Wayne’s Word – chortle

It’s a little nod to Wayne’s World, but instead of ‘party time, excellent’ (if you are aware of the cult nineties classic) I will be diving into one WORD each day. It could be something I learned, something bizarre that happened, a favourite word that I have rediscovered or just a thought that won’t leave me alone.

If you’re joining in on today’s word, feel free to use this tag to connect your post to the series: #WaynesWord

Today’s word is CHORTLE.

A word that sounds as funny as it feels. Chortle means to laugh in a breathy, gleeful way and it is a combination of a chuckle and a snort.

Created by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass, it is a perfect word for those moments when a laugh bubbles up and escapes before you can stop it. It is joy, surprise, and silliness all tangled up in one noise and it is one of my favourite words, although not one I tend to use very often.

I do love when you cannot stop laughing at something silly and no matter how hard you try, you just cannot stop. Sometimes it’s at something very inappropriate too and you laugh that hard that your stomach actually starts to hurt.