the.com/snicker
the laugh that escapes when you swore you'd behave during the funeral
means To laugh in a half-suppressed, slightly mocking way, the kind that leaks out through the nose or behind a hand.
from An imitative word — it simply mimics the sound of a stifled laugh, the same way 'snort' and 'snigger' do. It surfaced in English around the 17th century, built on that 'sn-' cluster that clings to so many nose-and-mouth noises (sniff, snort, sneer). 'Snigger' is essentially its twin, and the two have been giggling alongside each other ever since.
- origin
- Imitates the half-stifled snort it describes
- sound first
- Born around 1690 as pure noise mimicry
- snigger sibling
- British English prefers the variant snigger
- social risk
- Often aimed at someone, making it quietly mean
- physiology
- Suppressing it forces air through the nose instead
for instance
snickers bar — mars candy bar launched 1930, named after a horse that belonged to the mars family