Ha. Hi. Hu. He. Ho. Manual.

Haha. Hihi. Huhu. Hehe. Hoho. Ahaha. Ehehe. Ohoho.

In case you haven't guessed, these are the 'words' most of us young adults, teenagers and kids use very frequently while typing in chats, texts, messages and stuff. Of course, there are more evolved types of unvoiced laughter such as 'kahkahkah', 'kuikuikui', 'muahaha', and the list goes on and on. However, this post shall only focus on silent laughter that has the letter 'h' as the first or second alphabet. Besides, I will endeavour to classify the emotions of the speaker while using any kind of laughter and also name the people who usually use that kind of laughter.

Now, this is my attempt to decipher what another person means when he/she is laughing on a chat box. Feel free to feel differently, as this is just a result of my perception + my experience of the words.

I shall start off with laughter that begins with 'h'.


Haha - the most conventional laughter. Most people sound like that when they are laughing (which means if you want to be unique, don't use this one). Use it to show happiness, joy and a little surprise. Since it's the most conventional one, it does not belong to a specific group of people.


Hehe - More often people say 'hehe' to show a sense of pride and self-satisfaction. Of course, you can also use it to hint 'serves you right', 'yeah, I'm awesome', 'smirk' and similar things. 'E' is a common vowel across many languages, so it's not strange to find people of all origins using 'hehehehe' too.


Hoho - Most commonly associated with the white-bearded, red-cap-wearing old man, or else known as Santa Claus. As the 'ho' sound needs relatively more air and energy to emit, usually people use 'hoho' when they want to show that their mouths are in an 'O' shape. If not, stick to 'haha' and 'hehe'.

interesting image, isn't it?

Hihi - The mouth stretches wide into a 'eee' position and the teeth is more clearly seen with this laugh. Usually used by cute people, cutesy people and people who try to be cute or cutesy. If you think you fall into any of the categories above, go for 'hihihihihi' and add a wink ;) or a smiley :D


Huhu - Used to show embarrassment or uncertainty. However, it's most common among Malays, Indonesians and the sort. Use it on people from other parts of the world and they will think you are going 'huh?' instead.

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Then, there are types where you start with the vowel instead of 'h', such as...

Ahahaha - To portray 'Ah, I see + laughter'. Used to show comprehension. More commonly used by Italians (I noticed).

Ehehehe - To show a little bit of embarrassment and shyness. More commonly used by Japanese and Italians.

Ohohoho - Try saying it. Yes. Ohohoho. That's just plain evil, foxy laughter. Use this to show that you are scheming something (but if you are really scheming something, why show it? :o)

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THE END

P.S: All images (c) their owners.