What do these phrases mean?
Laugh and the world laughs with you
die laughing
laugh your head off
laugh all the way to the bank
laugh up your sleeve
Thanks very much!!
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 6
2
Laugh and the world laughs with you: People prefer to spend their time with happy people.
Die laughing: Figurative, it means to laugh so hard that your stomach starts to hurt and brings tears to your eyes. You might hear people say "Oh my God, I'm going to die" while they're laughing so hard.
Laugh your head off: Pretty much the same as die laughing.
Laugh all the way to the bank: You made a lot of money with little effort.
And I've honestly never heard the expression "laugh up your sleeve". Maybe someone else can help with this one...
1
Laugh and the world laughs with you is related to "smile and the world smiles with you" and means that is you are happy and joyous, the world around you will be more joyous.
To die laughing means to be laughing uncontrollably. As though when you laugh so hard you can't catch your breath you may actually suffocate.
Laugh your head off is also a way to say laughing uncontrollably. It could also be "laugh you socks off".
Laugh all the way to the bank means you've earned a lot of money doing something others would do. For example, garbage collectors can make a lot of money but most (Americans) wouldn't be willing to do that job. It could be said that "you might not think much is trash men, but they laugh all the way to the bank." Related is "cry all the way to the bank" which is used in the exact same way but the cry is used ironically.
To have a laugh up your sleeve means to be laughing inwardly. Perhaps you are in a situation where it would be inappropriate to laugh and so you keep a straight face but you gave a laugh up your sleeve
1
'Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone', is a quote from Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
Basically it means when everything is good, you have friends happy to enjoy your company but when things go wrong you may find these 'friends' were not true friends.
Laugh your head off, is an expression that just means you laughed really hard; so hard your head nearly fell off.
Laugh all the way to the bank. Perhaps an idea or invention that someone thought was crazy but actually made you a lot of money.
You laugh up your sleeve when you are trying to hide your laughter, however it's not something I have heard.
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