linguaphil~e

We know that we can indicate laughter on the Internet in English by merely typing “haha”, but have you ever wondered how other languages indicate laughter in chats, text messaging and Social Media? We’ve compiled a list, just for you!

English – “hahaha”, “LOL”

Spanish – “jajaja”

Arabic – “ههههه” (“hhhhh” – Arabic doesn’t write short vowels, so that could be read as “hahahahaha”)

Thai – “55555″ (“5″ in Thai is pronounced “ha”)

French – “hahaha”, “héhéhé”

Russian – “хахаха” (“hahaha”), “бгггггг” (“bgggg”), “гггггг” (“gggggg”), “олололо” (“olololo”)

Ukrainian – “бгггггг” (“bhhhh”), “гггггг” (“hhhhhh”)

Catalan – “hahaha”

Portuguese – “hahaha”, “hashuashuashuashua”, “rá!”, “kkkkk”, “rsrsrs”

Korean – “ㅋㅋ” (“kk”), “ㅎㅎㅎ” (“hhh”)

Japanese – “wwww”, “ふふふ” (“huhuhu”)

Mandarin – “哈哈哈哈哈” (“hahahahaha”), “呵呵呵呵呵” (“hehehehehe”)

Indonesian – “wkwkwkwk”

Swedish – “hahaha”, “hehehe”, “hihihi”

Norwegian – “hæhæhæ”, “høhøhø”

ça m’est égal

je m’enfiche

laisse tomber (drop it/forget about it)

comme tu veux

disclaimer: this is a reference, not a lesson, so I understand there’s v. little explaining the difference between ところ and ばかり in this graphic or further uses of ところ and ばかり

prouesse (nf) - prowess, exploit

crique (nf) - cove, inlet

moulin (nm) - mill, windmill, water-mill

agrume (nm) - citrus fruit

apothéose (nf) - high point, grand finale

voûte (nf) - vault

béton (nm) - concrete

arcade (nf) - arch, archway

moisson (nf) - harvest, crop

raffiné (adj) - refined, sophisticated

reculé (adj) - remote, distant

désuet (adj) - obsolete, old-fashioned

escarpé (adj) - steep, craggy

sacré (adj) - sacred

[FR] oublier

[EN] to forget

[NL] vergeten

Celebrating New Year abroad? yahootravel posted a helpful, colorfully-illustrated guide on 15 Different Ways to Say Cheers Around the World so you can ring in the New Year with a toast wherever you are.

While studying abroad in Spain, I learned a fun alternative to “Salud” (Health)—“¡Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa’ dentro!” (literally “¡Up, down, center, inside!”).

Quand ta chatte est un champ de bataille.