真的会笑死吗？Laughing could kill you

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, where we bring you an entertaining topic and six related items of vocabulary. I’m Neil… and those guffaws you can hear are coming from Tim.So what’s so funny, Tim?
欢迎收听六分钟英语，节目中我们会献上有趣的话题以及六个相关的单词。我是尼尔，你听到的狂笑声来自蒂姆。什么事这么有意思，蒂姆？
Can you pass me a glass of water?
能给我递杯水吗？
Yes, OK, here you go.
没问题，给你。
It was just something our producer said before I came into the studio.A guffaw by the way is a loud laugh that you can’t control...
就是我进演播室之前我们的制片人跟我说的一些事。顺便说一下，guffaw（狂笑）是指你不能控制的高声大笑。
So while Tim laughs his head off – and that means to laugh very loudly for a long time – I’ll introduce the show. Today, Tim, we’re talking about laughter and how it could kill you…
当蒂姆捧腹大笑，也就是长时间大笑的时候，我来介绍今天的节目吧。今天，我们将谈论笑以及笑怎么会致命。
Oh come on, Neil! That’s not funny! Laughing is good for you – everyone knows that!
拜托，尼尔！这一点也不搞笑！笑对你是有好处的，每个人都知道。
Well, not when you laugh like that, Tim! You’re bright red in the face, you’ve got tears streaming down your face.And you nearly choked on a glass of water!Choke means to stop breathing because something is blocking your throat by the way. Now, without laughing or choking, can you please tell me how many times a day the average adult laughs? Is it…a) 17, b) 70 or c) 700?
当你这么笑的时候，就不是了，蒂姆。满脸通红，脸上都笑出了泪。你差点被一杯水呛到！Choke（呛，窒息）是指因为有东西卡在喉咙里导致无法呼吸。不要笑，也不要被呛到，你能告诉我，平均成年人每天笑多少次？a) 17次， b) 70次，还是 c) 700次？
Hmm. Surely it depends on what type of person you are?
这取决于你是哪种人吧？
Maybe it does.That’s why I’m asking about the average number of times Tim, so just make an intelligent guess.
也许是。所以我问的是平均次数，所以机智的猜一次吧。
OK, well I laugh a lot so I’m going to say 70 times a day. 700 times seems like you’d be laughing all the time… But you’ve worried, me Neil – I know we sometimes say, I nearly died laughing– but nobody does actually die laughing, do they?
我笑的挺多的，所以我猜一天70次。700次的话似乎你就一直在笑了。但你吓到我了，我知道我们有时候会说，我要笑死了，但没有人真的笑死，不是吗？
Well, I think the risk of dying of laughter is probably low – but in theory, what happens when we laugh is potentially dangerous!Let’s listen to cognitive neuroscientist Sophie Scott talking about what happens when we laugh.
我觉得笑死的风险可能很低，但理论上，当我们笑的时候发生的事有潜在的危险。让我们听听认知神经系统学家索菲·斯科特谈论当我们笑的时候会发生什么。
Laughter – in a competition for control over your ribcage in your brain between laughter and breathing and speaking, and laughter always win. And laughter just takes those same muscles and it squeezes them – eh eh eh eh– and the air goes – out out out out – and notably it does not want to let you breathe in.It’s trying to kill you.It’s quite dangerous.
笑和呼吸、讲话争夺大脑中对胸腔的控制，笑总会赢。笑只是带动那些相同的肌肉，挤压他们，然后空气排出，很显然没有让气体进入。这会致命。这很危险。
So when you laugh a lot your diaphragm– that’s the sheet of muscle below your lungs – contracts and squeezes the air out of your lungs.
当你笑的时候，膈膜，肺下的肌肉收缩，将空气挤出肺部。
This makes it hard to breathe – which is why you were gasping for breath earlier, Tim! And that’s why laughter can kill you!
这造成呼吸困难，这也是为什么之前你上气不接下气的原因。这也是为什么笑会致命的原因。
Gasping means having difficulty breathing.Well, I’ve caught my breath now – I didn’t die– and I think it’s fair to say, Neil, that laughter is good for you. When you laugh, your body releases happy hormones… And according to some research, people feel less pain as a result of having a good laugh.
喘气是指很难呼吸。我现在喘过气了，我没死，我觉得公平的讲，笑对你有好处。当你笑的时候，你的身体会释放快乐的荷尔蒙。根据一些研究，人们在开心的大笑之后感觉痛苦减少了。
So scientists are saying laughter is a sort of natural painkiller?
