Wordsmith.org
Posted By: bonzaialsatian How do you sneeze? - 10/01/02 07:21 PM
Sneeze-words! Depictions of the sound of sneezing:
English: Ah-choo!/Ker-choo!
Chinese: Han-chee!
Hebrew: Itush!
Czech: Kychnut! (my favorite)
Indonesian: Wa-hing!
French: A-tchouin!
Russian: Ap-chi!

Any more?!
(I've no idea WHY I bought this up...)

Posted By: wofahulicodoc Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/01/02 08:22 PM
And along another dimension: do you sneeze in bright lights?

Really. I'm serious. There was even correspondence on the subject in the New England Journal of Medicine some years ago, believe it or not, started by a medical resident whose newborn daughter did, as indeed did he. It seems to be hereditary. He asked several of his contemporaries and got a very bipolar distribution of replies: either "Are you crazy?" or "Of course, doesn't everybody?"

I'd like to take an informal poll - how do AWADers stack up?

PS I do, my sister does, my mother did, my father did, only two of my three kids do. My mother always used to say it was a response to "actinic rays."

Posted By: bonzaialsatian Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/01/02 08:31 PM
Of course, doesn't everybody?

Posted By: wofahulicodoc Running tally - 10/01/02 08:40 PM
wofa...y
bo/a...y
sjm...............n
oT................n (maybe it should be 1/2?)
FB................n
milum............n
ww...............n
slithy..y
dxb.....y
shona............n
Boron............n
TEdR....y
MG................n
(MG's MD yes but he's disqualified)
byb...............n
Sp'ye.............n



....Y=5........N=10

Photic sneezing present in 5/13 = 33 % of AWADers so far
10/3/02 6:00 PM EDT

Posted By: sjm Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/01/02 08:49 PM
>Do you sneeze in bright lights?

Taking this to mean, "do bright lights make you sneeze?", the answer is no. I have never heard of this phenomenon before, knowing no one so afflicted.

Posted By: of troy Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/01/02 09:04 PM
Do i sneeze in bright lights? no...

but, when i have the feeling i am about to sneeze, and i am almost there but not quite... then looking directly at a bright light will bring the sneeze on!

Posted By: Fiberbabe Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/01/02 09:36 PM
I have the opposite phenomenon. If I feel a sneeze coming on, I look into a dark corner to force it out. Bright lights actually *suppress* the sneeze reflex in me.

Posted By: milum Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/01/02 10:33 PM
No. I only sneeze at the idea that people sneeze in bright lights. What amazes me is that some people can modify the natural sound of their sneezes to affect the politically and phonically correct sound, "Ah-Choo!", I wonder, do they do this in other languages?

Here are some percentages I found in a URL.

Photic sneeze reflex occurs in something like one-sixth to one-quarter of the population. It occurs more often in Caucasians than Afro-Americans or Orientals.

According to a Johns Hopkins medic named Stephen Peroutka, the trait is passed along genetically, with a 50 percent chance of inheritance.

Researchers in Sweden found that out of 460 subjects, 24 percent sneezed in bright light, and 40 percent had at least one sneezing parent.

Sixty-four percent of children with one sneezing parent were themselves sneezers, but two nonsneezers never produced a sneezer. (Isn't it amazing how I can make these things so easy to understand?)

Nobody's exactly sure what causes photic sneeze reflex. I see here in one of the journals we have an impressive discussion of the role of the trigeminal nerve nucleus.


Posted By: Wordwind Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/01/02 10:38 PM
I don't sneeze in bright lights and never heard of this phenomenon till tonight.

However, I do get the hiccups if there is too much pepper in hot soup.

And I suppress my sneezes. My dear departed Grandma Etta said I sounded like a kitten sneezing in bright lights.

Posted By: slithy toves Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/02/02 12:04 AM
That's a great term: photic sneeze reflex. Now I know the name of that condition I first experienced when, as a small kid, I spent most Saturday afternoons at the local movie theatre, emerging into the bright sunlight with fits of sneezing.

And what about those Indonesians? Wa-hing? They ain't sneezin'; they's spittin'.

Posted By: dxb Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/02/02 09:03 AM
Yup. I sneeze in bright lights.

Posted By: FishonaBike Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/02/02 10:27 AM
when i have the feeling i am about to sneeze, and i am almost there but not quite... then looking directly at a bright light will bring the sneeze on!

