The Truth About Hahaha and Hehehe

Last July 19, 2010, I sent a text message to my classmate, thanking  him for accompanying me in the LRT and allowing me to ride on his car after we got off the last station. He replied, “Hahaha, walang anuman”. I was baffled by his response because a “hahaha” for me means a loud laugh and I don’t usually use it that much and if I received that same message, I could just have used a “hehehe”. So, I asked my housemates if there is a difference between the two ways of texting a form of laughter in the mobile phone. I was not convinced with their answers so I texted my friends. Below are their compiled answers. I find some the ideas funny and absurd, but all in all, it’s so Pinoy pop culture. (Note: I did not translate some Bisaya terms because they may no longer sound funny)

HAHAHA- when it is really funny and when you are interested

HEHEHE- when it is not that funny or you are bored with your ka-text or you just got nothing to say at all. Kind of an awkward laugh.

HAHAHA- murag nagpaka-hard to get or nikatawa jud ug duro [meaning: grabe] as in LOL

HEHEHE- nagpacute then murag nag-agree sa gikataw-an, then naulaw

HAHAHA- a louder and longer laugh

HEHEHE- polite or a short laugh

HAHAHA- LOL- Laughing out ‘Loud’

HEHEHE- LOL also- Laughing out ‘Light’

HAHAHA- super friends na mo

HEHEHE- dili kaayo mo close, medyo bago lang mo nagkaila or gapacute lang

HAHAHA- means kataw-anan or kantyaw kaayo

HEHEHE- means you are just smiling

HAHAHA- napapahalakhak mo siya

HEHEHE- napa-smile mo lang siya

HAHAHA- katawa jud

HEHEHE- ngisi lang

HAHAHA- comfortable

HEHEHE- shy ako

HAHAHA- for impersonal and distant relationships

HEHEHE- less formal messages, like with friends and people of my age group

HAHAHA- means you had fun sa text

HEHEHE- respetar lang siya kunohay

HAHAHA- bigger laughs/ joke-joke laugh

HEHEHE- sort of giggle/ cute laugh

Guys should go HAHAHA

Pa-cute ang guy if he uses HEHEHE and is used only by girls

HAHAHA- gigitik ug kahimuot jud

HEHEHE- pa-cute

HAHAHA- extremely happy

HEHEHE- may kasamang mischief

Some said that they do not see any difference between the two. Jun Clarito said that “hahaha”, “hehehe” and “hihihi” have the same meanings. He added, “huwag lang siguro ‘huhuhu’ kasi iyak na yun at ‘hohoho’ kasi kay Santa Clause naman yun.” Some gave additional comments like Job Yu who said “It doesn’t bother me naman, I don’t know why even the simplest ‘hahaha’ or ‘hehehe’ means something to other people.”

To conclude, based on the replies of the sample respondents, the difference of using “hahaha” and “hehehe” in texting are attributed to various factors, namely, level of relationships, gender, loudness of the laugh, degree of interest, and other non-quantifiable reasons. To summarize, the usage of “hahaha” and “hehehe” varies among texters and may lead to different interpretations.

For further research, is there a difference between double form “hehe” and triple form “hehehe”? (I remembered a friend in college who kept on insisting that there is a significant difference between the two).