“🤣 Split One’s Sides: Laugh Until It Hurts! 😂”
To “split one’s sides” means to laugh uproariously, so much so that it feels like your sides might literally split apart. This colorful hyperbole dates back to the seventeenth century.
Historical Tidbit
Thomas Brown used it in Saints in Uproar (1687), “You’d break a man’s sides with laughing.” The word “split” came into use somewhat later. Dickens used it in The Old Curiosity Shop (1840), “He bade fair to split his sides with laughing,” and Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), “I laughed fit to split.”
Related Expressions
- Shake with laughter - To laugh so hard one feels tremors all over the body.
- Rolling on the floor laughing (ROFL) - To laugh uncontrollably.
- Burst into laughter - To start laughing suddenly.
- Laugh one’s head off - To laugh very loudly and for a long time.
- Die laughing - Something so funny that it metaphorically causes death by laughter.
Synonyms
- Bust a gut
- Die of laughter
- Laugh out loud
Antonyms
- Stone-faced
- Deadpan
- Unamused
Humor-filled Quotes
“Humor is the best medicine; it’s plantation fresh, zero calories, and guaranteed to split your sides.” ~Anonymous
Suggested Reads & Watches
- 📚 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (so funny you’ll double over laughing)
- 🎞 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (a definite side-splitting classic)
- 🎵 You’re the One That I Want from Grease by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (laughter isn’t exactly traditional here, but it’s full of joy)
- 💻 Friends Episode: “The One with Ross’s Teeth” (hold onto your sides!)
Proverbs
“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge
“Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.” – Mark Twain
Inspirational Thought: Keep laughing, for laughter is sunshine washing away the winter from the human face.
Farewell thought: May your days be filled with laughter so abundant it threatens to split your sides! 🥳
