How To Say 55555 In German

55555, or, How to Laugh Online in Other Languages

Haaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha. Or www. Or jajaja. Or MDR.

Haaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha. Or www. Or jajaja. Or MDR.

Imagine you and I are chatting somewhere and sometime on the Internet. Imagine that, in the form of our conversation, I -- and this may crave some actress imagination -- say something utterly, awesomely hilarious. Something like this. Or similar this. Or this. Or this. How would you lot respond?

Yous could say the obvious thing: "Megan, that is utterly, awesomely hilarious." Most likely, though, you would say something else, something that better reflects a more than natural response to my hilarity. Something like "LOL." Or ":-)" Or "ha." Or, if my hilarity is a little more than hilarious than usual, "haha." Or, if my hilarity is a footling less hilarious than usual, "heh." Or, if I my hilarity is slightly ironic, "hehe." Or, if my hilarity is slightly impish, "teehee." Or, if my hilarity is excessively hilarious in a way that requires some excessive laughter: "hahahaha." Or "haaaaaaaaaaaahaha." Or "hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha."

But, so many hahas, you get the idea: You'd observe a fashion, basically, to convey through textual ways the uncontrollable laughter I take provoked.

But: what if we weren't speaking English? What if nosotros were chatting in Spanish, or Mandarin, or Japanese? In an astonishing reddit thread this morn, redditors from not-English-speaking countries have been weighing in on a very good question: "what is internet culture similar in your first linguistic communication?"

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

So, how do you laugh, on the Net, 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 ane for the World Wide Web, likely originates with the Kanji graphic symbol for "laugh," 笑, which is pronounced as "warai" in Japanese. "Warai," in message boards and chat rooms, apace became shortened to "w" as an indication of laughter. And and then, much the same way "ha" begat "haha" begat "hahaha," the sentiment became extended -- to "ww" and and then "www" (and also, if yous'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 Standard mandarin, is pronounced every bit "wu" -- significant that Thai'southward "55555" would, in Chinese, exist prounounced "wuwuwuwuwu." This is the audio equivalent, a Chinese-speaking redditor points out, of "boohoo" -- pregnant that laughter in ane language is crying in another. Similarly, since the number 8 is pronounced "ba," Chinese speakers sometimes utilise "88" to sign off, or say "ba ba" ("cheerio bye"). Along those lines, should you want to reward someone you're chatting with non just with laughter, but with bodily praise ... 8888888888 in Japanese represents adulation, since 八 (eight) is pronounced "hachi," which sounds like "pachi pachi," which is onomatopoeia for clapping.

Korean: kkkkk or kekekekeke
This comes from ㅋㅋㅋ, brusk for 크크크, or keu keu keu -- the Korean equivalent of the English "hahaha."

Spanish: jajaja
In castilian, j is pronounced like the English h, so "jajaja" is the straight analog of the English "hahaha."

Greek: xaxaxa
Aforementioned deal.

Hebrew: xà xà xà or חָה־חָה־חָה
Aforementioned.

Brazilian Portuguese: huehuehue, rsrsrsrs
Same, with the vowels varying rather than the consonants.

Danish: ha ha, hullo hullo, hæ hæ, ho ho, ti hi
Same bargain.

Icelandic: haha, hehe, híhí
Aforementioned.

Russian: haha хаха, hihi хихи, hèhè хехе
Same.

French: hahaha, héhéhé, hihihi, hohoho; too MDR
French uses onomatopoeic laughter variations much similar those in English. It also, like many non-English language languages, uses the universalized "LOL" to point laugher. Just 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.

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/12/55555-or-how-to-laugh-online-in-other-languages/266175/

Share this post