laughter vs ridicule

laughter

noun
  • The sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound. 

  • A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the laughing face, particularly of the lips, and of the whole body, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs. 

ridicule

noun
  • An object of sport or laughter; a laughing stock. 

  • The quality of being ridiculous; ridiculousness. 

  • derision; mocking or humiliating words or behaviour 

  • A small woman's handbag; a reticule. 

verb
  • to criticize or disapprove of someone or something through scornful jocularity; to make fun of 

How often have the words laughter and ridicule occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )