View source for Ha Ha!

{{Catchphrase
|title = Ha Ha!
|image = [[File:Ha Ha.jpeg|250px]]
|Character = [[Nelson Muntz]]
|Reason For Saying = Laughing at another character's misfortune
|Reason for Saying = Laughing at another character's misfortune
|First Heard = "[[Bart the General]]"
}}

'''Ha Ha!''' (sometimes spelled '''Haw Haw!''') is [[Nelson]]'s catchphrase and distinctive laugh. Nelson says the laugh with the emphasis on the first "Ha," so it sounds like "HA-ha!"

Nelson usually uses the laugh when something bad happens to another character. Sometimes, after he uses the laugh, he says why he is laughing at the person. For example, he says, "Ha ha! Your dad's not handy!" to [[Bart]] after his ten-speed bike (which [[Homer]] had assembled) fell apart while Bart was riding it.<ref>"[[I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot]]"</ref>

Sometimes Nelson laughs for so long at a time that his voice gets really tired and croaky.<ref name="The Simpsons Movie">''[[The Simpsons Movie]]''</ref>

Nelson seems to think that using the laugh gets him off the hook if he happens to cause something bad to happen to another person. For example, Nelson pranked Bart into falling out of a tree and used the laugh after Bart hit the ground. It turned out that Bart had broken his leg. When [[Milhouse]] pointed out that Bart was really hurt, Nelson protested, "I '''said''' 'Ha-ha'!"<ref>"[[Bart of Darkness]]"</ref>

Nelson has been known to use his laugh in other media, such as on [[Facebook]]<ref name="Loan-a Lisa">"[[Loan-a Lisa]]"</ref> and carving it in wooden letters in shop class.<ref name="500 Keys">"[[500 Keys]]"</ref>

== Variations ==
=== Reversed ===
When Nelson laughs at [[Homer]] while he (Homer) is having a chili-pepper-induced hallucination, Homer hears the laugh with the emphasis reversed: "Ha-HA!"<ref>"[[El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer]]"</ref>

=== Four "Ha"s ===
{{Noncanon}}
When Nelson appears as a young {{W|Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven}}, his laugh has four "Ha"s and he sings it so that it sounds like the opening notes of {{W2|Symphony No. 5|Beethoven|Beethoven's Fifth Symphony}}: "Ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa, ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa!"<ref>"[[Margical History Tour]]"</ref>

=== Question ===
Sometimes Nelson will start the laugh, and then partway through realize that the joke is actually on him, and the laugh comes out sounding like a question: "Ha-HA?" <ref>"[[Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood]]"</ref>

=== Battle Cry ===
Nelson uses his laugh as a battle cry when he helps [[Bart]] and [[Lisa]] defend their box fort from a horde of American Shipping Services delivery people.<ref>"[[Rome-Old and Juli-Eh]]"</ref>

=== Canadian ===
The [[Canadian Nelson]] says "Hoo Hoo!"<ref>"[[Boy Meets Curl]]"</ref>

=== Irish ===
The Irish Nelson says "Har Har!"<ref>"[[In the Name of the Grandfather]]"</ref>

=== Sign ===
[[Bart]] performed a skateboard trick and wiped out by running full tilt into the side of the school bus. Nelson, who was on the bus, held up a sign in the window reading "HAW HAW!"<ref>"[[Coming to Homerica]]"</ref>

=== See-Saw ===
When Bart jumps on the see-saw and the trash bag on the other side lands on him, Nelson says "See-Saw!" in the same way as "Ha Ha!".<ref>"[[The Debarted]]"</ref>

=== Facebook ===
Nelson trips up [[Facebook]] founder {{Ch|Mark Zuckerberg}} in a roller-skating rink. Zuckerberg falls and hurts himself and updates his status on Facebook to "is in intense pain". Nelson replies, posting "Haw Haw!"<ref name="Loan-a Lisa"/>

== Uses by Other Characters ==
*[[Mrs. Muntz]] has been known to use the laugh.<ref name="The Simpsons Movie"/>
*Nelson laughed at a {{ap|Ian|very tall man|tall man driving a Volkswagen}}. The man got out of his car, confronted Nelson and lectured him. He then turned the tables on Nelson by making him walk down the street with his pants pulled down around his ankles while everyone in [[Springfield]] laughed at him.<ref>"[[22 Short Films About Springfield]]"</ref>
*[[Bart]] was the only guest to attend Nelson's birthday party. The next day on the school bus, Nelson began treating Bart like his new best friend, much to Bart's discomfiture, and [[Lisa]] laughed at Bart.<ref>"[[The Haw-Hawed Couple]]"</ref>
*When [[Springfield Elementary School]] had a medieval festival, Nelson laughed when [[Mrs. Krabappel]] announced that [[Martin Prince]] would be the king. Mrs. Krabappel, for her part, said that Nelson would be one of the king's guards, and laughed at him when he looked shocked.<ref>"[[The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star]]"</ref>
*When Bart had a string of pranks backfire (they ended up '''helping''' people instead of causing trouble), [[Reverend Lovejoy]] laughed at Bart when he grumbled that every time he tried to do evil, he ended up doing good.<ref name="500 Keys"/>

== Appearances ==
{{Incomplete}}
{{Scroll|
*{{ep|Bart the General}}
*{{ep|Marge in Chains}}
*{{ep|Bart Gets Famous}}
*{{ep|El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer|(variation)}}
*{{ep|22 Short Films About Springfield}}
*{{ep|Saturdays of Thunder}}
*{{ep|Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"}}
*{{ep|The Parent Rap}}
*{{ep|Rome-Old and Juli-Eh|(variation)}}
*{{ep|Simpson Tide}}
*{{ep|Margical History Tour|(variation)}}
*{{ep|The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star}}
*{{mov}}
*{{ep|In the Name of the Grandfather|(variation)}}
*{{ep|Coming to Homerica|(variation)}}
*{{ep|Boy Meets Curl|(variation)}}
*{{ep|Postcards from the Wedge}}
*{{ep|Moe Letter Blues|(opening sequence)}}
*{{ep|Loan-a Lisa}}
*{{ep|Moms I'd Like to Forget}}
*{{ep|500 Keys}}
*{{ep|The Ned-liest Catch}}
*{{ep|Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart}}
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Catchphrases]]