Ha Ha Ha, No

About

"Ha Ha Ha, No" is an expression that is often featured in reaction images and animated GIFs to dismiss someone else's opinion in a patronizing manner, similar to the use of other phrases like "Ha ha ha, oh wow" and "how about no?"

Origin

The earliest known use of the phrase in a reaction image can be found in an animated GIF uploaded by DeviantArtist^[4] hprince329 on June 11th, 2003. Titled “Hahaha – NO," the image shows a small laughing emoticon that abruptly turns into a serious face (shown below).

Precursor

“Ha Ha Ha, No” has been used as a popular trope^[2] in television shows since as early as 1969, when it was mentioned in the “Silly Job Interview” sketch on the British comedy television show Monty Python’s Flying Circus (shown below).

Spread

On January 24th, 2007, Urban Dictionary^[3] user Flick-X submitted an entry for “hahaha no,” defining the expression as a condescending response to a failed attempt at humor. On February 14th, 2009, YouTuber carter4president uploaded a clip from the television game show Jeopardy!, in which the host Alex Trebek laughs at a contestant’s incorrect answer and says “Hahaha, no” (shown below, left). Within the first five years, the video gained more than 460,000 views and 250 comments. On March 5th, 2010, YouTuber ihatebongos uploaded a clip from the medical comedy-drama TV series Scrubs that shows the character of Dr. Elliot Reid laughing hysterically and saying “No” (shown below, right). In the next four years, the video received over 77,000 views and 60 comments.

On April 1st, 2011, a 4chan^[9] user replied to a math problem thread with two illustrations of Jesus Christ with the captions "Ha ha ha / No" (shown below, left). On September 6th, a Facebook^[5] page titled “HaHaHa, No” was launched. On December 2nd, Redditor SuperNava submitted a two-pane reaction image of a kitten captioned with the phrase “Hahaha / No” to the /r/aww^[2] subreddit (shown below, right), where it received more than 2,000 up votes and 30 comments prior to being archived.

On May 28th, 2012, Redditor youknowwhosucks submitted a post titled "Whenever I'm reading a funny rage comic, and then they say 'le'" to the /r/funny^[8] subreddit, featuring an animated GIF of the robot Devastator from the children's television show Transformers shooting lasers out of its eyes with the caption "Hahaha no" (shown below). Prior to being archived, the post accumulated upwards of 2,600 up votes and 40 comments.

On August 9th, 2012, YouTuber Unrealgamer58 uploaded a clip from the animated television show The Boondocks, featuring a woman laughing before saying "No" (shown below).

On December 10th, Tumblr^[6] user danmyinspiration posted an animated GIF of singer Demi Lovato laughing with the caption "Haha… No" (shown below, left). In the following two years, the post gained over 280 notes. On January 17th, 2013, the amordirection Tumblr^[7] blog posted an animated GIF of singer Zayn Malik from the pop boy band One Direction laughing with caption "No" (shown below, right).

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References