Me too. Bright lights won't make me sneeze unless there's a "tickle" already there.


Posted By: boronia Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/02/02 12:34 PM
ditto for me - especially if I look into bright sunlight

Posted By: TEd Remington Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/02/02 01:25 PM
This has always been a puzzle to me. I, like many people I know, have a tendency to sneeze when going from the dark into bright sunlight. I think it's a pretty widespread response, which implies there is a genetic advantage.

I've pondered this, and wonder if it's because a sneeze peps up your olfactory senses, so that our ancestors, when going from the forest onto the plains, would be better able to smell trouble.

On the other hand, a sneeze would alert predators of your presence, which would in my view tend to be a sorta bad thing. Unless, of course, the sneeze tends to startle the predators so they jump and run.

This response is not limited to humans, by the way. Many dogs do it. The dachsunds my parents owned were particularly susceptible.



Posted By: FishonaBike Yawn - 10/02/02 01:36 PM
genetic advantage

Hmmm. I wonder if there's a connection to a yawn being kicked off in some people by going from a muggy indoors to a fresh and bracing outdoors?

A yawn brings on a forced input of air, so is actually waking you up. At least that's my excuse.

Posted By: modestgoddess Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/03/02 02:01 AM
jus' flingin' in my two cents' worth:

I don't sneeze in bright lights (well, sometimes I do, but not because of the bright lights! ie, not because I've moved from somewhere dark to somewhere light). The first I heard of this phenomenon, someone I knew told me her doctor had said something to her about, "You know how you sneeze when you first go outside on a sunny day?..." I said, "You do?" and I think she was surprised by this as well - we fell into the "are you crazy?" school and he was obviously one of the "doesn't everybody?" school.

Interesting how an individual's view of what is universally true/real often develops from individual experience without reference to what is true/real for others....

If you can't see the bright side, polish the dull side.
Posted By: Bobyoungbalt Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/03/02 03:14 AM
In reply to:

ditto for me - especially if I look into bright sunlight


Me too.

Posted By: Faldage Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/03/02 10:13 AM
I remember once reading that it was counted a big thing that Davy Crockett (or was it his father) could look straight at the sun and not sneeze. I seem to remember thinking, "how quaint".

Posted By: Wordwind Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/03/02 11:19 AM
In reply to:

I remember once reading that it was counted a big thing that Davy Crockett (or was it his father) could
look straight at the sun and not sneeze.


...Well, bully for either of them. Pretty stupid thing to do. Leastways if you want to soundly screw up your vision.

Posted By: Faldage Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/03/02 11:28 AM
if you want to soundly screw up your vision.

I'd say it was a right smart thang to do if you wanted to soundly screw up your vision.

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/03/02 11:33 AM
In reply to:

I'd say it was a right smart thang to do if you wanted to soundly screw up your vision.


Whuh? I'm missing a link here, Faldage, in your logic...

Posted By: boronia Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/03/02 12:42 PM
no missing links here -- Faldage is just being a literalist, is all

Posted By: Faldage Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/03/02 12:53 PM
missing a link

Geesh! Do I gots ta splain you everthang?

You said that it was a stupid thing to do if you wanted to soundly screw up your vision. I merely pointed out that it was a smart thing to do if you wanted to screw up your vision. It's only stupid if you *don't want to screw up your vision. Why you would want to soundly screw up your vision is beyond me, but far be it from me to dictate your desires.

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/03/02 01:10 PM
In reply to:

Geesh! Do I gots ta splain you everthang?


Apparently, yes.

And now I see your point. I should have written:

"It's a stupid thing to do, and it will screw up your vision."

Generally, we should not stare into the sun, especially one, I would imagine, that was bright enough to cause sneezing. The morning sun today rising into a veil of foggy October mist was red and presented not much harm to look at, but without that veil and being, instead, higher overhead in the sky (and I suppose bright enough to cause sneezes), the sun would burn the retina.

Belaboring a point,
WW

P.S. Thanks, Faldage

Posted By: Faldage Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/03/02 01:20 PM
Thanks, Faldage

Happy to do it for ya, my dear Dub Dub'.

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/03/02 01:51 PM
Faldage is just being a literalist

... aka nitpicker.

Posted By: Faldage Ahem! - 10/03/02 01:56 PM
aka nitpicker

http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=weeklythemes&Number=83039

Posted By: Sparteye Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/03/02 06:51 PM
No sneezing at the sun here. I've heard of the phenomenon, but have not witnessed it.

Posted By: milum Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/03/02 08:41 PM
Primitive women, before man invented the fire, slept on the dusty hard ground, either in shallow caves or rock shelters, or beneath the open sky. They slept, outside of the time they were busy servicing the male, from sundown to sun up. They woke up to the bright rays of the morning sun and sneezed to expell the dust and attendant germs that they had breathed in during the night. Sneezing on rainy days wasn't as important because the high humidity keep the dust down.

But now I wonder...why is sundown one word and sun up two?


why is sundown one word and sun up two?

Is it? I've seen "sunup" in print, in this context. (Makes a great Jotto word, come to think of it!)

Title is from G&S, Iolanthe, The Nightmare Song, line n-1
Posted By: of troy Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/03/02 09:36 PM
Re:They slept, outside of the time they were busy servicing the male, from sundown to sun up.

Milo world must be an interesting place...

in most of the stuff i have read about what is left of hunter/gather societies, woman are responsible for providing 70 to 80% of the calories consumed by the group... the hunter's meat add a nice chunk of fat and consentrated protein, but day in day out, its the men that lie arround sleeping, and the women that are tending the fires and doing all the work..

still, if that how you see the world, perhaps you are interested in a companion? i wouldn't mind the job of sleeping (and sneezing in the morning).

sundown....sunup

I feel a transpondialism coming on.

Is there a difference in meaning between:
sundown and sunset
and
sunup and sunrise ?



for me, sundown and sun( )up refer only to the time, whereas sunset and sunrise refer to the phenomena or the time

I think of "sunrise" as being either the general time when the sun is rising (aka dawn), and the specific moment when the sun is visible at the horizon ("sunrise will be at 6:14 AM according to the almanac"). Same for sunset and dusk.

Sundowning is an interesting word. It describes the onset of confusion or dementia associated with the fall of night. It is often seen in older patients in the hospital who are perfectly fine all day but at night become confused or agitated.


Red sails in the suuuunn sseeet
way out on the sea


So right you really are, Boronia, romantic and not concerned with the tyranny of time.

Now lets try spelling,... type "sun up". Now enter it into Anu's hand cranked spell check machine called by some folk "Erotica". See. that spelling is acceptable.

Now enter "sunup". Wow! The Red letters literally scream your ineptness and you cower in wrongness and in shame.

But, big folk, I have asked a former Grand Dragon Maven of the former Klu, (triple K), Klux Klan, this question - What is now the acceptable usage in the modern south of the word "sunup"?. and she, the ageing Lily Mae Caldwell of the venerable Birmingham News, said...

"Do not use " sunup". That is easily confused with "shutup". We in the south are mindful of such inarticulations."

Now, Kiddo's, anybody want to confront Lily Mae?





She would also say you shouldn't have a Klu. It's Ku Klix Klan.

It's Ku Klix Klan.

An important lesson in nitpickery, young Master Remington; when picking another's nits be sure not to introduce one of your own.

[url]http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=miscellany&Number=83213
Posted By: redpepper sneezing in the dark - 10/14/02 12:27 AM
Q.: Is it possible to sneeze with your eyes open? Why or why not?
- Jessica

A.: Yes, but not without the aid of some object, like a finger. A sneeze is a complex bodily reflex, and the nerves in your eyes are attached to the same ones as the rest of your face. So when you sneeze, an impulse is also sent to your eyes causing them to shut.
Q and A from "Stump Me".


It's Ku Klix Klan.

Ah, yes, that'd be the well-known Mississippi Tupperware Chapter. They wear plastic bedsheets with snap-on hoods.



Sigh. TEd, TEd, TEd. You only need the part up to Number=nnnnn.
Cut the url off there and you'll still get a working link but you won't
be widing up the page so everbody's got to go sliding back and forth to
read everthang. Sigh.

Not to mention that I wasn't picking anyone's nit when I made that one of my own.
Posted By: wofahulicodoc Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/14/02 02:22 PM
Btw, I owe bonzaialsatian an apology - it was never my intention to shanghai the thread, as seems to have been the result. So let me reinitiaize it now:

Sneeze-words! Depictions of the sound of sneezing:

English: Ah-choo!/Ker-choo!
Chinese: Han-chee!
Hebrew: Itush!
Czech: Kychnut! (my favorite)
Indonesian: Wa-hing!
French: A-tchouin!
Russian: Ap-chi!

Any more?!


Posted By: wow Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/14/02 02:31 PM
another dimension: do you sneeze in bright lights?

I had this vision of all those tiny droplets spraying out of the sneezers mouth in glowing and gleaming lights!

That rattling noise you hear is me, shaking my head to clear it.


Posted By: Faldage Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/14/02 02:38 PM
me, shaking my head to clear it.

The Ooohs and Aaahs are from me, marvelling at the scintillating specks cascading out of your ears.

Posted By: TEd Remington Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/14/02 07:22 PM
Good zai:

Even more interesting is the response to a sneeze.

God bless. Bless you. Gesundheit. and several others which I have at the moment forgotten. They are all evocative of the sound of the sneeze itself.

TEd



Posted By: Faldage Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/14/02 07:25 PM
I can sneeze, "Sneeze!"

The ASp claims it comes out three syllables.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Yawns are contagious - 10/14/02 07:52 PM
Did you ever realize how contagious a yawn, or yawning, is? Just the sight of someone yawning, or the mere thought of a yawn, can trigger it.....ahhhhhhhhh! I'm yawning now...I bet you are, too! Seriously. (and it always feels so good!)

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/14/02 07:57 PM
Faldage is just being a literalist

... aka nitpicker.


No "aka", AnnaS...definitely a nitpicker through and through...nitpicking is deliberate. A diehard descriptivist like Faldage could never be a prescriptivist (aka literalist!) He was just faldaging again...(ahem!)


Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Running tally - 10/14/02 08:07 PM
WO'N...n (never even heard of this until, now...and I was going to ask TEd's genetic question, and think milum's offering about clearing the sinuses from dust upon waking in the morning is plausible [for both sexes]).

Posted By: Faldage Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/14/02 08:19 PM
What nitpicking? WW said that staring at the sun was a stupid thing to do if you wanted to screw up your vision. Stupidity of wanting to screw up your vision aside staring at the sun would be a pretty effective way of doing it and not stupid if that were your goal.

I'm glad I'm not the nitpicker here anymore if that's what the art has come to.



Posted By: wwh Re: photic sneeze reflex - 10/14/02 08:26 PM
I never heard of sneezing due to bright lights. I have come out of many theaters, and
do not remember ever hearing a sneeze. So I have learned something. I found a site
with quote from a small "peer-reviewed quarterly journal", from which I took a pertinent
quote:
"The mechanism of the bright light sneeze reflex seems to be an association of optic nerve
fibers and trigeminal nerve nucleus in the mid-brain. The trigeminal nerve's second division
supplies sensory fibers to the nasal mucosa. It is postulated that nerve impulses travelling
up the optic nerve will cause a sympathetic discharge down the trigeminal nerve fibers.
Another mechanism postulates that partial squinting of the eyes resulting from the
bright light causes squeezing of the lacrimal sac which results in tears running down the
nasolacrimal duct into the nasal cavity, causing stimulation ofthe nasal cavity and a sneeze. "

Posted By: of troy achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo - 10/14/02 08:28 PM
am i the only one here who makes serial sneezes? i almost never sneeze a single time, but 3 to 5 to 7 sneezes in a row...sometimes immediately one after another, sometimes with a few seconds between the sneezes.

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo - 10/14/02 08:40 PM
Helen, I don't enjoy multiple sneezes as often as I'd like, but I do know men envy them. <ahem>

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/14/02 08:42 PM
I'm glad I'm not the nitpicker here anymore

"Tell the big lie often enough and soon everyone will believe you"
--Goebbels



Posted By: Wordwind Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/14/02 08:58 PM
In reply to:

WW said that staring at the sun was a stupid thing to do if you wanted to screw up your
vision.


Oh, come on, Faldage. Give me a break here. I took it back, didn't I? Didn't I write way up there, even before Cap Ki's snap-on hoods for the Klan, that I shoulda written that staring at the sun is a stupid thing to do, and it will screw up your vision?

Is my originally poorly phrased phrase going to huant me to the end of my days here on AWAD? Am I to be forever pursued by men with snap-on hoods picking my nits, even after apologizing for 'em? Whaddaya want me to do? Go run into a wall or somefin?

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo - 10/14/02 09:10 PM
I knew a girl in college who was a repeat sneezer- 72 times at one count...crazy at a party...
for me, usually two or three at a sneezing.
bright lights don't do it for me.

