If You Type 'HaHa' Instead of 'HeHe,' You're Probably Old

New Yorker writer assesses a new-ish arrival
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 30, 2015 5:52 PM CDT
If You Type 'HaHa' Instead of 'HeHe,' You're Probably Old
   (Shutterstock)

Sure you laugh, but how do you "e-laugh"? Sarah Larson explores the question in the New Yorker. After sussing out the various iterations of "ha," she settles on "haha" as the current "feel-good standard in chat laughter." So why does she keep seeing more and more people writing "hehe" lately? Give blame, or credit, to the young, writes Larson. As one user tells her, it's all about trying to "keep things updated" by avoiding the ha's and, yes, LOL.

Larson sees hehe as “'hee hee,' our conspiratorial buddy, sweetly shortened to 'haha' length in a slightly bizarre way." Her unscientific surveying turns up users who think it might be a little mischievous, even a little evil, and "more covert" than your basic haha. But the line about keeping things "updated" is what struck the 42-year-old Larson: "That’s just what I’d suspected and feared: while I’m ha-ha-ing my way into middle age, younger people have coined a new laugh. Good for them." Click to read her full post. (More laughter stories.)

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