How To Laugh Online In 20 Languages

Blog

31 March 2022

By Sophia Williams

Unsplash: Abstral Official

Besides a simple “haha” or a cheeky “hehe” could there be other ways of expressing laughter? Hmmm. *thinking emoji*

There are many ways of expressing laughter via text in English-speaking countries like LOL (laugh out loud), LMAO (laughing my apples off), ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing), teehee (hehe), and so on. But do you ever wonder how the rest of the world laughs?

Before you check out our guide on how to laugh online, read our story Fighting Cancer with Laughter in Spanish, Korean, Italian, German, and more to learn how laughter is good for your health.

Ready to LOL your way around the world?

1. Japanese – www

No, no “www” in Japanese doesn’t refer to the World Wide Web. “Www” is derived and abbreviated from the repeated Japanese word “warai” which means laugh in English. 笑 is another way of saying haha.

Cartoon characters welcoming the new year by playing music

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2. Thai: 555

The number 5 is pronounced as “ha” in Thai. Therefore, 555 means “hahaha.” 555 is equivalent to the English expression of LOL.

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3. Korean: kkk (ㅋㅋㅋ), keukeukeu, hhh (ㅎㅎㅎ)

The Korean consonant ㅋ meaning “k” which has the same sound as the laughing “ha.” When used online, both “hhh” (ㅎㅎㅎ) and “kkk” (ㅋㅋㅋ) represent laughter.

Giphy / The Swoon

4. Russian:xaxaxa, axaxax, haha

In Russian, the letter “x” is equivalent to the sound “h” or “kh” so xaxa = haha and xaxaxaxa = hahahaha. Axaxax = hahaha. Haha = haha.

Giphy / NickRewind

5. Spanish: jaja

In Spanish, “J” is pronounced as “H.” So laughing in Spanish is expressed as jajaja..

Giphy / Muffin & Nuts

6. Hebrew : חחחח

חחחח = hahaha.

Giphy / Netflix

7. Chinese: 哈哈, 呵呵, xixi, hei hei, 233

Laughter in Mandarin Chinese is pronounced as xiào shēng. But 哈哈 means haha, 呵呵 means hehe or typing “xixi” or “hei hei” also express laughter. Or, if you want, you could use “233” because on the popular website and chat forum Maopu, emoticon #233 is laughing!

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8. Greek: χαχα (xaxa)

The letter “x” in Greek sounds like “h” so xaxaxa = hahaha.

Giphy / Jamkoo

9. Brazilian Portuguese – huehuehue, rsrsrsrs, kkkk

In Brazilian Portuguese, laughter can be represented in different ways: huehuehu = hahaha, rsrsrsrs = hahaha, and kkkk = hahahaha. “Rs” is short for risos which means laughter and “kkkk” is short for the laughing sound of “kakaka.”

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10. Danish – haha, hi hi, hæ hæ, ho ho, ti hi

Laughter in Danish can take several forms but they all mean the same thing which is “hahaha.”

Giphy / Identity

11. Icelandic: haha, hehe, híhí

Haha = haha. Hehe = haha. Híhí = haha.

Giphy / NBC

12. French: hahaha, héhéhé, hihihi, hohoho, MDR, PTDR

French people type MDR which means “mort de rire” which translates to “died of laughter” or LOL. Some people also use PTDR which means “broken by laughter.” Pretty extreme! Héhéhé = hahaha. Hihihi = hahaha. Hohoho = hahaha.

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13. Italian: ah ah ah

In Italian, they start with an “a” instead of an “h,” so ah ah ah = hahaha. Or just go with the usual hahaha.

Giphy / Nick At Nite

14. Swedish: (asg), hahaha

Asg is short for “asgarv” which means roars of laughter or intense laughter. Asg = LOL.

BUT… no one ever really uses “asg” because Swedes just write “hahaha” or sometimes “hehehe” or “hihihi” or “hohoho”.

Edit: Shoutout & big thank you to Henrik, with 46 years of experience being a Swedish guy for the quick note about how to illustrate laughter in Swedish the right way. 😇 slang.

Giphy / Abba

15. Indonesian: wkwkwkwk

Wkwkwkwk = laugh out loud

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16.Norwegian: hæhæhæ, høhøhø

Hahaha = hahaha. Hihihi, hehehe = hahaha but in a cutesy way.

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17. Ukrainian: ахахахах, азаза

Ахахахах = hahaha. Азаза = hahaha but in a sarcastic way.

Giphy / Bravest Warriors

18. Turkish: kdkdkdkdkd, sjsjsjsjsjsh, asdfasdfadf

Oh, they have lots of fun with this one! The Turkish way of expressing LOL is typing random letters on the keyboard. Kdkdkdkdkd = LOL. Sjsjsjsjsjs = LOL.