THE IDEAL LAUGH.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 144, 3 June 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE IDEAL LAUGH.

IT IS LOW, RIPPLING, NATURAL.

How many people know that there is a right way and a wrong way to laugh? There is, for example, the painful

laugh. .That is really agonising io watch. This laUgh is very frequently Soundless, or almost so, but the person indulging in it goes through all the motipns and mftnrierisnis of actually

suffering pain, Thie painful-laugh is tore of the ugliest laughs ‘we have. Then there is another laugh that is altogether wrong. That is the explosive laugh. The laughter is often loud, and it comes in great uncouth gusts. It has the ‘saving grace of naturalness, but is really very unpleasant. The really ideal laugh is the subtle laugh. It is low, rippling laughter, apparently natural, and without an effort, and seldom accompanied by any gesture.

Tlie spontaneous laugh is a good laugh to listen to, particularly when a man laughs it—quick, whole-sou lea laughter that is yet not too loud. The after-dinner laugh is a gentle form of mil th. It is really just. a good-humoured following along with the rest of the company. Often it is little more than a smile "which accompanies a' speaker’s humorous story. All laughter to be at all attractive must first be natural. So then, the ideal laughter of a strong, healthy, iiormal man must reflect his personality. It must be robust, honest and tree.

Just as a person’s voice reflects personalitv, so also does their laughter. A man who is a good sort should have a happy,' contagions laugh. A woman should have a rippling laugh. Is should be low and musical. As a matter of fact, women dp not need, to be taught to laugh as men do. It comes more natural to them. Not because they have a greater share of hiimour, but be"ause they have lighter mora snnshiny natures, and because they use laughter for a greater yarietv of purposes than Jo men. Women laugh in coquetry, and they also use a light laugh to bridge conversational gaps. Women also use. laughter in all their lighter moods.

It is a woman’s nature to laugh, and ns long as -laughter is not insincere one cannot say one sees anything particularly reprehensible in it. Of course, there is the “ Teo heel heel ” of the silly girl, but then on the otb.-. hand there is the “Haw! haw! haw!” of the countrvman, and the “ Ho! ho! ho! of derision.

A good laugh is as "ood for yox phvsically as mentally. To laugh properly you have to use vour lungs and throat and that is good for them. It develops the voire in comnas and brilliancy and promotes circulation. Ethically, laughter is merely an indication ot svmpathv. sensitiveness, adaptation, and assimilation. A person w-ith a sincere ready laugh is one to he trusted, opt the person who does not use his lavyhum function will bear watching. —The " Week-End."