How the Number of the Korean Consonant "ㅋ" Changes the Meaning Recently one of my language exchange partners corrected my post. Since he gave me explanations in Korean, I also left a comment to show my gratitude in Korean as: "고쳐 주셔서 고맙습니다ㅋㅋㅋ(Thank you for your correctionsㅋㅋㅋ). He asked me, "뭐가 그렇게 웃겨요?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ"("What's so funny?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ"). It's true that the consonant "ㅋ" can describe laughter. But I thought he didn't get the real meaning of "ㅋㅋㅋ". The number of "ㅋ" makes big or subtle differences in the meaning. 1)If someone tells me "ㅋ", usually I would think the person is sneering at me. Even if he or she is not, it hardly describes laughter virtually. e.g. A:너 정말 재수없어. (You are distasteful.) B:너도ㅋ (You tooㅋ) 2)Some people say "ㅋㅋ" to describe laughter, but usually we use it habitually when we just don't have anything else to say. For example, to break the ice when we feel awkward with the conversation partner. A:우리 내일 영화 보러 갈래?ㅋㅋ (Why don't we go to see a movie tomorrow?ㅋㅋ) B:그래ㅋㅋ(Sureㅋㅋ) Here, they are never laughing. "ㅋㅋ" doesn't have any meaning really. 3)"ㅋㅋㅋ" is kind of vague. It may mean laughter but is more likely to be used just like "ㅋㅋ". So, actually I also told my partner "ㅋㅋㅋ" because, to be honest, I didn't have anything else to say. 4)Over three would mean laughter probably. The intensity of laughter entirely depends on the number of "ㅋ". If someone say "ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ", the person is not cracking up but can enough mean laughter. If someone says countless "ㅋ", the person must be cracking up. He or she may be in tears. e.g. "앜ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ" "미치겠넼ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ"