we really had a good laugh (again), it was a real scream (again)
[Dutch phrase of the week]
[het was weer la-chen, gie-ren, brul-len] 

‘Lachen’ translates as ‘to laugh’ and ‘gieren’ and ‘brullen’ used to be synonyms for ‘lachen’, however ‘gieren’ nowadays is better translated as ‘to shriek/scream’ and ‘brullen’ as ‘to roar’. This week’s phrase can be used to say that an experience was a lot of fun. It can also be used ironically, perhaps preceding it with ‘nou’ and adding a ‘hoor’ at the end 🙂

You may also use different tenses and variants, e.g. ‘Het is altijd/weer lachen, gieren, brullen’.

Examples:
– “Ben jij een fan van Mr. Bean?” – “Ja man, elke keer als ik naar hem kijk op tv is het weer lachen, gieren, brullen!” 
(“Are you a fan of Mr. Bean?” – “For sure, every time I watch him on TV it’s a real scream again.”)

– “Lachen, gieren, brullen hoor! Als jullie met mij de spot willen drijven dan ga ik wel naar huis, doei!” 
(“Are we having a good laugh again?? If you want to poke fun at me I’ll just go home, bye!”)

– “Ik ben naar Hans Teeuwen geweest in de Heineken Music Hall.” – “En, hoe was het?” – “Het was weer lachen, gieren, brullen!” 
(“I went to see Hans Teeuwen in the Heineken Music Hall.” – “How was it?” – “I had a really good laugh again!”)

Expressions:
– “Lachen als een boer met kiespijn”: literally ‘to laugh like a farmer who has toothache’ this says that one is laughing sourly.

Related words:
– Schateren: to roar with laughter [verb] [schaterde, geschaterd]. Birds can also ‘schateren’: to chatter.
– Schaterlachen: synonym for ‘schateren’ [verb] [schaterlachte, geschaterlacht].