The strange reason why people cover their mouths when they laugh

Our hands have quite the relationship with our faces - the mouth specifically - they spring up to cover our shame, disbelief and fear. Also, growing up most people were reprimanded for talking with their mouths full.

Cover up

Generally speaking, it seems there’s a bit of an obsession with covering the mouth for whatever reason, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But some people (mostly women), tend to cover their mouths when laughing.

For most people, smiling or laughing lights up their face, making them look better. So, it is quite curious why some people would want to hide that. Well, there are theories that might explain this habit.

When you cover your mouth when laughing, you may be unconsciously hiding your obvious reactions while keeping your emotions subtle and shy. This is considered graceful for women in Japanese culture. Because it is a social norm that women in this culture are expected to conform to, many do it without even realizing it.

Hygiene

Culture aside, some people may just be self-conscious or insecure about their teeth the way they laugh, especially if their smiles tend to be toothy. Some may not like the way they look when they laugh, or could have just picked up the habit unconsciously.

Just as it is considered ill-mannered to talk with one’s mouth full, laughing while chewing on food may not be a pleasant sight, no matter how nice you look when you smile. You could also mistakenly spit out the content of your mouth when you laugh. In this case, the polite thing to do would be to cover your mouth.

Some people may cover their mouths when laughing for other reasons or just out of habit. If you catch yourself doing that, you might want to pause and ask why.

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