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I often see rsrsrs in emails or on the internet. From context, I'm guessing it should mean something like "lol", which is thought to be an acronym of "laughing out loud". But I'm not sure whether rs is an acronym or an abbreviation (maybe of some form of the verb rir), or simply intended to represent the sound of someone laughing or something else entirely.

So, what's the meaning and origin of rsrsrs?

JNat
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Earthliŋ
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2 Answers2

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The "rs" commonly seen in conversations throughout the internet, is an abbreviation of "risos" (laughs).
Depending on how a person pronounces it, it can also sound like a laughing (quite weird, but sounds like one...). Just like "kkkk", "hahaha", and so on.

Just note however that "rsrs" isn't used in Portugal. There, the most common internet laughings are "hahaha" and the recent "kkkk".

Yuuza
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    Em Portugal não se usa rsrsrs. – Jorge B. Jul 16 '15 at 09:52
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    @JorgeB. nem apsokaposkaposk tambem. :) – LucasMotta Jul 16 '15 at 10:14
  • E quanto a "kkkk" e "haushaushaush"? – Yuuza Jul 16 '15 at 10:23
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    Aqui usa-se o "ahahahah" agora recentemente o "kkkkk" vindo do Brasil... – Jorge B. Jul 16 '15 at 10:33
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    @BrunoLopes "haushaushaush" não usamos e até me custa a escrever, tenho de olha para o teclado :D – Jorge B. Jul 16 '15 at 10:49
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    @JorgeB. Então, basicamente, em Portugal as únicas risadas são "haha" e o recente "kkkk"? Nuss, nunca imaginei que nós brasileiros tivéssemos tanta criatividade pra inventar risadas.. XD – Yuuza Jul 16 '15 at 10:54
  • @BrunoLopes que eu conheça sim ;) – Jorge B. Jul 16 '15 at 10:55
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    Eu só acho que seria "risos" e não "risos". Mas acho que isso nem importa e na verdade ninguém nunca se preocupou em saber qual é o "s" que está representado. – Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia Jul 16 '15 at 16:37
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    É, pode ser também. Dos dois jeitos faz sentido. O último S parece indicar que são mais de um riso, e o primeiro que é apenas um riso por vez. :) – Yuuza Jul 16 '15 at 19:25
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    @JorgeB. Aqui no Brasil não tenho visto "haushaushaus" e sim "huahuahua". É mais comunmente usado por jovens. – Centaurus Sep 10 '15 at 15:57
  • @Centaurus foi um Brasileiro que disse isso: http://portuguese.stackexchange.com/questions/376/what-does-rsrsrs-mean/377?noredirect=1#comment603_377 – Jorge B. Sep 10 '15 at 16:22
  • @JorgeB. Não há uma padronização. Eu aposto que existem pelo menos mais meia dúzia de abreviaturas para "rir", "risos", etc... Eu uso rsrs ou kkkk. Alguns amigos meus usam hahaha. Minhas filhas e seus amigos usam huahuahua por vezes. É o que eu vejo, mas cada um tem o direito de inventar sua forma de transmitir o riso. As mais originais e apropriadas certamente vão permanecer e as outras desaparecer. – Centaurus Sep 10 '15 at 16:32
  • Não podemos esquecer do clássico brasileiro "huehuehue". – Alufat Sep 12 '15 at 21:44
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    @ChrisTáfula Hue Hue BR BR – Yuuza Sep 12 '15 at 22:07
  • hahaha dando muita risada, ahuahuahuha morredo de rir quase caindo da cadeira, hehe achou engraçadinho mas nem tanto, kkkkk o mesmo que hahaha, hihihi risada um pouco jocosa ou boba, rs semelhante a hehe, rsrs muitos risos – André Lyra Jan 19 '16 at 18:20
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As a brazilian, I never imagined "rs" to be an abbreviation of "risos".

As far as I know, "rs" is supposed to represent the sound of a rather goofy laughter. It has an effect very similar to "hihihi" - except "hihihi" seems/sounds too feminine, while "rsrsrs" seems/sounds gender neutral. Both are very teenagery.

Imagine you hold back your laughter a bit, like you're going to "hihihi" but instead you hiss at each "rs" - basically just change the "i" from "hihihi" to "s" and there you go, that's the sound.

Sometimes it can be used as rather timid laughter. I use it as a silly laughter with my friends.

P. Rezende
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  • Brazilian is spelt with a capital letter. – Lambie Jun 30 '18 at 15:23
  • Alright, like this then? – Jacinto Jul 03 '18 at 06:30
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    I've been using "rs rs rs" as an abreviation for "risos" for more than 20 years and never came across any hint that it might mean something else. – Centaurus Jan 18 '19 at 16:09
  • i'm pretty sure that "rs" has been arose just as an acronym for "risos" (plural), in the late-90s, the same time when "vc" (você) has also sprouted out. People (we) were used to use it interchangeably "risos" or just "rs" (in emails, ICQ and lots of other chat systems). Years later, it started to be used doubled "rsrs" or written many times, like "rsrsrs" or others. However, people might've connected it later to some sounds of laughing, although it may matches some of those sounds, that isn't definitely its real origin. – Luciano Feb 21 '19 at 21:35