Haaaaaaaaaaaahahahahaha. Or www. Or jajaja. Or MDR.
![[optional image description]](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/shutterstock_78975583.jpg)
Imagine you and I are chatting somewhere and sometime on the Internet. Imagine that, in the course of our conversation, I -- and this may require some extra imagination -- say something utterly, awesomely hilarious. Something like this. Or like this. Or this. Or this. How would you respond?
You could say the obvious thing: "Megan, that is utterly, awesomely hilarious." Most likely, though, you would say something else, something that better reflects a more natural response to my hilarity. Something like "LOL." Or ":-)" Or "ha." Or, if my hilarity is a little more hilarious than usual, "haha." Or, if my hilarity is a little less hilarious than usual, "heh." Or, if I my hilarity is slightly ironic, "hehe." Or, if my hilarity is slightly impish, "teehee." Or, if my hilarity is excessively hilarious in a way that requires some excessive laughter: "hahahaha." Or "haaaaaaaaaaaahaha." Or "hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha."
But, so many hahas, you get the idea: You'd find a way, basically, to convey through textual means the uncontrollable laughter I have provoked.
But: what if we weren't speaking English? What if we were chatting in Spanish, or Mandarin, or Japanese? In an amazing reddit thread this morning, redditors from non-English-speaking countries have been weighing in on a very good question: "what is internet culture like in your first language?"