I Love to Laugh Mr. Wigg, is said to float because of an excess of "laughing gas", although it is clear that the term is not used in the chemical sense. So-called "laughing gas" (nitrous oxide) was one of the earliest effective anaesthetics developed in the Nineteenth century. it was popularised by dentists, for pain-free tooth extractions, as well as by showground novelty booths. Customers at the booth would be gassed and, as they were recovering from the drugged sleep they often felt euphoric and giggly. Hence the name. A famous 1931 British comedy sketch starring Cicely Courtneidge, called "Laughing Gas", was based on
Laughing kookaburra the early years of the 20th century "kookaburra" was included as an alternative name in ornithological publications but it was not until 1926 in the second edition of the "Official Checklist of Birds of Australia" that the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union officially adopted the name "laughing kookaburra". The name comes from Wiradhuri, an Aboriginal language now effectively extinct. The genus "Dacelo" contains four kookaburra species of which the rufous-bellied kookaburra and the spangled kookaburra are restricted to New Guinea and islands in the Torres Straits. The blue-winged kookaburra and the laughing kookaburra are both widespread in Australia. Two subspecies are