gigglefit

Probably should be a noun, but often used as a verb. A sudden attack of giggling. It may be short, terminating in an embarassing snort, or extended, resulting in painful laugh cramps in the abs and face.

When something strikes you as funny, and you start giggling... and it becomes near impossible to stop. And when you do, the slighest thing can start it going again, making it very difficult to keep from doing it for any length of time.

It's odd, because a gigglefit doesn't have to start with something extremely funny. It may not even be very funny at all, enough to usually cause a chuckle and then you forget about it. But at the right time, you end up unable to prevent those giggles.

They always seem to occur at the totally wrong time. There's nothing worse than being somewhere where laughing or giggling is inappropriate, and you just can't help doing it...

I am prone to gigglefits...

We had these times, riding in the back seat of our family car, when we would look at each other and burst into laughter, for no apparent reason. Not the kind of smallish laughter, but that kind that makes you cry for no reason other than the fact that your sides hurt so bad that that is the only thing you can do. After a minute or two, Mom would get pissed, or try to at least, and turn around and tell us to be quiet. Only, she couldn't do it, she started laughing too. So, she would turn around and try to stifle her laughter while my father would look at her from the driver's seat. Soon, she would just be in hysterics and, of course, Dad had to get in on the fun. This is the best way to start out a family vacation.