# Why do woman laugh hysterically?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 21, 2002, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958 "2002-09-21T06:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lizabeth92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecd19e/32.png) [@Lizabeth92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizabeth92)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/1 "2002-09-21T06:40:02Z")
Hi there. I would just like to comment on the “Why do woman laugh hysterically?” question. It’s funny that you should use that wording. The root word “hyster” is actually the greek (and scientific) word for uterus. That is why male doctors of the past described an ill woman as “hysterical”. :eek: Just something to think about ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/2 "2002-09-21T12:49:42Z")
Hi and welcome to the SDMB! It helps if you include a link to the column in question, so we can all get on the same page, so to speak. The column is actually Part 2 of [What mountain is depicted in the Paramount logo? Why do women laugh hysterically?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020104.html). ---
**Author:** ![Lizabeth92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecd19e/32.png) [@Lizabeth92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizabeth92)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2002, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/3 "2002-09-22T09:18:11Z")
Good to know. I’ll keep it in mind next time. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/4 "2002-09-23T06:33:56Z")
Regarding question 2, i.e. women laughing hysterically, I think I have to go with response, do women laugh hysterically? Any more than men do? I think first you must prove your assertion before looking for a cause, no? (Which is probably why Jill responded how she did.) ---
**Author:** ![tmwster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/57b2e6/32.png) [@tmwster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tmwster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2002, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/5 "2002-09-26T23:56:52Z")
I can’t speak for men, but yes, women do laugh hysterically. Some of my best times have been helpless, uncontrollable giggling with friends for no good reason, until tears roll down our faces, stomachs hurt, gasping for breath, then, just when I thought I’d gotten it under control, someone else starts again, and it’s contagious, like yawning, and everybody goes off again! Why? I have no idea. But getting the giggles is one of life’s rare pleasures, and one of those few silly, pointless, pleasurable things that we actually take with us from childhood. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/6 "2002-09-27T06:23:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TMWSTER \* > \*\*I can’t speak for men, but yes, women do laugh hysterically. Some of my best times have been helpless, uncontrollable giggling with friends for no good reason, until tears roll down our faces, stomachs hurt, gasping for breath, then, just when I thought I’d gotten it under control, someone else starts again, and it’s contagious, like yawning, and everybody goes off again! \*\* As a man, I can say that, yes, I have laughed like that. Granted, most of the times that I did, I was under the influence of cannabis, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/7 "2002-09-27T11:27:13Z")
As a man, I can attest to having had laughing fits that wouldn’t stop. And not under the influence of any mind-altering substances. Now admittedly there was a start to the laughing fit, some joke or set of jokes to get it rolling, at which point it took on a life of its own. My point was do women do this more so than men? I’ve never walked across a group of women just bowled over laughing. Haven’t passed any women at bus stops who broke into a fit of unstoppable giggles. No meetings have been interrupted by women suddenly unable to keep a straight face. Anybody got any hard data on frequency of uncontrolled laughter in women vs. men? ---
**Author:** ![tmwster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/57b2e6/32.png) [@tmwster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tmwster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/8 "2002-09-28T06:55:58Z")
That’s because we don’t get the giggles around men. Usually it’s about men… Hey, Jill was right! I’ve never seen men having group laughing hysterics - in the absence of mind-altering drugs. Never heard of it. Never seen the question empirically addressed, either. I would hypothesize that women willing to admit to having the giggles, without the influence of mind-altering drugs, outnumber men (willing to admit the same) by 50%. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/9 "2002-09-29T20:13:29Z")
So what about uncontrollable laughing fits among mixed groups? Although most of those, admittedly, have been prompted by sleep deprivation, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/10 "2002-10-01T20:17:01Z")
Because it’s _funny!_ ---
**Author:** ![misseuropa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@misseuropa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misseuropa)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-woman-laugh-hysterically/128958/11 "2002-10-02T09:55:53Z")
I’ve seen men laugh hysterically in mixed company…get tears in their eyes, fall down, double over, roll into a ball, etc. would not know if they do so when in the company of men (I _am_ mixed company). I dunno, maybe I just tell a better than average knock knock joke.