On Laughter

Defining Things

Laughter as defined by Merriman Webster-to show emotion (as mirth, joy, or scorn) with a chuckle or explosive sound. Editorial comments: Really, MW, the first definition of laughter is mirth followed a bit too closely by scorn. And is it really an explosive sound?

a) In a sentence. John walked down the street wearing a pair of plaid pants that were decidedly out of season. Nevertheless, he was aware that the pants were considered unfashionable but he found himself not particularly troubled in the matter as the more pressing type thing was that his shoes were rubbing at his heels in such a way as to make them raw. Also, his girlfriend had just left him, and he was locked out of the apartment on account of her new beau and had no way to access his shoe closet to find something more appropriate. Upon seeing him in the ridiculous plaid pants several children engaged in explosive sounds that he interpreted as derisive laughter.

b) To find amusement or pleasure in something.
She had perfect white teeth. This was the first thing that any normal sort of person would notice about her. She was moving a piece of ice around in her mouth in a deft manner. Rain was making grey puddles in the street, pigeons, always full grown, weaved and bobbed like boxers between the trash cans. At around seven the happy hour started to wind down and people came by to pick up spouses and boyfriends, but at least three of us just kept watching her perfect white teeth from across the table. "Porcelain minus the price tag," was a fairly apt description. At some point, with the three of us literally hanging on every word as the saying goes, she said something about an old co-worker who'd undergone a sort of deep end breakdown that made us all laugh.

C) To become amused or derisive. (Glad to see that we have options on this one).

The red paint was chipping from the wall revealing exposed wood. The dog was sitting on the porch watching a butterfly or a moth. The dirt road was lined by poplars that were at least twice the age of the dog. In the evening, a fly landed on the dog's nose, and he let it sit there for upwards of an hour before twitching his nose. The dog in this paint chipped house with rooms full of light could not find anything amusing or derisive. He engaged in very little laughter.

Examples:

What are you laughing at?
He was laughing at the peculiarity of her hat and the way she crossed her legs when she became upset.

The audience was laughing hysterically?
All artists desire is approval. The audience, somehow aware of this themselves in their daily charades on the bus and in the shower, in the daily water cooler talk, in never quite feeling themselves, never at home, felt a strange kinship with the sad comedian and laughed hysterically.

I've never laughed so hard in my life?
Patently untrue. The years was 1976. We were riding on a train through green hills striped with corn and ribbons of water. We were talking about the names of other people's children and the name Ginger came up, which sent you peeling into laughter for no explicable reason. Soon I was doubled over as well, and I remember touching your leg with two fingers on my right hand and wondering if you noticed. That was the hardest you've ever laughed.

I couldn't stop laughing when I saw what he was wearing?
Really, the whole ensemble was ridiculous. I suppose you would have had to have been there, but if you were, rest assured, you'd have laughed your ass off.

I laughed out loud when I saw him?
It was more of a yelp, and the majority of the mirth was kept inward. It was on the street near dawn, the cobbles all wet with morning dew and shopkeepers hosing down sidewalks. A few battered roses lay in the street, and after I tipped the driver and stepped out into the morning, she laughed.

He laughed so hard I thought he'd die laughing?
Refer to Steven Millhauser's, modern short story master, Dangerous Laughter for further remonstrances on the perilous nature of laughter.

The movie was hilarious. We laughed our heads off?
The movie was passably good. All around us that night seemed to be couples. Couples every damn place you looked. Couldn't a pair of old friends catch a movie without feeling like they were strangers in a strange land? Bleh. Coupling. The two of us had sworn it off years before in a lengthy conversation that took place by the ocean where gulls flew in from the horizon and pecked at sand all afternoon. I suppose that was our first date.

"I've never seen anything so ridiculous," he laughed.
Please refer to Alby the racist dragon for further instances of how one should appropriately insert a laugh reference. Ex: Laughed the boy.

Facts:

Middle English, from Old English hliehhan; akin to Old High German lachēn to laugh
First Known Use: before 12th century

From Wikipedia: It is in most cases a very pleasant sensation. (Thank you kind sirs, I was wondering what I was feeling. I rarely laugh).

and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback.[2] This may account in part for the popularity of laugh tracks in situation comedy television shows. (Nothing can account for the abject stupidity/annoyingness of laugh tracks in a sitcom)

Laughter is anatomically caused by the epiglottis constricting the larynx. The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called gelotology. (I'm thinking of becoming a geltologist on the grounds that I'm fairly certain that I could get folks to conflate it with geology, who would then suspect that I have a good job).

The most interesting quote followed by a picture that did not make me laugh:

"Laughter is a mechanism everyone has; laughter is part of universal human vocabulary. There are thousands of languages, hundreds of thousands of dialects, but everyone speaks laughter in pretty much the same way.”

Here is a picture of an elephant laughing. (Allegedly, the laughter, not the picture of the elephant, which is evident below).