Why do i snort when i laugh

When someone makes me laugh, I will snort.

It’s been this way for a fair few years now, and I don’t know when it started and I very much don’t know if it will ever end.

But what really grates me is the people that make fun of my snort. It’s a part of my laugh, it’s a sign that I find you funny, and more importantly, it’s a sign that I’m happy.

I am probably about to snort here

Making fun of someone’s laugh is literally like stopping them from expressing their joy – this is not an exaggeration, and anyone with an ‘ugly’ laugh will agree, until you decide that you don’t care what people think, laughing almost becomes an ordeal.

My laugh is a cackle, it is ridiculously loud, ridiculously high pitched, sometimes ridiculously OTT, but will always, at some point, involve some kind of snort. Sometimes, it will come early on, like a burst of joy breaking through the room. Sometimes, it’ll come later in the laugh, when I’m struggling for oxygen and I literally can’t breathe. Sometimes the entire laugh will just be a snort. Short and snappy, and always for sure, gets a lot of attention.

Laughing away

Usually my laugh has a mixed response. Some people say ‘aw that’s cute’, and some people are horrified. Normally, when someone has never heard me laugh before, I will get some form of comment, or some more laughter at my expense.(I actually don’t mind this reaction) I’ve got used to it now, but for a while it was a bit like yeah okay, this is my laugh but please stop laughing at my laugh.

I’ve been compared to a pig, I’ve been told to stop faking it, and I’ve been told my laugh is horrendous.

But what kind of person comments on a laugh type, I mean literally, you are killing my vibe here. Comparing me to a pig when I laugh is not funny, nor is it original, and people are damn lucky I can take a joke and join in, because that can be seriously harming to a self esteem.

My sister has a nicer laugh than me

The worst reaction I’ve had is someone telling me no guy would find me attractive because of my laugh. Like wow, okay, you’re pinning my entire potential love life future on a snort. Like for one, who cares, and for two, shut up. I don’t want to try and hide my snort for the sake of a bloody guy.

The best kind of reactions are shock, but then more laughter at the hilarity of my laugh (because yes, I am bloody hilarious, even my laugh agrees) and then more laughter, until we become best friends over the state of my laugh. It’s fun, it’s nice, and it means I am not at all self conscious about the noise I can’t help.

Basically what I’m trying to say here, is by telling someone their laugh is ugly, or by saying you are literally a pig for how you laugh, is ultimately detrimental to their happiness. Laughter is a way of expressing joy, and no matter how ridiculous you may think it is, it’s natural and it’s mine. I don’t want to have the fear about laughing around new people, because some idiot had the audacity to comment on it a few weeks ago.

It’s a laugh people, get over it.

What's your opinion on people who snort when they laugh? from AskReddit

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People snort when they laugh because they are also exhaling through the nose. The snorting sound, similar to snoring, is caused by an obstruction in the airway as the breath is exhaled.

Researchers have studied laughter to find a range of sounds produced by people as they laugh. A United States study found that the type of laugh often varies by gender. Women tend to laugh in a sing-song or voiced manner about half the time while men grunted or snorted about two-thirds of the time. Specifically, men snort about a third of the time while women snort about one-quarter of the time.

If you’ve ever tried to stifle a laugh and had it backfire into an explosive snort in the middle of a class or meeting, you probably wondered, “What on earth just happened?” Or, maybe you’re a person who just laughs this way all the time—with your joy at a hilarious joke being expressed through an adorably pig-like sound or small snorts accenting your peals of vocal laughter—leaving you slightly self-conscious every time it happens.

Well, whatever the case, the first thing you should know is that you are not alone in your snort-laugh. According to Vanderbilt University’s Vocal Acoustics Laboratory, which recorded and cataloged more than a thousand “laughter bursts” in a range of styles (including “song-like” and “grunt-like”), it estimated that 25% of women and 33% of men make a “snort-like laugh.” These sort of “unvoiced” laughs (as opposed to the more traditional “voiced” ones of giggles and chuckles), were more common in men, and though the subjects were all American, Jo-Anne Bachorowski, who led the study, told New Scientist that the findings likely applied to other cultures and that, “I suspect that culture shapes the circumstances in which we use laughter rather than its features.”

The physics of laugh-snorting come down to the fact that you are exhaling air through your nose, rather than through your mouth. It’s much like snoring, with air being restricted in your nose or throat, creating something called “airflow turbulence.” When air moves in or out (in the case of an intense laugh, the air can do both quickly, almost like hyperventilating as the laugher tries to catch their breath), it causes vibrations in the surrounding tissues, resulting in the snort sound we know and love—or find horribly embarrassing.

A less scientific explanation comes from winemaker Lambrini, which broke down different types of laughter and what it revealed about the person creating it. A spokesperson for the organization said of those who make a laugh through their nose that, “This kind of super-suppressed laugh can be the result of years spent in a career where silence or keeping quiet is the norm, leading to a form of self-suffocation. This need for uber-controlled behavior from a jolly character with a strong sense of humor often leads to this kind of swift physical meltdown that includes bending forward or hiding the face plus lots of dabbing of the eyes.”

If you are someone who laugh-snorts and would rather not, you can focus on opening your mouth and redirecting the air that way, consciously closing off your nasal passage to ensure you have a “voiced” laugh instead of a snorting, unvoiced one.

But consciously changing your laugh can be much harder than it might seem. Laughter is often reflexive and changing it can be like trying to stop yourself from being ticklish or startled, or at the very least may result in some awkward attempts and the prevention of your enjoying the thing you were laughing at in the first place.

The best way to manage a snorting laugh may just be to embrace it. As Mary Poppins tells us, “Some people laugh through their noses…Some people laugh through their teeth.” And more than likely, a snort-laugh is one that will get others laughing, too.

And however you choose to laugh, remember that laughter is always healthy. For proof, see these 20 Health Benefits of Laughter—No Joke!

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