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/14/02 09:24 PM
I know I'm biased here, WW, but it wasn't Faldage who brought this up again. <ahem>

Posted By: wwh Re: achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo - 10/14/02 09:29 PM
Please forgive a switch to a slightly different photic reflex. A friend who owned a Piper Cub
aircraft took up a student, who attempted to land heading toward the setting sun. He
had an epileptic seizure, and only prompt administration of Bulgarian anaesthesia using the
fire extinguisher enabled my friend to regain control of the plane and land safely. The student
later told him that flickering lights such a sun through the propeller could cause him to have
a seizure. I had never heard of it, and was tempted to think it was nonsense. But I found out
that it is a recognized entity. Here's
a URL:http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/photofrm.html

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/14/02 09:38 PM
In reply to:


I know I'm biased here, WW, but it wasn't Faldage who brought this up again. <ahem>


OK. I'm confused, but what's new? All I know is I haven't read this thread for a while, and this afternoon I decided to see what was going on...on the sneeze thread. I mean, how much can we really write about sneezing? This isn't exactly one of those threads that you have to read carefully three times a day to keep up with.

And what should I find here, on Oct. 14th, but Faldage still going at poor WW over what I'd said not very well, but then straightened out...you know?

I like what Sparteye said, however, about sneezing in bright lights because I know it took her a while to key it in.

...Why not?...

Posted By: consuelo Re: achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo - 10/14/02 10:12 PM
When prompted by some allergic reaction, such as an abundance of dust, I will continue sneezing until I can get my hands on a wad of Kleenex. I think my personal record is somewhere in the twenties. Too much of a good thing eventually gets to be boring . The best sneeze I ever had in my life was this past spring. If only I knew exactly how I performed that chiropractic sneeze I'd do that one again and again and again......I felt wonderful for days after. *sigh*

Posted By: of troy Re: achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo - 10/14/02 10:15 PM
sometimes, Annastrophic, as sneeze is just a sneeze. even if you sneeze a half dozen times in rapid succession
then again...

Posted By: consuelo Re: achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo - 10/14/02 10:28 PM
The Spanish word for sneeze is estornudo and the most unusual consistent noise I ever heard a sneezer make was made by one of my Mexican sister-in-laws or is that sisters-in-law?. Her's was a truncated "heep", almost like a chopped off beginning of a hiccough. Curiously, the Spanish for hiccough is hipo pronounced ee-po. Let the discussion on hiccough vs hiccup begin!

Posted By: Fiberbabe Re: achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo - 10/15/02 07:52 AM
My mom is one of those serial sneezers of whom you speak, ot. Without fail, she sneezes three times in rapid succession, then there's a pause of thirty seconds or so, and she has one final nostril-blaster.

I'm not typically a serial sneezer, but now that I've developed Midwest allergies, I've been known to get several in one sitting. My normal pattern is one if it's just a standard sneeze, two if I'm getting sick.

Posted By: Faldage Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/15/02 10:09 AM
the big lie

This from someone who doesn't know the difference between picking nits and rattling chains.

Posted By: AnnaStrophic Re: achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo - 10/15/02 02:10 PM
sometimes, Annastrophic, as sneeze is just a sneeze. even if you sneeze a half dozen times in rapid succession
then again...


Close but no cigar, Dr. Troy.

Posted By: FishonaBike Re: Yawns are contagious - 10/15/02 04:10 PM
Just the sight of someone yawning, or the mere thought of a yawn, can trigger it

You're absolutely, 100% right, Juan!

Yawns are even more contagious than laughter. Although it's more difficult to stop contagious laughter once started..

Posted By: Fiberbabe Re: Yawns are contagious - 10/15/02 06:26 PM
I've heard that cats are the only other species susceptible to this yawn phenomenon - so if you yawn at a cat, you can make it yawn. Same as a baby - that's the way to get them to pop their ears if they're having trouble on an airplane - establish eye contact and yawn at the kid.

The weird things I pull out of my brain.

Posted By: FishonaBike Re: Yawns are contagious - 10/16/02 01:21 PM
if you yawn at a cat, you can make it yawn

I believe that's subtly different, FB - it's about you and the cat saying that you are relaxed in one another's company. You can also try letting your eyes close slowly, and often a friendly cat will copy you, showing that it is relaxed in your presence. It'll often, say, jump into your lap after.

Didn't know about the baby reaction, though. Have to try that.



