[Vocabulary] hehe,heyhey,hoho/SMILE

[dodonaomik]

In English can I use hehe, heyhey and hoho(when smiling)?
And can I use haha(when laughing:lol?



PS: In Chinese it's very simple that we use hehe that expresses smiling and haha that expresses laughing:lol:.
But this is English forum, so I want to ask the question to avoid error or embarrassment


Sincere thanks!

 

[emsr2d2]

All of your examples suggest laughing to me. We don't have a similar word which we write to denote smiling.

 

[5jj]

We don't use expressions such as those to express smiling, which is a noiseless action.

Actually, we use expressions such as 'ha ha' far less often in writing than many learners seem to believe.


Crossposted with ems

 

[dodonaomik]

We don't have a similar word which we write to denote smiling.

Hmmm...it looks that sometimes there are no corresponding onomatopoeias between English and Chinese
and I ought to avoid using Chinglish in the forum.

 

[5jj]

You can't have an onomatopeiac word for something that involves no sound.

 

[dodonaomik]

Actually, we use expressions such as 'ha ha' far less often in writing than many learners seem to believe.

I find that there is great difference between Chinese forums and this forum
because in general there are many noiseless actions or facial expressions in the former.


I guess that it's just the reason that many Chinese believe "silence better than words" or "facial expressions than words".
Of course in Chinese formal writing generally there are few onomatopoeias as in English formal writing.

 

[emsr2d2]

We have smilies/emoticons which include silent emotions.

= smiling
;-) = cheeky grin
:roll: = exasperation
:shock: = amazement
= embarrassment

There is no written version of those.

For laughing, we use:

haha
ha ha ha
hee hee
tee hee
ho ho ho (although this is usually reserved for Christmas joviality)

 

[Tdol]

You sometimes see people using pseudocode for this:

<grin> and <smile>

It was fairly common a few years ago, but is less used now.

 

[5jj]

I never use these things. But then, the last time I smiled was when I heard my great-uncle had got run over by a bus while he was fishing on a river bank (I inherited his rather fine fishing rod, which was fortunately undamaged), and that was 47 years ago.

 

[dodonaomik]

I never use these things. But then, the last time I smiled was when I heard my great-uncle had got run over by a bus while he was fishing on a river bank (I inherited his rather fine fishing rod, which was fortunately undamaged), and that was 47 years ago.

I spent a long time to understand your words, ah... ...it's really not easy to understand.
To me, I sometimes encounter a few Chinese who are like garbage... ...really like garbage! I cannot learn to
swallow an insult , so I will refute even curse them. But in dilemma or pain I will see interesting news or find some jokes. Happiness is the most important because life is afterall so short! Even I believe in the statement "without smiling without meaning（the meaning of life）".

 

[Tdol]

He's joking- I have seen him smile in real life. ;-)

 

[5jj]

That was a grimace.

 

[Tdol]

It looked genuine when I was saying goodbye.

 

[MikeNewYork]

That's better than a grimace when he is saying hello.

 

[emsr2d2]

That was a grimace.

When I saw it, I thought it was wind.

 

[5jj]

My photograph/avatar shows me whan I was immensely amused by somthing I had just heard (I won't risk offending any members by telling you what it was.) My son, who took the photigraph, maintains that it's the closest thing he's seen to a smile on my face since his mother told me she wanted a divorce.