所以科学家们说笑是一种天然的止痛片。
Apparently, yes. They’ve done research where they make people laugh, and then test their pain levels afterwards.And they found that if people only chuckle a bit it doesn’t act as a painkiller, but if you laugh a lot, it does.
很显然，是的。科学家们进行研究，让人们笑，接着测试人们的痛苦水平。他们发现人们轻笑时并不会有减轻痛苦的效果，但如果大笑时，会有这种效果。
So a chuckle sounds like this [chuckles].Chuckling means to laugh quietly.So you need belly laughter then – great big guffaws?
chuckle是指这么笑。轻笑是指安静地笑。所以你需要捧腹大笑，狂笑？
That’s right. A guffaw is pretty much the opposite of a chuckle.I was guffawing earlier in the show. Would you like to demonstrate your own guffaw, Neil?
没错。狂笑是轻笑的反义词。在节目最初我就在狂笑。尼尔，你要不要展示一下你的狂笑？
[hearty guffaw]
（发自内心的狂笑）
Fantastic – can I try pinching you now, and test whether you feel any pain?
不错。我现在能不能掐你一下，看你能不能感到疼？
No, you can’t, Tim. It’s time for the answer to today’s quiz question.I asked you: How many times a day does the average adult laugh?Is it… a) 17, b) 70 or c) 700?
你不能这样，蒂姆。是时候看今天问题的答案了。我问你：平均成年人每天笑多少次？a) 17次， b) 70次，还是 c) 700次？
I said 70…
我说的是70次。
Sorry. The right answer is actually 17 – less than you thought I’m afraid, Tim.But children laugh on average 300 times a day.
不好意思。正确答案是17次，比你想的少多了。但孩子们平均每天笑300次。
That’s a big difference! You see, Neil, we all need to laugh more. You shouldn’t be trying to tell us that laughing is dangerous.
这差别好大啊。你看看，尼尔，我们都需要多笑一点。你不应该试图告诉我们笑是危险的。
Maybe you’re right.So let’s move on and go over the words we learned today. The first one is guffaw – which is a loud laugh that you can’t control...
也许你说得对。我们接下来回顾一下今天学到的单词。第一个是狂笑，是指你不能控制的大声笑。
Neil surprised us with his deep guffaw.
尼尔的狂笑声惊到我们了。
Next up – number two – to laugh your head off – means to laugh very loudly for a long time.
下一个，第二个单词是捧腹大笑，是指长时间的高声笑。
It’s a really funny movie – you’ll laugh your head off!
这真的是一部很有意思的电影，你会捧腹大笑的！
OK – number three – choke means to stop breathing because something is blocking your throat.
好的，第三个单词，呛，是指因为有东西卡在喉咙里而无法呼吸。
I nearly choked to death on a cheese sandwich.
我快被芝士三明治噎死了。
Poor Tim – you should eat more slowly!Diaphragm is our next word, and that’s the sheet of muscle separating your lungs from your stomach. We use our diaphragms for breathing, talking, and laughing!
可怜的蒂姆，你应该吃的慢一点。膈膜是我们的下一个单词，是指肺部和胃部之间的较薄的肌肉。我们利用膈膜呼吸、讲话和大笑。
Do opera singers have more powerful diaphragms than other people?
戏剧家的膈膜是不是比其他人更有力？
I don’t know the answer to that, Tim. So number five, which is gasping, which means having difficulty breathing.He was gasping for breath as he swam to the surface of the swimming pool.
我不知道，蒂姆。第五个单词是喘气，是指很难呼吸。他游出泳池时上气不接下气。
But gasp also means to be shocked or surprised by something.For example, I gasped in astonishment when I heard Neil laugh.
gasp也指被某事吓到，震惊到。例如，当我听到尼尔大笑时，我被惊到了。
Our final word is chuckle which means to laugh quietly.
最后一个单词是轻笑，是指安静的笑。
The audience chuckled through the show but they didn’t seem very amused.
观众们从头到尾都是轻笑，因为他们看起来没有被逗笑。
Oh dear. Well I hope our audience has been amused today.If you’re looking for more laughs, then please check out our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages. You may find something to make you chuckle or guffaw there.
希望我们的观众今天被逗笑了。如果你想寻找更多的欢笑，请查看我们的Facebook， Twitter， Instagram 和 YouTube主页。你会找到一些让你轻笑或大笑的内容。
Bye!
再见！