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What is the best way to end an informal sentence (such as a text or over Facebook chat) with haha?

Consider the following options:

  1. It's always bugged me haha

  2. It's always bugged me haha.

  3. It's always bugged me haha!

  4. It's always bugged me; haha

  5. It's always bugged me; haha.

  6. It's always bugged me; haha!

  7. It's always bugged me. Haha

  8. It's always bugged me. Haha.

  9. It's always bugged me. Haha!

  10. It's always bugged me, haha

  11. It's always bugged me, haha.

  12. It's always bugged me, haha!

All of them which end with an exclamation mark are too loud. All the ones which have punctuation between the 'haha' and the word 'me' have a very broken flow. All of the ones with a period on the end look like it's an excessively boring laugh. The first one without any punctuation doesn't have punctuation and seems incorrect.

My only thought was perhaps 'haha' itself could be considered punctuation. Technically 'haha' is an exclamation.

Update: I added 10-12 based on JeffSahol's answer.

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  • The first thing I thought of was a dash. “It’s always bugged me -- haha!”
    – MetaEd
    Nov 17, 2011 at 19:36

6 Answers 6

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Is this a casual, toss-off comment? If so, would put it:

It's always bugged me, haha.

I tend to follow Terry Pratchett on the use of exclamation points: in my opinion, they help if you're working on a Mad Scientist or maniac interpretation.

But since this is Facebook or texting, I am not sure if it really matters.

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  • 3
    I agree. I think I set off haha nearly exclusively with commas, at the beginning and end of sentences. They're coming to take me away, haha!
    – aedia λ
    Nov 17, 2011 at 17:49
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    @aediaλ ...and I'll be happy to see those fine young men in their clean white jackets...
    – T.E.D.
    Nov 17, 2011 at 19:05
  • But do you always use an exclamation mark afterwards?
    – ChrisM
    Nov 17, 2011 at 19:05
  • @JeffSahol Don't you feel the period at the end of the sentence dampens your laugh?
    – ChrisM
    Nov 17, 2011 at 19:11
  • @ChrisM Only when following Pratchett's guidelines, haha!
    – aedia λ
    Nov 17, 2011 at 19:14
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Ending a sentence with ha ha is very informal anyway, so maybe it's a moot point as to how it should be transcribed, since grammar is largely irrelevant at this level.

I sometimes write ha ha or he he at either the begining or the end of forum comments, as an alternative to a smiley. I rarely bother with any punctuation before or after, because syntactically I see it as no different to a smiley.

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  • I agree, it's just the same as a smiley. I also don't know the correct grammar usage for that.
    – ChrisM
    Nov 17, 2011 at 17:49
  • I don't think there is a "correct grammar" (but I do like to match my brackets! :)
    – FumbleFingers
    Nov 17, 2011 at 17:51
  • There isn't a technical correct answer, but I still need to find something consistent which so I appease the OCD tendencies I occasionally have.
    – ChrisM
    Nov 17, 2011 at 19:36
  • I spent nearly 5 mins trying to add a 'haha' at the end of that last comment, I just can't figure it out. Argh!
    – ChrisM
    Nov 17, 2011 at 19:39
  • By the way, the smiley doesn't count as a close bracket as well, consider trying a square-faced smiley and a space (like this :] ).
    – ChrisM
    Nov 17, 2011 at 19:40
0

I'd probably go with either 8 or 9, depending on how genuine the laugh is supposed to be.

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I find the no-punctuation in 1-3 grating and the [period, capital H] in 7-9 inconsistent with the informality of saying haha, which is barely a real word. The exclamation mark at the end makes you sound like a crazy person, unless whatever you're talking about is really very funny (in which case, I suggest "ha!"). That leaves 4, 5, 10, and 11. My favorite is 10. The semicolon isn't terrible but it does seem a bit formal next to the haha. I don't think most people typically end one-sentence texts with periods, but some do as a stylistic choice. If you do, I would also put it after haha for consistency.

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Definitely #12. It needs a spacer (,) and it needs emphasis (!). Otherwise, you wouldn't be writing the 'haha' in the first place. I however, would write 'ha ha!' as this seems more in keeping with the actual verbal expression.

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Haha is anything but standard. Also in haha the punctuation is inherent and therefore easily avoidable unless the structure of the expression/sentence calls for it; "haha," or "haha;" for instance. "Haha-" even.

Most of all, when you have decided to employ a dialogue as unconventional as haha in a sentence, you have already disregarded all grammatical rules; so why bother with convention.

Regardless, I believe haha or any literal voice "on paper" belong in quotes. So, if haha is written as "haha" then that's completely legit, so to speak.

However, to answer your question: It's always bugged me "haha."

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