Posted By: bonzaialsatian Re: Yawns are contagious - 10/17/02 04:39 PM
Not just cats, I think I can make my dog yawn...
What about contagious hiccups?


Posted By: hev Re: Yawns are contagious - 10/21/02 05:15 AM
Just to add a bit more to the yawn topic, although it doesn't really give an answer...

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/homework/s95628.htm

Posted By: jture Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/22/02 09:08 PM
I sneeze in bright sunlight, too. I don't remember anyone else in my family doing it. I always wondered why sunlight made me sneeze.

And I also wonder why it's impossible to keep your eyes open while sneezing!

wordfreak in MA
Posted By: Wordwind Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/22/02 11:07 PM
In reply to:

And I also wonder why it's impossible to keep your eyes open while sneezing!


On an episode of Super Man, the caped hero caused a character to sneeze, and, while the character was sneezing, Super Man changed from Clark Kent into his super self...you know, because the character had to close his eyes during the sneeze. I spent a hecukva lot of childhood time, consequently, trying to teach myself to keep my eyes open while sneezing so I could catch Super Man in the act.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Yawns are contagious - 10/23/02 03:49 AM
Thanks for the link, hev! Yawned three times while I was reading that!

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/23/02 04:11 AM
the big lie

This from someone who doesn't know the difference between picking nits and rattling chains.

Faldaaaaage!!!...or is it Faldoooooge!!!? It is I, your partner Jacob Marley! (rattle, rattle) Don't cringe there in the corner, Mr. Faldoooooge!!! I've come to tell you that presently you shall be visited, some deep night, by three spirits...The Ghost of Nitpick Past, The Ghost of Nitpick Present, and The Ghost of Nitpick Future...there is no escaping these visitations, for you have earned them handily, haven't you, Mr. Faldoooooge?!!! (rattle, rattle) These chains, too, shall be yours...ohhh, I promise they will!...and I depart with the rattle of their heaviness binding my soul...Behold!...and farewell........Faldooge! Faldooooge!! Faldoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooge!!!!


Posted By: Faldage Re: Soundly Screwing Up Vision - 10/23/02 09:44 AM
there is no escaping these visitations

Ha!

Bum bug.

Posted By: bonzaialsatian Re: How do you sneeze? - 10/26/02 10:16 AM
eyes open while sneezing

A popular playground horror story I was always told was that if you do sneeze with your eyes open your eyeballs pop out!

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Yawns are contagious - 04/18/03 08:52 PM
This link, Find Out Why Yawns Are Contagious, showed up on my homepage today. It's a pretty thorough look at the yawn contagion phenomenon:

>Why Are Yawns Contagious?

Did you yawn just reading this title? We yawn not only when we're sleepy, but also when we see someone else yawn, read about yawns, or even think about yawning. Sneezing, coughing, and burping aren't contagious. What is it about yawns that can set off a chain reaction? Scientists are still trying to figure that one out. But they have some ideas.

What is a yawn?

Scientific American defines yawning as a "stereotypical reflex characterized by a single deep inhalation with the mouth open and stretching of muscles of the jaw and trunk." It's involuntary. We aren't the only ones who yawn. Cats, dogs, and even fish yawn. The average yawn lasts about six seconds, and your heart rate can rise as much as 30 percent during a yawn.

Why do we yawn?

Yawning could be a signal of changing conditions within your body, Mark A. W. Andrews, associate professor of physiology at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, told Scientific American. That is, we yawn when our state of alertness is changing. That is why we yawn when we're tired and when we wake up.

It was once thought that we yawned in order to suck in more air when oxygen levels were low in our lungs. But scientists now know that the lungs can't sense oxygen levels--so that theory goes out the window. Besides, fetuses yawn even though their lungs are not ventilated.

And there is absolutely no credence to the idea that we yawn when we're bored.

So why are yawns contagious?

Professor Andrews told Scientific American yawns may be contagious because we human animals are trying to communicate changing environmental conditions to others, possibly as a way to synchronize behavior. Obviously, this would be one of those caveman-type mechanisms that is no longer needed that our bodies remember and still do.

When we yawn, we draw in more oxygen and remove a build-up of carbon dioxide. Larger groups produce more carbon dioxide. So one theory holds that we yawn when we're in large groups of people to purge the carbon dioxide--and in so doing, we set off a chain reaction. But Robert Provine, a psychologist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, tested the theory and says it's bunk. Giving people additional oxygen didn't decrease yawning and decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide in a subject's environment also didn't prevent yawning, notes the How Stuff Works Web site.

