Additionalreduplication is often used to express more sincere or expressive laughter (e.g.hahahaha!). In text messaging, a simplehaha can be ambiguous as to whether it expresses genuine amusement, sohahaha is commonly used to express sincere amusement.
1860, Frederick Gerstaecker, translated by Lascelles Wraxall,Frank Wildman’s Adventures on Land and Water, Boston, Mass.: Crosby, Nichols, and Company,[…], page124:
First he regarded the strangers, then his own band, and his mouth was expanded to a still wider grin; his eyes opened to their fullest extent, and at last hehaha’d as furiously and heartily as the worst of the sailors, which was naturally the signal for an outbreak on the part of the islanders.
1908,Field and Stream, page832:
Emett yelled for him, and Jones and Jim “hahaed!”
2014, Rachel Hauck,A March Bride: A Year of Weddings Novella,Zondervan,→ISBN:
Shehaha’d like she ate diamonds for breakfast and flossed with spun gold.
2017, Deborah E. Kennedy,Tornado Weather, Flatiron Books,→ISBN, page17:
Then she shrugged andhaha-ed again and mumbled, “Poor souls,” because she thought she was safe and none of us could comprehend a single word she said.
2021, Ali Stroker, Stacy Davidowitz,The Chance to Fly,Amulet Books,→ISBN:
NatThrowinAwayMyShot: Haha, what?! GoChloGo: Y r uhaha-ing?
Borrowed fromFrenchhaha. The French term attested 1686 in toponyms inNew France (present-dayQuebec); compare modernSaint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!. Usual etymology is that an expression of surprise – “ha ha” or “ah! ah!” is exclaimed on encountering such a boundary. In France this is traditionally attributed to the reaction ofLouis, Grand Dauphin to encountering such a feature in the gardens of theChâteau de Meudon. The English term attested 1712, in translation byJohn James of FrenchLa theorie et la pratique du jardinage (1709) byDezallier d'Argenville:
Grills of iron are very necessary ornaments in the lines of walks, to extend the view, and to show the country to advantage. At present we frequently make thoroughviews, calledAh, Ah, which are openings in the walls, without grills, to the very level of the walks, with a large and deep ditch at the foot of them, lined on both sides to sustain the earth, and prevent the getting over; which surprises the eye upon coming near it, and makes one laugh,Ha! Ha! from where it takes its name. This sort of opening ishaha, on some occasions, to be preferred, for that it does not at all interrupt the prospect, as the bars of a grill do.
A type of boundary to a garden, pleasure-ground, or park, designed not to interrupt the view and to be invisible until closely approached.
1785, Horace Walpole,On Modern Gardening:
The Ha HaBut the capital stroke, the leading step to all that, has followed, was (I believe the first thought was Bridgman's) the destruction of walls for boundaries, and the invention of fosses - an attempt then deemed so astonishing, that the common people called themHa! Ha's! to express their surprise at finding a sudden and unperceived check to their walk. One of the first gardens planted in this simple though still formal style was my father's at Houghton. It was laid out by Mr. Eyre, an imitator of Bridgman. It contains three-and-twenty acres, then reckoned a considerable portion.
1731, Richard Bradley,New improvements of planting and gardening, both philosophical and practical, London, page164:
Haha! or Fossee, are Terms of the same Signification, tho' the First is a new coin'dWord, they mean aDitch, orMoat to Enclose aGarden, whether theDitch hasWater in it, or not, but theHaha, by the Custom of five or six Years, intimates a dryDitch, so regulated by Slopes, and so Deep that it is unpassable. It makes a fine openFence to aGround.
1862, Anthony Trollope, chapter VIII, inThe Small House at Allington:
And then that pair went off together, fighting their own little battle on that head, as turtle-doves will sometimes do. They went off, and Bernard was left with Bell standing together over theha-ha fence which divides the garden at the back of the house from the field.
1993, Elizabeth Gundrey, Walter Gundrey, edited by Jacqueline Krendel,Cottages, B and Bs and Country Inns of England and Wales,Fodor’s Travel Guides,→ISBN, page220:
The estate was cleverly landscaped to give an almost park-like view from the house: copses were planted to conceal buildings,hahas dug to replace fences or hedges.
French term attested 1686 in toponyms inNew France (present-dayQuebec); compare modernSaint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!. Usual etymology is that an expression of surprise – “ha ha” or “ah! ah!” is exclaimed on encountering such a boundary. In France this is traditionally attributed to the reaction ofLouis, Grand Dauphin to encountering such a feature in the gardens of theChâteau de Meudon.
This was the standard onomatopoeic representation of laughter in Old Spanish and Middle Spanish. It came back into use under the influence of English and is no longer considered archaic.
H) Haha (pc) vna de las letras del. A b c. tagalog .|. haha yaon .|.ᜑ . eſta es vna delas letras mas prinçipales deſta lengua tagala y [en la] pronunçiation della con ſiſte mucha parte dela elocuençia y bien hablar, porque ſi por deſcuydoſe pronunçia mal total mẽte mudara el vocablo ſu ſignificaçion, y querra deçir otra coſa, comohobo deſnudo,obo, tos, y otros anſi.
