henk, henk, henk

November 1, 2006 11:37 AM

What character, in what book, laughed by going "henk, henk"

This laugh is a running joke between me and my sister but neither of us can remember what book it is from.

My impression is that the character is possibly a lecherous old man. The book may be a young adult sci-fi/fantasy from a prolific author like Terry Pratchett, or possibly not.


Googling "henk, henk" gives me 7million hits, all in Dutch. The answer to this question will never just come to me in a eureka moment, it is not on the tip of my tongue. Help me oh, great Hive Mind!

posted by bobobox to writing & language (12 comments total)

Well, not exactly what you described, but there was a rather grumpy female teacher in one of the Harry Potter novels that said "hem, hem" all the time.
posted by aclevername at 11:42 AM on November 1, 2006

This is conjuring images of the muppets, but I can't put my finger on which one I'm thinking of..
posted by amro at 11:47 AM on November 1, 2006

I was thinking the same thing as aclevername. Professor Umbridge was her name if I remember correctly.
posted by phixed at 11:57 AM on November 1, 2006

It reminded me of the grandfather in Thomas King's "Green Grass, Running Water" (but he said "Heh, heh, heh")
posted by davey_darling at 12:19 PM on November 1, 2006

Tom in Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles On Their Toes did a "henk, henk" sort of laugh.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:24 PM on November 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

You may be on the right track with Pratchett; he does like to give his characters distinctive laughs (including, in one memorable case, "Hat. Hat. Hat."). I'm drawing a blank on "henk," though.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:39 PM on November 1, 2006

Are you sure it was a book? Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley laughed like that.
posted by caddis at 1:19 PM on November 1, 2006

Reading "henk" is the one thing I'm sure of. I could never have made that up. (or could I? hmmn... no.)

I'll look into Cheaper By The Dozen, I did read it long ago.
I doubt I could wade through all of Pratchett's books in search of this, he wrote about eleventy brazillion of them.

Thanks for your efforts, keep 'em coming.
posted by bobobox at 1:24 PM on November 1, 2006

You can "search inside the book" on Amazon for a number of episodes in of Belles on Their Toes where Tom does his "henc henc henc" laugh after telling off-color ("Eskimo") jokes.
posted by nonane at 1:30 PM on November 1, 2006

Ding! Off-color eskimo jokes definitely ring a bell. I did attempt to "search inside the book" on Amazon but I was using the wrong spelling. doh

AskMe puts to bed another one of life's great mysteries.
posted by bobobox at 1:54 PM on November 1, 2006

Woo hoo! So glad I was right. You really should re-read those books; they are totally awesome.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:10 PM on November 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

Mr Clete, head of the musician's guild in Pratchett's Soul Music, laughs like this: "Hat. Hat. Hat. "
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:58 PM on November 1, 2006