes in online discussions. I stated very explicitly that I don’t believe laughter is something can be controlled under every circumstance by any individual. If people don’t get that, there’s only so much that one can do to drive the point home. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/49 "2011-07-09T15:35:54Z")
I hate it when _this_ happens to me: I’m standing there, listening to someone speak, and all of a sudden some funny thing pops into my head and I start laughing like a maniac. It just happens and the speaker will not know what he or she has said that was funny, so they look puzzled (as they should). I do my best to try to cover ('Sorry, but something you just said reminded me of a funny incident."), but I know they’re still irritated at me. Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274/50 "2011-07-09T16:15:40Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > **Anaamika** got the point because she read carefully, and because she doesn’t tend to shoot from the hip. Not everyone is as careful. She also mentioned that people sometimes behave as though they lack reading comprehension, and I agree that this tends to happen sometimes in online discussions. I stated very explicitly that I don’t believe laughter is something can be controlled under every circumstance by any individual. If people don’t get that, there’s only so much that one can do to drive the point home. If by “got the point” you meant **Anaamika** agreed with your OP as presented, I agree. The problem is the heart of the OP itself. The thread title: **People can’t control their giggling? I disagree.** Then you go on to concede that there are times you can’t. Either giggling is controllable or it’s not - you’re trying to have it both ways. Your OP basically states, _“I was having a casual conversation with some people who said that giggling can’t be controlled. I took this to mean that they thought you shouldn’t even try - even if it’s inappropriate - because there is absolutely nothing you can do about it”_. I, along several other posters in this thread, have pointed out that you might have taken that a little too literally (see **Jenaroph** above, for example). Apparently, there are enough of us here who know from first hand experience that there are times that no matter what we do, ultimately we will fail at controlling our giggling. Maybe next thread, your thread title should match what you actually say in the body of the post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-cant-control-their-giggling-i-disagree/588274.md?page=2)