Are You Laughing or Smiling?

Laughing和Smiling有什么不同?

The verbs "laugh" and "smile" both describe what happens when people are happy. Both words can also be used as nouns.

动词“笑”和“微笑”都描述了当人们快乐时的行为，这两个词也可以用作名词。

In the Encyclopedia of 20th-Century American Humor, Alleen and Don L. F. Nilsen say one difference between smiling and laughing is that laughing is a social event. People are more likely to smile when alone instead of laughing.

在“20世纪美国幽默百科全书”中，Alleen和DonL.F.Nilsen说笑和微笑的一个区别是，笑是一种社会活动，而当人们独自一人的时候往往会微笑。

Laugh

As a verb, laugh means "to smile while you are making a sound from your throat." When writing, Americans often use the words "ha ha" to express this sound.

作为动词，笑的意思是“你从喉咙发出声音时的笑”。在写作中，美国人经常用“哈哈”这个词来表达这个声音。

Now, let’s listen to an example of how to use “laugh” as a verb.

现在看几个例子，学习怎样使用笑这个词。

I laughed at the comedian on television.

电视上那个喜剧演员让人捧腹大笑。

The English language has two noun forms for the word "laugh." Both mean the action or sound of laughing. One is "laugh," which is a count noun. You can make it plural if you wish. For example:

英语中，laugh有两个名词形式，意思是笑的动作或声音。其中一个用法，laugh是一个可数名词，还可以用作复数。例如：

We had a lot of laughs at the cookout yesterday.

昨天野炊，我们笑了很多次。

Then there is another, noncount noun "laughter," as in this sentence: The crowd broke out in waves of laughter.

另外一种用法是不可数名词laughter，例如这句话：人群中爆发出一阵笑声。

Smile

To smile means "to turn up the corners of your mouth silently."

微笑意思是，微微扬起嘴角。

Smiles are more likely to express feelings of satisfaction or good will, while laughter comes from surprise.We laugh when something unexpected happens.

smile更多的是表达满足感或善意，而laughter是由于吃惊，当意想不到的事情发生时，我们用laugh表达。

A smile is "an expression on your face that makes the corners of your mouth turn up and that shows happiness."

微笑是你脸上的一种表情，你的嘴角翘起，显示出幸福的样子。

There is an old saying in English, laughter is contagious. It means that one person laughing can make others start laughing. You also may have heard the saying laughter is the best medicine. That means laughing can make the person doing it feel better.

英语中有句古话，笑是有感染力的，意思是一个人笑可以让其他人也开始笑。你也可能听过这样的说法：笑是最好的良药，那意味着笑能让做这件事的人感觉更好。

We also have many expressions about smiles. You can give someone a smile and make them feel better. But laughing at someone can make that person feel bad. There are many songs about smiles.

也有很多关于微笑的表达。你可以对别人微笑，让他们感觉更好。但嘲笑某人会让那个人觉得自己很糟糕。还有很多关于微笑的歌。

And there are songs about laughter, as in Neil Sadaka's "Laughter in the Rain".

还有一些关于笑的歌，如尼尔·萨达卡的“雨中的笑声”。