Whatever the reason for yawns being contagious, How Stuff Works reports that 55 percent of people will yawn within five minutes of seeing someone else yawn. In addition, blind people will yawn after hearing others yawning. And we're sure that reading and writing about yawns is enough to induce one!

--Cathryn Conroy<

http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q61811344

(ahhhhhhh!....Are ya yawning, yet? :))


Posted By: AnnaStrophic Animal sounds - 04/18/03 11:53 PM
I posted this down below the fold in Animal Safari. Since Juan resurrected this thread, I thought I'd pull it up here so maybe more would enjoy it:



How do different people around the world imitate animal sounds? Find out here!

http://www.flat33.com/bzzzpeek/index1.html


Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Yawn sounds - 04/19/03 01:00 AM
yawn sounds

I was wondering what the proper written onomatopoeic sound would be for the yawn...when I made the above post, "ahhhhh" just didn't seem to make it. Anybody?

Animal Sounds

Cute, AnnaS! But, other than the bee, all I get is animal flags?


[EDIT: Auggghhhh!® Got it! Click on each flag after they come up. Dummy me. ]
Posted By: emanuela better late than never - Italian sneezing - 04/19/03 08:04 AM
EEEE...CCI'
(the number of E's shows the intensity of the sneezing)
and, consuelo, in Italian we call that starnuto.


Posted By: rav Re: How do you sneeze? - 04/19/03 02:15 PM
>Btw, I owe bonzaialsatian an apology - it was never my intention to shanghai the thread, as seems to have been the result. So let me reinitiaize it now:

Sneeze-words! Depictions of the sound of sneezing:

English: Ah-choo!/Ker-choo!
Chinese: Han-chee!
Hebrew: Itush!
Czech: Kychnut! (my favorite)
Indonesian: Wa-hing!
French: A-tchouin!
Russian: Ap-chi!

Any more?!


in poland we write "a-psik".

Even more interesting is the response to a sneeze.

szczęść Boże - it's like 'God bless you'. (shtch-and i don't know how the pronunciation goes afterwards:)i suppose you see some bushes in place of polish letters ;P)
or
na zdrowie - i think it's something like 'cherio' or however you spell it. 'for health' exactly

and what the hell means sneezing in bright light? that you sneeze when the sun shines? or what? i would answer but..

Posted By: wow Re: sneeze - superstition. - 04/21/03 02:15 PM
Fiberbabe said : Bright lights actually *suppress* the sneeze reflex in me
Me too. If I feel a sneeze coming on I stare (wide eyes)at a bright light and for a split second it makes me want to sneeze even more BUT if you keep eyes open the urge immediately goes away!!
Then there's the old superstition about sneezes;
Once is a wish -
Twice is a kiss -
Three times is a letter -
Four times is something better !

I figure more than four sneezes - all in a row - means a letter with more than the money you need, plus a kiss inside!

Posted By: anchita Re: How do you sneeze? - 04/25/03 08:34 PM
In Hindi (India), it'd be "aak-chheen" or "aak-chhoon"...

Posted By: musick Re: How do you sneeze? - 04/25/03 10:33 PM
I can't believe I missed this the first time around... and also that it's not butter

Me sneezing = "Ah-chew, ah-ah-chew, ah-ah-I-HATE everybody"

A - In my youth I heard that sneezing was to rid the body of evil spirits... I figure it's a good way to get rid of hate.

2 - In my youth I heard Mor-Far say "You'll die if you sneeze 4 times in a row." A couple weeks later, sure enough, he heard me sneeze 4 times in a row and promptly said to me "See, now you're gonna die someday".

@ - ?

Posted By: Faldage Re: How do you sneeze? - 04/26/03 12:10 PM
You'll die if you sneeze 4 times in a row

No, no, no! Sneeze, cough and hiccup at the same time and you die.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: How do you sneeze? - 04/26/03 03:14 PM
No, no, no! Sneeze, cough and hiccup at the same time and you die.

