▪ I. haw-haw, int., n., and a.
(ˈhɔːˈhɔː)
[Echoic; cf. ha ha.]
A. int. An expression of hesitation uttered repeatedly in an affected tone. Also, the representation of loud or boisterous laughter.
| 1834 Seba Smith Maj. J. Downing's Lett. (1835) 160 ‘Major, call back Jany, and Barry, and Amos, and haw-haw-haw’, says the Gineral. |
B. n. The utterance of haw haw; a loud or boisterous laugh, a guffaw.
| 1834 James Robber i, The first indication of his coming was a peal of laughter, a loud ‘Haw, haw, haw’. 1889 A. R. Hope in Boy's Own Paper 10 Aug. 715/3 There was another chorus of haw-haws, which made Ronald's temper boil over. |
C. attrib. or adj. Characterized by the utterance of haw haw as an affected expression of hesitation. Freq. applied to what is taken to resemble upper-class speech.
| 1841 Lytton Nt. & Morn. (1851) 314 (Hoppe) ‘Hush!’ said the stranger, perfectly unconcerned, and regaining the dignity of his haw haw enunciation. 1866 Cornh. Mag. Oct. 464 The affected, lisping, and haw-haw fool. 1867 F. Harrison Choice Bks. (1891) 102 Lounging with that ineffable haw-haw air of your Rotten Row. 1900 Daily News 8 Oct., The Censor was one of those haw-haw officers, who look down upon men like me as unnecessary upon this earth. Ibid. 20 Nov. 3/5 The answer I got was in Mr. Hales's ‘haw-haw’ style. ‘Ah've nothing to dah with Mafeking.’ 1913 R. Brooke Let. 22 Nov. (1968) 535 Weedy Australian clerks, uncertain whether they most despise a ‘haw-haw Englishman’, or a ‘dam nigger’. 1941 Time 27 Jan. 22/1 Declaring that BBC announcers were ‘too haw haw’ in their diction, he is responsible for the nickname ‘Lord Haw-Haw’ given to Nazi propagandist William Joyce. 1953 K. H. Jackson Lang. & Hist. Early Brit. 108 The language..must have seemed..upper class and ‘haw-haw’. 1968 Listener 9 May 615/2 Kuo-yü spoken in the next room can sound just like somewhat haw-haw English. |
Hence haw-ˈhawism, the habit of affectedly uttering haw haw.
| 1867 E. Yates Forlorn Hope x, Forbes would assume a languid haw-hawism. |
▪ II. haw-haw, v.
[f. prec.]
a. intr. To utter haw haw; to laugh loudly or boisterously. b. trans. To laugh at. Hence haw-hawing vbl. n.
| 1834 Seba Smith Maj. J. Downing's Lett. (1835) 160 He step'd up to me..throw'd his head back, and haw-haw'd right out. 1862 Thackeray Philip III. xxxi. 30 It's good to see him haw-haw Bickerton. 1889 A. R. Hope in Boy's Own Paper 10 Aug. 715/3 The other rustics haw-hawed at their master's repartee. 1922 Z. Grey To Last Man x. 226 Some of the gang haw-hawed him. |
▪ III. haw-haw
var. ha-ha n.2