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I've just read 'The silence of lambs' sequel 'Hannibal' and one of the characters -the man who looked after the swine- used to chew 'stag tooth'. I've tried to find what is that thing in a lot of dictionaries with not success. I suppose it might be a sort of garlic or, maybe, jerky, but I'm so curious that I need to be sure.
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I thought "stag tooth" was literally the tooth from a stag. That character was a fearsome man and it must have looked awful.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Someone who looks after swine is likely to be a farmer,
and a farmer is likely to chew tobacco. Don't know
of this as a brand name, however.
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I read the book two months ago and, since it was borrowed, I returned it. I'm going to try to get at it again and reread the parts that mention this expression. At this moment I think that tobacco is the most likely answer. Here in Spain this kind of tobacco is virtually unknown and it was the last thing I would have thought.
However, as far as I can remember, the man who chewed that thing was european -french or italian- and I'm inclined to think that nobody chews tobacco out of America.
Juan Maria.
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I am currently reading 'Hannibal' and at one point the Sardinian character Carlo is desctribed as chewing on the gristle of a stag's tooth. To me, this makes it seem likely that it is an actual tooth or at least some sort of animal product, although I am not sure what it really is. Perhaps Sardinians do really chew on stag's teeth in the way that British and American arable farmers were often depicted chewing on a piece of straw. I would certainly like to find out more about this and may try to email Thomas Harris to see if I can get the answer straight from the horse's, or should that be stag's, mouth.
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It could be that the stag's tooth replaces the pebble that many hikers will put in their mouths as a salivary stimulant to forestall thirst. The word "gristle" is curious. An author can use the word to create a mood; after all, there are probably no light, upbeat scenes in literature that incorporate the word gristle. Or - and I'm shooting from the hip here - it may be that, before the introduction into Europe of chicle from Central America, it was customary in some areas to dissolve the calcium from animal teeth and use the remaining gristle-like matrix as a thing to chew. Pure guesswork, as I've never heard of such a practice
"I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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Carpal Tunnel
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Never heard of that practice neither, but children used to chew tar and paraffin that covered some types of cheese when right after the war there was no chewing gum.
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Welcome, digi. Again, I don't know whether I have the answer, but I found this (ea): The teeth of deer are adapted to feeding on vegetation, and like other ruminants, they lack upper incisors, instead having a tough pad at the front of their upper jaw. in wikipedia.
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That tough pad (the "dental pad" to anatomists) is found in sheep and cattle, too; and those would seem a more convenient source for a farmer, but who knows?
Last edited by beck123; 05/02/10 05:09 AM. Reason: to include the technical name, after looking it up.
"I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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@ Branshea:
In the American South, congealed pine pitch was used as a chewing "gum," too.
"I don't know which is worse: ignorance or apathy. And, frankly, I don't care." - Anonymous
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'Pine tar consists primarily of aromatic hydrocarbons, tar acids and tar bases.'
Sounds rather tasty. ;~)
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