How does one "silently" blast? Again, how can one "silently" blast? As I recall, the question was for a word, not a phrase. Too many words, too cutesy, can distract from the story.
People emit this kind of laugh all the time...puff? He puffed... Puff of laughter? There's also a bit of sarcasm and dismissal in that puff..if you're really laughing, you don't even care if you snort, but this subtle breathed laugh is almost more commentary than it is laughter.. Rather than a one-word name for this kind of laugh, maybe a few words are needed?
I’ve searched long and hard for a word that describes this. I haven’t found one yet, but I’ve come close. These are the closest phrases I’ve come up with: Silently laughed/chuckled — “The girl silently chuckled at the thought of her brother doing such a thing” Small chuckle; tiny laugh — “He let out a small chuckle” Puff/huff of laughter/amusement; amused puff/huff [of air] — “Though her brother was terrible at making jokes, they were kinda funny. Jess let out a huff of amusement as she remembered one of his quips. They were terrible, yes, but funny in their own silly way. Oh, those were the days. If only she could hear her brother make a joke one last time, she would be satisfied.” (haha went a little dark there-)
Yes, isn't it both vexing to no end and amazing that what is probably the word-richest language in existence has no direct word, at least not a common short one if at all, for the brief out-sniff (nasal) or out-gasp (oral)? They're so common, especially in conversation, and exactly the kind of light expressive punctuation one often needs in transcribing it—just two short and completely unremarkable words akin to "He sniffed" now and then. I don't think there's even an unvoiced way to spell either of them as speech, unlike for instance Tch... and Pffft or Pfff, which express a higher degree of engagement. I've used all but one of the suggestions above, with the same dissatisfaction or reservations noted in each quote (whose authors, however, have not been seen in at least the last six months). The exception is that I can't make myself use snort for this. Correct or not, I can't see myself using it for something lacking a porcine or possibly equine sound. "She had an annoying habit of snorting whenever she laughed." (That actually happened.) "...a silent chuckle..." or "chuckled silently" can do service for the out-sniff and possibly at times the out-gasp, but it's already difficult when including such things not to end up with lots of chuckling. The cruel irony is that the out-sniff and out-gasp are a good deal more common in actual interaction than the in-sniff and in-gasp denoted by the basic words. I'm often strongly tempted just to use sniff and gasp, the latter as a noun so that I can tweak it with the verb.
I think anything with an "sn" sound as the the initial noise sounds right: Snickered Sniggered Snorted Snuffed Sniffed No basis on word mechanics. But whenever these words are described, I think of them making the noise through their nose. Actually scratch that; I probably feel this way because laughing through your nose is a mechanic where you stifle the laughter. All of these are sort secretive and stifled laughter.
True enough, though they all layer interpretation over plain description. Else scoff would be much more useful than it is. But come to think of it, "Hfff" could at times be a useful spelling for the most minimal version of the through-the-mouth version. What one really wants is a narrative word that can be used for the briefest of two-word breaks in quoted speech. But failing that, this could work in places. And it could be followed by a gestural break in the quotation. Because huff and puff both have significant drawbacks and limitations.
