What kind of laughter? The triple function of “Hhh” as a contempt, intention, and interpretation marker

The article examines the pragmatic functions of the Hebrew graphic laughter marker “hhh” in a particularly turbulent public-political discursive arena - online readers’ comments to Facebook posts by the two leading contenders for the post of Israeli prime minister during the 2020 election campaign, Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz. We argue that “hhh” fulfills three functions dependent on its co-text, textual position, and length: (1) contempt marker - conveying contempt, ridicule, or disgust, towards a previous comment or post, their authors, or the associated political wing; (2) intention marker - signaling the employment of pragmatic strategies in the comment; and (3) interpretation marker - indicating the deciphering of pragmatic strategies in a previous post or comment. The findings indicate that in all three categories “hhh” is used mainly to taunt the rival political wing, at times by creating an alliance with other commenters at the expense of their common rivals.