Hahaha vs.

Hehehe
I'm a big real-life laugher, and in recent years, in e-mails, chats, and texts, Ive become a big "haha"-er. You say something hilarious, Ill write a
few "ha"s. Thats how I e-laugh. I realize that this isnt especially dignified. My "haha"s make me look the way I do in party photos: openmouthed, loud, a little vulgar. Writing "hahaha" makes you look deranged, but, then again, so does laughing. Ive accepted this state of affairs,
and my friends have, too, for the most part. I like a good-faith representation of how much laughing were doing and how hard were doing it.
Some of my friends are above itthey dont "ha" much or at all, which makes me self-conscious. They accept an amusing back-and-forth as a
normal course of events and press on hilariously, without a lot of ha-ha goofery. I cant do that. Even among those regal beagles, I have to laugh
away.
The terms of e-laughter "ha ha," "ho ho," "hee hee," "heh" are implicitly understood by just about everybody. But, in recent years, theres
been an increasingly popular newcomer: "hehe." Not surprisingly, its being foisted upon us by youth. What does it mean?
Lets start with the fundamentals. The basic unit of written laughter, which weve long known from books and comics, is "ha." The "ha" is like a
Lego, a building block, with which we can construct more elaborate hilarity. It sounds like a real laugh. Ha! The "ha" is transparent, like "said." If
youre chatting or texting, a single "ha" means that a joke has occurred, and youre respectfully tipping your hat to it, but thats all it deserves. If I
say something hilarious and I get one "ha," its a real kick in the teeth. If I make a mild
observation, a "ha" is just great.
The feel-good standard in chat laughter is the simple, classic "haha": a respectful laugh.
"Haha" means youre genuinely amused, and that maybe you laughed a little in real life.
(The singsong Nelson Muntz-style "ha ha," of course, is completely different we dont
do this to our friends. Theres also the sarcastic "ha ha," a British colleague reminded
me: hes used to reading "ha ha" as "Oh, ha ha," as in, Arent you a wag. "But Im
learning to read it as good," he said. Poor guy.) "Hahaha" means that youre really
amused: now youre cooking. More than three "ha"s are where joy takes flight. When
youre doing this, youre laughing at your desk and your co-workers can hear you, or
youre texting with both hands, clacking and laughing away. Somebody has been
naughty and fun: a scandalous remark, a zinger, a gut laugh, the high-grade stuff. If
things get totally bananas, you might throw a few "j"s in there, because youre too
incapacitated by joy to type properly.
I tend to put spaces between my "ha"s, but, if Im laughing and typing like a house afire, I
leave them out. If Im about to lose my marbles, Ill use all caps, maybe an exclamation
point, but at that point exclamation points are mostly superfluous. My phone has a "haha"
autocorrect that turns a reasonably good laugh into a deranged mess an incoherent
hahhhahaahahhh or a crazy HAHAHAHAHA and if I hit send before catching it, I send
a retraction. You need to be judicious with your all-caps honest about how violently
youre laughing and how sane you are.
There are other terms in the lexicon. "Heh" is for a sort of satisfyingly good point, a nice moment shared, with a possible hint of down-home
vulgarity. "Ho ho" indicates that someone needs a mild scolding after a bad joke, as when a friend mentioned "the Genesis stuff" and I, knowing
that he meant Noahs ark, typed something about Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel. That was beneath me, and I deserved "ho ho," or worse. (My
friend who often uses a single "ha," a "heh," or a "ho ho" is also my friend who is most reluctant to high five. If you get a high five or a "ha ha" out
of him, its a red-letter day. If he ever wrote "hahaha," Id take him to the emergency room.) "Hee hee" is cute and conspiratorial. Hee hee, were
gossiping in the corner! Hee hee, he texted me! Hee hee, isnt life grand! Its similar to "tee hee," which is extremely cute. Possibly too cute. If
youre saying "tee hee," youre in love, beautifully giddy, or up to no good. You might need to take it down a notch.
Then theres the mysterious "hehe." "Hehe" is a younger persons e-laugh. My stepsister has used it, and shes a person who also says "hiiii"
but, reassuringly to me, shes also one of the best hahahahaha-ers in the business. A friend whos in his thirties and savvy, with friends of all
ages, uses "hehe." I find it charming hes a perfect speller, and hes a lively, tidy writer, and his "hehe"s are a strange mystery. I know what
they mean: friendly, somewhat sneaky giggling at a shared joke. But why the single "e"?
I consider "hehe" to be the "woah" of laughter an odd but common enough misspelling of a common term of social communication. I think its
"hee hee," our conspiratorial buddy, sweetly shortened to "haha" length in a slightly bizarre way. Is it more a masculine "hee hee" literally a
bunch of "he"s? Is it a squished-up "heh," with some filigree? Is it a cross between "haha," "hee hee," and "heh"? I asked around.
First, I asked people my age and older. (Im forty-two.) A TV writer said, " Hehehe reminds me of Scooby-Doo. Unless its heh as in
hepatitis?" Good point: Scoobys laugh is a sneaky, musical series of "hee-hee"s. And hes no speller. (I dont think its heh as in "hepatitis.") A
writer and professor visiting the office said that his students use it, perplexing him. He imagines it sounding like a lofty "Hee-hee-hee!," which, as
he pronounced it, was an airy la-di-da sound that evoked brandy snifters and drollery. He, too, has to remind himself to read it as standard
giggling.
Then, the nitty-gritty: the hehe-ers themselves. One user said that she thought of "hehe" as "more of an evil giggle and less of a straightforward
crack-up." Thats definitely a hee-hee. Her friend thinks of it as "a more covert laugh" and pronounces it "heh heh," and said that it can be "evil or
private and shared." Was it like "hee hee" and "heh heh" smashed together? I asked. Yes, it was, she said. An adventurous writer in his midthirties agreed that it was a mischievous laugh, pronounced "heh heh," and said that he uses it to indicate that hes being "super-casual," and as
a "sort of knot to tie off a back-and-forth exchange." If he senses that theres a "small amount of awkwardness" in the exchange, he uses
"hehehe" to dissolve it or to inoculate both parties against it. He waved his hands around while describing this, and I imagined a baker using
frosting to cover imperfections in a cake.
My savvy friend whose use of "hehe" provoked all these questions said that "hehe" is one of his favorite words. He pronounces it "heh heh," to
indicate mild amusement "without having to resort to emoticons, LOLs, or ROTFLs." He said that "haha" indicates "more serious amusement,"
and adds extra "ha"s for "more serious mirth." He wrote, "There is no such thing as "hehehe" in my vocab, though." Noted. Another young
"hehe"-er thinks that its "hee-hee," doesnt know where he picked it up, and enjoys that it helps him avoid older terms like "hahaha" and "LOL."
"Have to keep things updated," he wrote me in a chat.
Thats just what Id suspected and feared: while Im ha-ha-ing my way into middle age, younger people have coined a new laugh. Good for them.
Theyre "heh-heh"ing to professors who hear "hee-hee"ing; theyre being conspiratorial with fortysomethings confused by the terms of the
conspiracy. Im just glad were all having a good time. If youll excuse me, Im off to watch "Hee Haw."
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/hahaha-vs-hehehe