And the most-upvoted answers, awesomely and tellingly, have focused on laughter. Laughter rendered in letters and numbers and characters -- laughter that transcends language but also, online, utterly relies on it.

So, how do you laugh, on the Internet, in other languages? Here -- haaaaaaaaaahahaha -- is a starting guide:

Thai: 55555

In Thai, the number 5 is pronounced "ha" -- so instead of saying "hahahahaha," Thai speakers will sometimes write "55555."

Japanese: www

This abbreviation, not to be confused (which is to say, often to be confused) with the one for the World Wide Web, likely originates with the Kanji character for "laugh," 笑, which is pronounced as "warai" in Japanese. "Warai," in message boards and chat rooms, quickly became shortened to "w" as an indication of laughter. And then, much the same way "ha" begat "haha" begat "hahaha," the sentiment became extended -- to "ww" and then "www" (and also, if you're so inclined, to "wwwwwww").

Chinese (Mandarin): 哈哈 or 呵呵

Though laughter is written 笑声 and pronounced xiào shēng, Mandarin also relies on onomatopoeia for laughter: 哈哈, pronounced hā hā, and 呵呵, pronounced he he. Similarly, xixi, 嘻嘻, suggests giggling.

Interestingly, the number 5, in Mandarin, is pronounced as "wu" -- meaning that Thai's "55555" would, in Chinese, be prounounced "wuwuwuwuwu." This is the sound equivalent, a Chinese-speaking redditor points out, of "boohoo" -- meaning that laughter in one language is crying in another. Similarly, since the number 8 is pronounced "ba," Chinese speakers sometimes use "88" to sign off, or say "ba ba" ("bye bye"). Along those lines, should you want to reward someone you're chatting with not just with laughter, but with actual praise ... 8888888888 in Japanese represents applause, since 八 (eight) is pronounced "hachi," which sounds like "pachi pachi," which is onomatopoeia for clapping.

Korean: kkkkk or kekekekeke

This comes from ㅋㅋㅋ, short for 크크크, or keu keu keu -- the Korean equivalent of the English "hahaha."

Spanish: jajaja

In spanish, j is pronounced like the English h, so "jajaja" is the direct analog of the English "hahaha."

Greek: xaxaxa

Same deal.

Hebrew: xà xà xà or חָה־חָה־חָה

Same.

Brazilian Portuguese: huehuehue, rsrsrsrs

Same, with the vowels varying rather than the consonants.

Danish: ha ha, hi hi, hæ hæ, ho ho, ti hi

Same deal.

Icelandic: haha, hehe, híhí

Same.

Russian: haha хаха, hihi хихи, hèhè хехе

Same.

French: hahaha, héhéhé, hihihi, hohoho; also MDR

French uses onomatopoeic laughter variations much like those in English. It also, like many non-English languages, uses the universalized "LOL" to indicate laugher. But French also has a more delightful acronym: The French equivalent of LOL is MDR, which means "mort de rire," or "dying of laughter."





Hat tip and 55555 to Chris Heller.

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