Spitting

Advisory on the wall of a building in New Orleans

Spitting is the act of forcibly ejecting saliva or other substances from the mouth.

It is currently considered rude and a social taboo in many parts of the world including the West, while in some other parts of the world it is considered more socially acceptable. It is commonly believed that it is possible to transmit infectious diseases in this way, including tuberculosis, influenza, and the common cold but the epidemiological evidence that this is the case is not present and it is likely that this belief, although intuitive, is not reflective of meaningful risk.

Spitting upon another person, especially onto the face, is a global sign of anger, hatred, disrespect or contempt. It can represent a "symbolical regurgitation" or an act of intentional contamination.^[1]

In the Western world

Social attitudes towards spitting have changed greatly in Western Europe since the Middle Ages. Then, frequent spitting was part of everyday life, and at all levels of society it was thought ill-mannered to suck back saliva to avoid spitting. By the early 1700s, spitting had become seen as something which should be concealed, and by 1859 many viewed spitting on the floor or street as vulgar, especially in mixed company. Spittoons were used openly during the 19th century to provide an acceptable outlet for spitters. Spittoons became far less common after the influenza epidemic of 1918, and their use has since virtually disappeared, though each justice of the Supreme Court of the United States continues to be provided with a personal cuspidor.^[2]

In the first half of the 20th century the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, the precursor to the American Lung Association, and state affiliates had educational campaigns against spitting to reduce the chance of spreading tuberculosis.^[3]

After coffee cupping, tea tasting and wine tasting, the sample is spit into a 'spit bucket' or spittoon.

Competitions

There are some places where spitting is a competitive sport, with or without a projectile in the mouth. For example, there is a Guinness World Record for cherry pit spitting and cricket spitting, and there are world championships in Kudu dung spitting.

Gleeking

Gleeking involves the mouth, tongue, and sublingual gland (#3 in diagram)

Gleeking (also gleeting, geeking, gleeping, glitting, gleaking, glicking, glything, glanding, geezing, cobra spitting, venoming, lizard spitting, gland glop) is the projection of saliva from the sublingual gland upon compression by the tongue.^[4]

In general, gleeking occurs when an accumulation of saliva in the sublingual gland is propelled out in a stream when the gland is compressed by the tongue. The stream of saliva is released in the general direction of the front of the mouth. If the mouth is open the jet may project several feet.^[4]

Gleeking may occur spontaneously due to accidental tongue pressure on the sublingual gland while talking, eating, yawning, or cleaning the teeth. Gleeking can also be induced, for instance, by pressing the underside of the tongue upwards against the palate, then pushing the tongue forward while simultaneously moving the jaw slightly forward; or by yawning deeply and pressing the tongue against the palate. Practice is usually required to induce gleeking consistently, and induction is more likely to be successful under conditions of salivary stimulation.

Spitting as a protection against evil

In rural parts of North India, it was customary in olden days for mothers to lightly spit at their children (usually to the side of the children rather than directly at them) to imply a sense of disparagement and imperfection that protects them from evil eye (or nazar).^[5] Excessive admiration, even from well-meaning people, is believed to attract the evil eye, so this is believed to protect children from nazar that could be caused by their own mothers' "excessive" love of them.^[5] However, because of hygiene, transmission of disease and social taboos, this practice has waned and instead a black mark of kohl or kajal is put on the forehead or cheek of the child to ward off the evil eye. Adults use an amulet containing alum or chillies and worn on the body for this purpose. Sometimes, this is also done with brides and others by their loved ones to protect them from nazar.

Shopkeepers in the region used to sometimes make a spitting gesture on the cash proceeds from the first sale of the day (called bohni), which is a custom believed to ward-off nazar from the business.^[6]

Such a habit also existed in some Eastern European countries like Romania, and Moldova, although it is no longer widely practiced. People would gently spit in the face of younger people (often younger relatives such as grandchildren or nephews) they admire in order to avoid deochi,^[7] an involuntary curse on the individual being admired or "strangely looked upon",^[7] which is claimed to be the cause of bad fortune and sometimes malaise or various illnesses.^[8] In Greece, it is customary to "spit" three times after making a compliment to someone, the spitting is done to protect from the evil eye.^[9] This applies to all people, it is not just between mothers and children. The spitting is light and from a distance, so it is not actual spitting on the face etc. of the person—which if done is derogatory. (Nowadays, one is more likely to just say "ftou, ftou", an interjection imitating the sound of spitting.) This practice sometimes extended to spitting on living plants and animals so as to protect them from sudden death or diseases, and spells which were claimed to break the curse of the evil eye exist.^[8]

A similar-sounding expression for verbal spitting occurs in modern Hebrew as "Tfu, tfu" (here, only twice), which some say that Hebrew-speakers borrowed from Russian.^[10]

Anti-spitting hoods

When a suspect in a criminal case is arrested, they will sometimes try to spit at their captors, which often causes a fear of infection by Hepatitis C and other diseases that may be transmitted by contact with another person's spittle. Spit hoods are a hood invented to deal with this risk. Spitting hoods are in use in Australia^[11] and England, where they were once used in handling a drunk airline passenger who had sexually assaulted flight attendants.^[12]

In animals

• Camel
• Llama
• Spitting cobra
• Spitting spider

See also

• Drooling
• Spit-take

References

External links

• Media related to Spitting at Wikimedia Commons