He Who Laughs Last ...

Смеяться, право, не грешно над всем, что кажется смешно.
It’s not a sin, of course, to laugh at everything that seems funny.
– Nikolai Karamzin, 1796

Russians have long believed that laughter is the best remedy for whatever ails you: смех – лучшее лекарство. But somehow it seems that Russians don’t always practice what they preach. Could it be that Russians are corrupting their own medicine with the bitter pill of tears? Hence, another laughter-related idiom, “laughing through your tears” смех сквозь слёзы. This is an apt expression, for in Russia, the comic usually borders on the tragic, and vice versa. Therefore, for many of Russia’s most celebrated artists, tragicomedy (трагикомедия) is the most popular genre. When they encounter a tragicomedy in everyday life, Russians say: и смех, и грех (it’s fun, it’s a sin).

But no matter how they may love to laugh, Russians are suspicious of those who laugh without a reason. That is why (Americans take note), Russians, aghast at someone who is always smiling, may say: у него рот до ушей (his mouth has stretched to his ears).

Sometimes, they even repeat this perfectly rhymed idiom: смех без причины – признак дурачины (laughter without any reason is a sign of the fool). Anyone who finds himself labeled as such has no choice but to tell his accuser that he “caught a little laughter in his mouth” (смешинка в рот попала). Those who suffer from this problem are called хохотун/хохотунья. To help them quit giggling, you may be forced to order them to “stop doing he-hes and ha-has” (хватит разводить хиханьки да хаханьки) .

Russians describe a good eye-watering laugh, as “laughing from the bottom of their heart” (смеяться от всей души), or they say they “laughed until they dropped”(смеялись до упаду), or even “blew up from laughter” (лопнуть от смеха).

The best time for laughing until you drop is April Fool’s Day. Since Russians love to play an April Fool’s Day joke (первоапрельская шутка) on friends, colleagues or even relatives, it is wise to heed the warning to “never believe anyone on April first,” – Первого апреля никому не верь.

For those of you planning your own April Fool’s Day jokes, be sure to think twice before involving your superior in any way if she or he happens to be a former communist apparatchik. Don’t forget how Russians rephrase the famous saying хорошо сме­ется тот, кто смеется последним (he who laughs last, laughs best): хорошо смеется тот, кто смеётся без последствий (he who laughs without consequences, laughs best.) The tens of thousands of innocent people who served up to 10 years in Stalinist labor camps for making puns on the Leader’s name or his thick Georgian accent, testify to the expression’s bitter accuracy.

Sadly, Russia’s rulers have never let the хиханьки and хаханьки laugh without consequences. The idea of the ruler’s invincibility to satire stems from historic times, when, except for court jesters and clowns, most Russians were never allowed to “he he and ha ha” at the Russian rulers’ expense. Even after the 1917 Revolution, poking fun at the Soviet regime could have deadly repercussions. Hence, the famously macabre wordplay: юмор – это когда страшно хочется смеяться; а сатира – это когда хочется смеяться, а страшно, which could be translated as “humor is when you want to laugh terribly, satire is when you want to laugh, but it is too terrible.” Or, as the Russian comics like to say “смеха боится даже тот, кто ничего не боится (“laughter scares even those who fear nothing”).