guffaw
a loud and hearty laugh
TRANSLATION
guffaw = das schallende Gelächter --- GOOGLE INDEX guffaw: approximately 2,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
A good GUFFAW goes a long way to relieve stress by increasing feel-good endorphins, easing your stress response and promoting circulation.
(U.S. News & World Report)
---
Janet Reno is a plain-spoken, unfussy 59-year-old woman who tossed back her head with a GUFFAW over a recent tabloid newspaper claim that a majority of surveyed Japanese men would choose her as their companion on a desert island.
(New York Times)
(U.S. News & World Report)
---
Janet Reno is a plain-spoken, unfussy 59-year-old woman who tossed back her head with a GUFFAW over a recent tabloid newspaper claim that a majority of surveyed Japanese men would choose her as their companion on a desert island.
(New York Times)
Did you
know?
guffaw
noun, verb
- a loud and hearty laugh
---
For some scientists, laughing is no laughing matter. There has been some rather serious research on this topic. Greek philosopher Herodotus spent a lot of time analyzing laughing, eventually breaking down people who laugh into three categories:
- those who are innocent of wrongdoing, but ignorant of their own vulnerability
- those who are mad
- those who are overconfident
Arthur Schopenhauer devoted the 13th chapter of the first part of his major work, The World as Will and Representation, to laughter. Even Nietzsche addressed the subject of laughter. All of this is enough to make us chuckle, but probably not enough to make us let loose with a mighty guffaw.
That's because the guffaw is normally reserved for extremely funny situations, the type that make you laugh from the bottom of the belly. But why call such deep, loud and passionate laughing guffaw?
The word is from the Scottish "gawf," which is onomatopoetic, meaning that it’s spelled the way it sounds. You only have to imagine a stout Scotsman hanging around a pub with friends telling jokes and emitting a "gawf" every ten seconds.
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SYNONYMS
belly laugh, deep laugh, howl/howling, roar
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Did you hear that guffaw coming from the conference room? They must be having fun!"
noun, verb
- a loud and hearty laugh
---
For some scientists, laughing is no laughing matter. There has been some rather serious research on this topic. Greek philosopher Herodotus spent a lot of time analyzing laughing, eventually breaking down people who laugh into three categories:
- those who are innocent of wrongdoing, but ignorant of their own vulnerability
- those who are mad
- those who are overconfident
Arthur Schopenhauer devoted the 13th chapter of the first part of his major work, The World as Will and Representation, to laughter. Even Nietzsche addressed the subject of laughter. All of this is enough to make us chuckle, but probably not enough to make us let loose with a mighty guffaw.
That's because the guffaw is normally reserved for extremely funny situations, the type that make you laugh from the bottom of the belly. But why call such deep, loud and passionate laughing guffaw?
The word is from the Scottish "gawf," which is onomatopoetic, meaning that it’s spelled the way it sounds. You only have to imagine a stout Scotsman hanging around a pub with friends telling jokes and emitting a "gawf" every ten seconds.
---
SYNONYMS
belly laugh, deep laugh, howl/howling, roar
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Did you hear that guffaw coming from the conference room? They must be having fun!"
