笑
xiào
The face curving upward: 笑
The picture The corners of the mouth bend upward and the whole face opens along that line. 笑 curves the face up and open; 哭 lets it collapse and go wet.
Where the picture shows up in 笑
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the line appears briefly
她笑了一下，没说话。
tā xiào le yí xià, méi shuō huà
She smiled a little and said nothing.
Mouth corners lifting once and settling back, lips never parting
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laughter breaking out
大家听完都笑了起来。
dà jiā tīng wán dōu xiào le qǐ lái
Everyone laughed once they heard it.
A room where several faces open upward at the same moment the story ends
起来 adds the sense of breaking out
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aimed at a person
别笑我，我第一次做。
bié xiào wǒ, wǒ dì yī cì zuò
Do not laugh at me, it is my first time.
One face grinning at clumsy hands while the other head lowers
A person right after 笑 makes it laughing at them
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doing it with a smile
他笑着把钱还给我。
tā xiào zhe bǎ qián huán gěi wǒ
He gave the money back with a smile.
Mouth still curved up as the bills are laid into your palm
笑着 rides along with another action
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what pulls the line out
这件事说出来真好笑。
zhè jiàn shì shuō chū lái zhēn hǎo xiào
This is really funny once you tell it.
As the story comes out, the listeners' mouth corners lift on their own
好笑 names the quality that draws laughter
All of it in one picture
笑 is one curve bending upward. Let that line appear and vanish and it is a small smile; let it rise on several faces at once and laughter has broken out. Aim the line at one person and it becomes mockery that stings, and leave it hanging on your face while you do something else and you did that thing smiling. When a story pulls the line out of people by itself, it is 好笑, funny.