The idea that the French have a particular way of laughing is oddly deep-rooted. In fact the top definition in the Urban Dictionary for “hon hon hon” is “the sound of French laughter, in all its nasally glory.”

The “n” isn’t actually pronounced, but it signals how the “o” should sound – more like a “huh” and definitely not “ho ho ho” – that catchphrase is taken.

The sound has well and truly permeated pop culture, no stereotypical representation of a French person seems to be complete without it, from New Zealand comedy show Flight of the Conchords to The Simpsons.

But have you ever heard a French person laugh like this in real life? No, nor have we. 

So where did we get this impression from? 

There doesn’t seem to be an ‘official’ explanation of this, but theories abound.

The most popular is that we in the English-speaking world got the idea from Maurice Chevalier, a French singer and entertainer, whose career spanned most of the 20th century. He made it in Hollywood and one of his most famous songs is “Thank heavens for little girls.”

His strong Parisian accent is pretty much the epitome of the typical French voice that we English speakers love to imitate, “like zees”.

“Maurice Chevalier might on one occasion have – perhaps while choking on an escargot? – uttered a sound that was unjustly mistaken for a laugh,” writes blogger Emily in the Glass. 

“Later, when paired with his accent in English, this sound must have become known as Maurice Chevalier’s French laugh and, as stereotypes go, soon it was simply the French laugh.”

Either way, the laugh made its way into Anglophone culture and has stuck there. It can be heard in Disney’s 1989 film The Little Mermaid, a quintessential childhood film for many.

Chef Louis, a classically grotesque caricature of a Frenchman, even references Chevalier right at the beginning of his song, listen out for the “hon hon hon” at 0:30.