The most used form in the world is the «haha ha“, which simulates the sound produced by laughter. Its variations, such asHehehe“, are also quite widespread. This does not prevent some countries from having their own version, such as “jajaja” (Spanish speaking nations) and “wakaka” (Indonesia), depending on how they pronounce the “R” sound.
In some places, it is important that the laugh is preceded by one or two other letters, such as “ahaha» in Italy. English-speaking countries also use LOL, which stands for “laughing out loud» («laughing loudly»). The acronym was first used in the 1980s.
Some countries that use the traditional “haha ha“
1) Canada
two) USA
3) England
4) Germany
5) Hungary
6) Romania
7) Norway
8) Poland
9) Türkiye
10) Australia
Variations in other cultures
11) Mexico (jajaja)
12) Chile (jajaja)
13) Argentina (jajaja)
14) Spain (jajaja)
15) Greece (χαχαχα)
16) Ukraine (Бугагагага)
17) Russia (xaxaxa)
18) Mozambique (hihihihi)
19) Indonesia (wakakaka)
Around the World in 80 Laughter
20) thailand
How to laugh: 555
In Thai, 5 is pronounced like «ha». For more laughs, put the + sign in front (555+), instead of putting more numbers.
21) Arab countries
How to laugh: ههههه
This laugh, which can be expanded by increasing the number of “little bows” in its middle, comes from the character ه, which in Arabic is equivalent to the letter H. The vowels are not necessary, as they are implied.
22) Israel
How to laugh: חחח
The ח is the equivalent of the h in the Hebrew language. You can also use ההה.
23) South Korea
How to laugh: kkkkkkkkkk
It comes from the ideogram ㅋㅋㅋ, diminutive of 크크크, which reads “keu keu keu” – the Korean equivalent of “haha ha”.
24) Japan
How to laugh: wwwwwwwww
It probably comes from the kanji 笑, which means “laughter” and is pronounced “warai”. On the internet, the word ended up being abbreviated to just the w.
25) Sweden
How to laugh: ASG
It is an abbreviation of «asgarv”, word that indicates intense laughter.
26) Afghanistan
How to laugh: MKM
Abbreviation of «ma khanda mikonom“, which means “I am laughing” in the Dari Persian dialect.
27) China
How to laugh: 哈哈
It is the Chinese ideograms that produce the phoneme “ha ha”. 呵呵 is used for “he he”.
28) Egypt
How to laugh: hhhhhhhhhhhhh
Arabic is also spoken in Egypt, but there is more influence from English. Again, vowels are dropped because they are implied.
29) France
How to laugh: MDR
It is an acronym for «death of laugh”, which means “dying with laughter”.
SOURCES Netymology: From apps to zombies: A Linguistic Celebration of the Digital World, by Tom Chatfield; and websites Russian Lessons, The Atlantic, voxy It is Veritas Language Solutions