Well, if you're sneezes smelled like farts somebody'd prob'ly kill ya! [Groucho-Marx-raised-eyebrows-wagging-a-cigar-and-lurching-away e]






Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: How do you sneeze? - 04/26/03 03:36 PM
ewww...
[plug nose-e]

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: More sneeze stuff - 05/17/03 08:05 PM
Sneeze Psychoanalysis, believe it or not (I'm the "Be Right"):

>How You Sneeze Reveals Your Personality

How you sneeze--a delicate little achoo that barely makes a sound or an explosive blast that brings the neighbors running to see if you're okay--reveals the deepest secrets of your personality.

That's what behavior expert Patti Wood, MA, CSP claims. In a "she-got-paid-to-do-this?" type study, Wood analyzed the different ways people sneeze and then classified the sneezes into four personality types based on the DISC Model of Behavior. Actually, she did get paid to do it--by Benadryl Allergy medicine. And this is the result of that research. You can psychoanalyze your sneezes on the Benadryl Web site at: http://benadrylusa.com. (Once you get to the Web site, you'll find the first link to the Achoo IQ Test on the bottom left.) Or, do it the fast and easy way and identify your sneeze below and then read about the personality type that matches it.

THE SENSITIVE SNEEZER
The Sneeze: One small sneeze and it's over. You're so polite, you turn your head away.
The Personality: You are warm and friendly and like a relaxed pace. The most important thing in your life is your relationships with others. You will work to avoid conflict and get along--even if that means keeping your mouth shut or making personal sacrifices. You are loyal, calm, and dependable. People say you are a good listener, though sometimes you feel interrupted. You are helpful, supportive, and nurturing of others.

THE BE RIGHT SNEEZER
The Sneeze: When you sneeze, you cover your mouth.
The Personality: You are careful, accurate, and a deep thinker. Before you speak, you carefully consider what you will say. You are detailed and precise and catch mistakes that others miss. You have great insights and opinions, but you don't always get a chance to express them. You like to read books that make you think. You enjoy solitude so much that you prefer working by yourself and relaxing at home. You take your time, play by the rules, and wish others would do the same.

THE GET IT DONE SNEEZER
The Sneeze: Whenever it's possible, you hold in your sneeze. When you can't hold it in, the sneeze is big and loud.
The Personality: You are fast, decisive, and to-the-point. You wish others could be the same. You are efficient and uncomplicated. You do not have to rely on others. You are a leader. You are forceful and commanding and work to get things quickly accomplished. You seek physical exertion. You do not like to be used unfairly by others.

THE ENTHUSIASTIC SNEEZER
The Sneeze: You sneeze multiple times very loudly. When you sneeze, everyone in the room knows it.
The Personality: You are a charismatic leader and influencer. You are imaginative and have great "out of the box" ideas. You are intuitive and can inspire and motivate others. You value your relationships and hold them dear. You welcome new people and new opportunities. You are optimistic and spontaneous. You are open and people know what you are feeling. You are articulate and enjoy a good conversation whether it is on the phone, over dinner, or out socializing. <

Posted By: Faldage Re: More sneeze stuff - 05/17/03 08:24 PM
"Be Right" is the odd man out. Am I right? The other three describe the sneeze per se, "Be Right" describes the non-sneezing actions of the sneezer.

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: More sneeze stuff - 05/17/03 08:51 PM
nit-picker!

I'm the sensitive, be right kind of guy...

Posted By: Faldage Re: More sneeze stuff - 05/17/03 09:09 PM
the sensitive, be right kind of guy

So you cover your mouth when you sneeze. How do you sneeze? Loud and forceful? Delicate and quiet? Multiple times? Come to think of it, you can sneeze multiple times softly and delicately, or loud and scary. So maybe…

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: More sneeze stuff - 05/17/03 09:12 PM
cover your mouth when you sneeze

yup. in the crook of my arm.
fairly strong sneezes, but not gale force explosions... usually two or three.



Posted By: Jackie Re: More sneeze stuff - 05/19/03 02:04 AM
Oh, gawd--TMI, TMI! Now--I am not naming names, but what does it say about someone's personality when, 90+ % of the time, they spray violently, often dribbling (yeccchh), and absolutely insist that they can't help it?

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: More sneeze stuff - 05/19/03 02:43 AM
The A-Choo I.Q. Test gives you several questions which take into account all facets of sneezing, Faldage. And I came up with a combo Be Right/Enthusiastic. And it's fun!

Here> http://66.216.84.244/index.cfm?s=2

Posted By: Faldage Re: More sneeze stuff - 05/19/03 10:10 AM
I clicked on the SneezeQ test and it dropped me right back whurat I started.

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