The phrase "dying of laughter" is correct and commonly used in written English.
It is used to describe someone who is laughing so much that it is causing them physical pain or difficulty breathing. Example: After watching the hilarious comedy show, Maria was dying of laughter and had to hold onto her stomach to ease the pain.
"100 lashes if you are not dying of laughter," Muhammad was depicted saying on the cover.
Scott initially wrote, half in Afrikaans and half in English, on Facebook: "I am dying of laughter, this is a bit out of proportion, well, u know what they say... there's no such thing as bad publicity!
When the magazine published a cover with a bearded and turbaned cartoon figure of the prophet saying "100 lashes if you're not dying of laughter" in 2011, their offices were firebombed.
The cover shows Muhammad saying: "100 lashes if you are not dying of laughter".
Well, I think the risk of dying of laughter is probably low – but in theory, what happens when we laugh is potentially dangerous!
Everyone just immediately started dying of laughter.
The edition of Charlie Hebdo that apparently inspired the fire-bombing showed a cartoon of Muhammad and the words: "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter".
Last fall, the paper printed an issue "guest-edited by Muhammad" — "Charia Hebdo" — the cover of which promised "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter!" Charb found his offices firebombed and his Web site hacked in response.
On the front page a cartoon prophet Muhammad says: "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter!" It is not the first time the weekly has published cartoons of Muhammad, depictions of whom are forbidden in Islam.
At the risk of being firebombed, I thought the line about "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter" amusing, although I don't think the staff at Charlie Hebdo are smiling right now.
