“The crackling of thorns under the pot”
For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. (Ecclesiastes 7:6 BSB)
What it sounds like today
An odd comparison of laughter to burning weeds.
The cultural key
Two layers are lost in translation. First the image: thorn-brush was the cheapest, quickest kindling, and when thrown under a cooking pot it flares up with a loud snap and crackle, then dies instantly, all noise and almost no lasting heat. That is the fool's laughter, sudden, loud, and empty, gone as fast as it came. Second, and invisible in English, is a deliberate Hebrew pun: the word for 'thorns' (sirim) and the word for 'pot' (sir) sound almost identical, so the line crackles with wordplay just as the fire crackles, a bit of verbal wit mirroring its own subject. The proverb favors the sober rebuke of the wise (7:5) over the flashy hilarity of fools, which, like burning thorns, makes a great racket and leaves nothing behind. The same short-lived-fire image appears where enemies are 'extinguished as quickly as burning thorns' (Psalm 118:12).
Recovered meaning
A fool's laughter is like thorns crackling under a pot: loud and showy but instantly spent, all noise and no lasting warmth. The Hebrew even puns on 'thorns' and 'pot,' which sound nearly the same, so the verse crackles with wordplay.