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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
Smile shortly?
Hi 
So this issue has actually bothered me for a long time. It came up again while writing a story so I decided to get to the bottom of this.
I'm looking for a verb or something of a sort. What do you call _the expression one makes when he smiles and passes air trough his nose (this is usually done quickly and out of amusement)_? I think everyone knows what I'm talking about, at least I know I do this dozens of times a day, usually while browsing Twitter or something like that.
There is a verb for this in my native language but when I try to translate it to English, all the dictionaries give me the verb 'sneer', which doesn't seem right to me since I've understood sneering isn't good-willed and made out of contempt rather than amusement. The other, not so common suggestion I got was 'smile shortly'. Is that right? How would you describe it?
Thank you so much for your help in advance, this has troubled me for a while and it's a verb I would use and need a lot so I really appreciate whatever help I can get.
So this issue has actually bothered me for a long time. It came up again while writing a story so I decided to get to the bottom of this.I'm looking for a verb or something of a sort. What do you call _the expression one makes when he smiles and passes air trough his nose (this is usually done quickly and out of amusement)_? I think everyone knows what I'm talking about, at least I know I do this dozens of times a day, usually while browsing Twitter or something like that.
There is a verb for this in my native language but when I try to translate it to English, all the dictionaries give me the verb 'sneer', which doesn't seem right to me since I've understood sneering isn't good-willed and made out of contempt rather than amusement. The other, not so common suggestion I got was 'smile shortly'. Is that right? How would you describe it?
Thank you so much for your help in advance, this has troubled me for a while and it's a verb I would use and need a lot so I really appreciate whatever help I can get.
Top answer
Consider snort . [link]
- Consider snort .
- [link]
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7 Answers
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something along the lines of "pushing (?) breath through the nose in a short, silent laugh"
"laugh in a short burst of breath through the nose"
"laugh silently through the nose"
"silent laugh by a short burst of breath through the nose"
"silent laugh through the nose"
Maybe there is something more elegant or even conventional. If snort is too "rough".
"laugh in a short burst of breath through the nose"
"laugh silently through the nose"
"silent laugh by a short burst of breath through the nose"
"silent laugh through the nose"
Maybe there is something more elegant or even conventional. If snort is too "rough".
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AnonymousWhat do you call _the expression one makes when he smiles and passes air through his nose (this is usually done quickly and out of amusement)_? II don't think this is a natural sign of amusement in British or American cultures.
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Thank you for these. I actually was hesitant to use snort since it indeed was a little too rough in my opinion.
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I know this is an old thread, but I came across this while trying to find the answer to this same question - it's making me crazy! In Finnish, there's a verb "hymähtää", which is like... everywhere! A parent might do it when a child shows them a picture - done in little amusement and a lot of fondness, but not really derisively. It's an expression which may happen between friends, spouses, fam
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