1017
Canute
That would be my guess. I have no problem letting go with a belly buster when I find something amusing.
Not to be a complete and utter pissant, but Tennessee is generally regarded as being in the mid (or in some cases even upper) South.
Of course these definitions are somewhat fluid, and you could even make a case for Indiana being a southern state. At least that would explain some of the shenanigans that went on during the 1920s. 
Humm - interesting OP.
I often find things so funny that I’ll fall out of my chair, and be laughing so hard that no sound is coming out (you know that? Like you’re laughing so hard that you can’t inhale enough air to expell enough air to make a sound). Open mouthed, snorting, gufawing, giggling, the whole lot. It’s loud and goofy and absurd.
It’s also pretty unusual, based on the reactions I get which tend to range from delighted surprise to all out horror.
So, I’m not sure why women do that “that’s funny” thing - although many of my girlfriends do - and I’m not sure why I DON’T do the “that’s funny” thing, but I’d be interested in the answer!
I do that sometimes. If someone I like does something absent minded, or intentionally makes a bad joke or something, I’ll generally respond by laughing and then saying “You’re funny.” It’s not at all a wrinkle thing and I don’t think laughing is vulgar. I think it’s just habitual. A personality thing.
Probably because it’s not really funny. When things are funny, people laugh.
I do the “it’s so funny” thing. If asked, I would say it comes from the same place as why I don’t (or very, very rarely–less than once a year) cry. I don’t express strong emotion in non-verbal terms. I do laugh more often than once a year.
So it’s odd to think of the one as a feminine trait and the other as a masculine.
Laughing is not at all a human universal. It’s very culturally determined.
I’ve told this story before, but…
A friend of mine was born and raised in The Democratic Republic of Congo. When I met her father, I was terrified of him, as nothing seemed to make him happy. He was seeing his daughter he hadn’t seen in 10 years, she was having a party to celebrate the life of his dead wife, her mother. There were songs and jokes and stories and everyone had a wonderful time. He never even cracked a smile. Yet the next day, she told me what a great time he had. Turns out men of his social standing do not smile or laugh. Ever. Not even in the privacy of their own homes. She’s 37 years old, and has never seen her father smile.
I laugh a lot. I don’t worry about wrinkles or propriety (AT ALL). I say “that’s funny” in lieu of laughing, or in conjunction with it, often enough that people tease me about it.
For me, I think it’s my logical brain’s reaction to a funny story. When I find something funny, I want to express that I found the incident (or whatever) humorous, and that’s what I do - say it. Nothing to do with femininity, as far as I’m aware. No one else I know does this much.
Moved to IMHO.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
Fair enough. They were on the Alabama/Georgia border, but inside TN proper.
Coincidentally, NoClueBoy, they actually live where Canute had his HQ for a while - and is believed to have done his throne thing - and where his daughter is interred.
Uhm…
In my case, it depends on whether I’m in a “social situation” or not. When I’m alone or surrounded by Geeks Like Me, I’m perfectly likely to laugh until my stomach hurts; when there’s people around that I’m not comfortable with, I’m at work, whatever… I just go into a completely different mode of behaviour. It’s a situation where I have to watch my behaviour, and that kills spontaneity: few things are more spontaneous that a good pee-my-pants laugh.