That Doesn’t Go There—Donald N.S. Unger SpecGram Vol CLXXVII, No 4 Contents Bait Me—X. Kuvador, R. Kialugist, and Pael E. O’Ntolojiss

From Mwahaha to Bwahaha: Some Observations on Evil Laughter

By Lady Esmerelda Rose Beeton-Frasier

Evil laughter is present across the globe and can be observed in all cultures and languages.1 At first it would appear that “Evil Laughter”, or “EL” as it will be referred to, may take on various different phonetic forms, and I propose, after much research2 that EL falls somewhere between “Glee”3 and “Hysterics”.4

EL might start out as Gleeful Laughter (GL), may progress to EL before either ceasing, or escalating rapidly to Hysterical Laughter (HL).5

Those who are well schooled in the art of EL may skip GL and proceed directly to EL, moving rapidly to HL. The best schooled, however, are able to sustain EL for long periods, without including either GL or HL.





The Research

Questionnaires6 were completed and the answers compiled as follows. Even though the questionnaire was quite straightforward, one of the respondents stated that they did not know what EL was. I suspect they lied because:

  1. They hate chocolate or knew somehow that, in fact, I didn’t have any with me.
  2. They did not wish to participate, for some reason, in serious academic work.

The other respondents gave answers that were of no real use. It seems that everyone had their own way of writing EL and couldn’t be bothered with phonetic script. The answers nevertheless ranged from the simple “mwahahaha”/“muhahaha” to the unintelligible “Muhahaha­xaxaxa­jajajaja”. One stated “hehehe”. I suspect they had no comprehension of the question.

Muhahaha/Mwahaha/Bwahaha

I believe that, while “Muhaha” and “Mwahaha” are interchangeable, “Bwahaha” is used less for EL, but more for HL. When used for EL it is probably by Americans or some other people who think that they speak the Queen’s tongue.

To “lol”/“LoL” or say “YOLO”

All agreed that those who make use of EL or EL to HL will not make use of “lol”/”LoL”7 or “YOLO”8 in writing or speech, even ironically. Those who use GL may, however, use it. I am not certain what implications this has for the study—yet.9 It did seem to be a question that would be regarded as “hip” and “with it”.

Non-verbal Communication

The final question on the questionnaire was: What is the most frightening?

  1. Evil laughter
  2. Silence with a baleful stare
  3. Errors in spelling and grammar

After giving the definition of “baleful”, 90% of respondents stated that option (b) was the most frightening. 50% of respondents went on to state that EL could be very comical. Unfortunately none of the respondents chose option (c). This made me lose faith in both humanity and this paper. I believe I will return to studying folklore and writing down peasants’ tales for entertainment and posterity.


1 As far as I could deduce from the limited travel and resources my research grant allowed.1.1

1.1 This being a bottle of water, protein bar and the time it took to walk four blocks.

2 By bribing some neighbours with chocolate. I may have lied about actually having chocolate with me.

3 Not the TV show.

4 Which usually follows experiments that include lightning, at least one minion—possibly named Igor—and, more often than not, pilfered body parts from graveyards/morgues. Smelling salts are normally required after “lack of oxygen” level is reached.

5 I have a vain hope that graphs will get me better grants.

6 Compiled by myself and consisting of eight questions, as I could not bribe respondents to complete more, even with the promise of more chocolate. This is why grants should be larger—then I could have afforded cake.

7 Or the dreaded “lolz”.

8 Apparently “Carpe Diem” contains too many “characters”. Whatever that means.

9 By this time the protein bar was eaten and the water finished. My blood sugar was low.

That Doesn’t Go There—Donald N.S. Unger
Bait Me—X. Kuvador, R. Kialugist, and Pael E. O’Ntolojiss
SpecGram Vol CLXXVII, No 4 Contents