Tinkly Laugh

[DwarfPlanetFiend]

I see this phrase frequently on Mumsnet but I've never managed to quite work out what a "tinkly laugh" should sound like?

I've sat in the living room for the last few minutes trying to do a laugh that was tinkly, and the dogs are giving me strange looks.

Can anyone link me to a video of someone doing a tinkly laugh?

In my head, wind chimes are tinkly, but I can't come close to making that sound.

Am I right in thinking it's an onomatopoeia? Maybe tinkly actually has a meaning I'm not aware of? Perhaps I'm giving this too much thought...

To me it's an annoying little false high pitched giggle.

It's bonkers to me that a site used mainly by women, supposedly to support other women, is full of women being advised to confront situations with a tinkly laugh and a head tilt, as if we live in Stepford Wives land and all is well in the world if you behave like that. What the fuck does that even mean?

The "I'm too good for you laugh".

Tinkly laughs, head tilts etc…great if you want to look unwell in a potential variety of ways, not so much if you’re attempting effective communication or direct confrontation. It’s such strange advice.

An ungendered alternative might be the non-committal "mmm" with slight nod of the head. In the kind of prickly situations where tinkly laughs are advised, a woman responding blandly can be read as confrontational - we are not in that situation to evaluate the social politics, only to escape it - while gentle laughter is seen as playing nicely.

Are sure that this "head tilt and tinkly laugh" advice is not meant to be a bit tongue in cheek?
That's how I have always viewed it!!

I always read it as "hollow" or "fake" but now you mention it that's just from context - I have no idea what it means. nor would I ever try to diffuse confrontation by laughing in an obviously fake way, for that matter.

It's not a laugh it's an in your face piss take!

It's a really really stupid phrase.

Think Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter films.

Same here, I’ve always thought it was a joke.
But I have been tinkly-laughed at IRL, by a healthcare professional who probably just didn’t know what to say or thought I wasn’t serious about what I was telling her. It was absolutely enraging to be dismissed like that and I’m sure she realised that from the icy look I gave her.

For me the ultimate tinkly laugh (and irritatating) is the actress Joanna Page as Stacy in Gavin and Stacy.

I don’t know if Joanna does it in ‘real life’ or if it’s just Stacy’s laugh.