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  • Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

  • I'm Sam.

  • And I'm Neil.

  • Have you heard this joke, Neil?

  • Question: what's a rat's favourite game?

  • I don't know, Sam, what is a rat's favourite game?

  • Hide and squeak!

  • Ha-ha-ha! Very funny!

  • Well, I'm glad you're laughing because, as we'll be finding out in this programme, laughter is good for you! In fact, laughter is often called 'the best medicine'.

  • And it seems that's really true, medically speaking. Laughing releases anti-stress endorphins into the body and there's evidence that people who laugh recover more quickly from illness, including Covid.

  • Laughing is an essential part of what makes us human.

  • Babies cry straight from birth but the next sound they make, often as young as two or three months, is laughter.

  • And who can hear a baby

  • laugh without laughing

  • themselves? Laughter

  • is catching.

  • But before we start tickling

  • our funny bones, I have

  • a quiz question for you,

  • Neil, and it's no laughing

  • matter. Laughter can be a

  • serious business. In fact,

  • there's a scientific field

  • of study into laughter and

  • its effects on the

  • human body. But what is this

  • study called? Is it:

  • a) gigglology? b) gelotology?

  • or c) guffology?

  • Did you make those words up,

  • Sam? They sound a bit funny

  • to me! I'll say the study

  • of laughter is

  • called b) gelotology.

  • OK, Neil, but you'll be

  • laughing on the other side

  • of your face if you're wrong!

  • Anyway, we'll find out the

  • correct answer later

  • in the programme.

  • Someone who's an expert

  • in the study of laughing -

  • whatever it's called - is

  • cognitive neuroscientist,

  • Professor Sophie Scott.

  • Here she explains to

  • David Edmonds, presenter

  • of BBC World Service

  • programme, The Big Idea,

  • exactly how a laugh

  • is produced.

  • Laughing is a variation

  • of breathing. Like

  • breathing, it involves

  • the rib cage.

  • When you laugh you get

  • these very, very large,

  • very fast contractions of

  • the rib cage. And it's a

  • very primitive way of

  • making a sound, so

  • you're really just

  • squeezing air out in

  • big bouts. Each of

  • those individual

  • squeezes gives you

  • a 'ha!' sound.

  • The 'ha-ha' sound

  • you make when you

  • laugh comes from

  • your rib cage - a

  • structure made of bones,

  • called ribs, inside your

  • chest which protects

  • the heart and lungs.

  • The rib cage works like

  • a drum to amplify a laugh.

  • It's the reason why

  • jokes are sometimes

  • called 'rib-ticklers'.

  • Professor Scott calls

  • this a very primitive

  • way of making sounds

  • because it's simple,

  • natural and

  • essentially human.

  • The word primitive can

  • be used to describe

  • anything relating to

  • the basic way humans

  • lived in their early

  • stages of development,

  • before money, machines

  • or writing were invented.

  • Primitive human noises,

  • like crying and laughing,

  • link to a universal human

  • experience, and this can

  • be seen in the large

  • number of words we use

  • to talk about them.

  • In English, 'chuckle',

  • 'giggle', 'chortle',

  • 'cackle' and 'guffaw'

  • all describe different

  • types of laughter.

  • Right, so how would

  • you describe a

  • 'giggle', Sam?

  • I'd say a giggle is

  • laughing in a quiet but

  • uncontrolled way, like a

  • child who finds something

  • very funny or

  • feels embarrassed.

  • Unlike a guffaw which

  • is when you blast out

  • a very loud laugh, often

  • at something stupid or

  • rude someone has said.

  • But humans aren't

  • the only animals to

  • laugh. We belong to

  • the same family as

  • other primates like

  • chimpanzees, gorillas

  • and orangutans, all

  • of whom laugh.

  • Even rats tickle each

  • other and make squeaky

  • noises like laughter when

  • they play. Here's

  • Professor Scott again

  • to take up the story for

  • BBC World Service programme,

  • The Big Idea.

  • Play is a very important

  • behaviour for mammals - all

  • mammals play when they're

  • juveniles and some mammals

  • play their whole lives,

  • and laughter is a sort

  • of an invitation to play,

  • it s a sign that

  • you re playing.

  • Professor Scott says

  • that laughter is an

  • important social tool

  • for all mammals - animals,

  • including humans, dogs

  • and whales, which give

  • birth to live young,

  • rather than laying

  • eggs, and who feed

  • their young with milk.

  • By laughing, young

  • mammals - sometimes

  • called juveniles - signal

  • that they want to play,

  • and young rats who don't

  • laugh back are more

  • likely to get a bite

  • than a giggle. And a

  • rat bite is nothing

  • to laugh about.

  • What a lot of facts

  • we've learned about

  • laughter, Neil!

  • Yes, we could almost

  • be experts on

  • laughter... 'Guffologists',

  • isn't that what you

  • called them, Sam?

  • Ah yes, in my quiz

  • question I asked you

  • to name the scientific

  • study of laughter and

  • its effects on the body.

  • I'm almost certain it's

  • not 'gigglology' or

  • 'guffology'! So, the

  • answer must be...

  • Gelotology! The

  • correct answer!

  • Well done, Neil, I knew

  • you were good for a laugh!

  • OK. Let's recap the

  • vocabulary from the

  • programme before you

  • think up any more terrible

  • jokes! First, we had

  • rib cage - the structure in

  • your chest which is made

  • of ribs, and produces the

  • sound of a laugh.

  • The adjective primitive

  • relates to the simple,

  • natural way humans lived

  • in their early

  • stages of development.

  • There are different types

  • of laughter, including

  • giggles - childlike laughter

  • in a quiet but uncontrolled way.

  • And guffaw is when you

  • laugh out loud, often at

  • something someone has said.

  • Mammals are animals,

  • including humans, which

  • give birth to live young

  • and feed them with milk.

  • And finally, a young animal

  • which is not fully grown

  • can be called a juvenile.

  • Well, it's been a laugh

  • a minute, Sam, but

  • unfortunately our six

  • minutes are up.

  • Join us again soon for

  • more trending topics,

  • useful vocabulary, and,

  • who knows, maybe some

  • terrible jokes, here at

  • 6 Minute English.

  • Bye for now!

  • Goodbye!

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

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Why laughter is the best medicine - 6 Minute English

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    林宜悉 に公開 2021 年 12 月 31 日
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