Does it have a meaning?
Or is it something kids do naturally, and we’re just imitating them?
It is a childish/playful way of saying “nuts to you!”
I think the OP was going for the “why” of the tongue, rather than say, that hand on the crook of the elbow thing which seems to convey the same meaning?
(“Nuts to you”, I mean)
I don’t have the answer to this interesting question, but just wanted to clarify its intent a bit. I hope that is what you meant?
Q
Unfortunately the language of gesture is likely older than that of speech, and therefore ultimately unknowable.
Well it could mean I want to run this over your genitals. Just bringing up a more cheerful possiblity.
Ergh, I don’t know about Places Abroad, but Over Here we consider the crook to the elbow a serious insult. The tongue isn’t an insult, it displays mockery in fun or irritation but comparing the two is… like comparing “oh, you’re silly!” with “motherfucker”.
I tend to use it when I’ve had an argument that maybe got a bit more heated than it needed to. It’s a playful way of saying ‘this is ridiculous, let’s laugh at ourselves!’
I’ve done it playfully a few times, in a “sez you! I don’t care!” gesture. It is supposed to be a hark back to childhood – that’s why it’s non-threatening in those situations.
Huh? Never seen this gesture. More details?
Indeed but only if you waggle your tongue up and down frantically.
Drooling also helps.
Since I don’t know what it’s called in English, I had to google in Spanish. And it’s so rude that you get very few hits.
Click here and then on the link that says “Maimon pierde los nervios…” to see one.
I don’t generally agree with Structural Anthropologist Claude Levi-Straus, but he suggested an origin for this gesture that is, AFAIK, the only serious attempt to do so, and it’s not bad. Here it is
He suggests that the sticking-the-tongue-out gesture that acts as a juvenile rejection taunt is basically the same motion used by an infant rejecting food being forced in by its mother (in pre-tech societies, this wouldn’t be Gerber Strained Whatever, but food chewed up by Mom and essentially spit into the baby’s mouth. In other words, it’s an infantile rejection sign, and the one used by older kids is the same rejection mechanism used in more general circumstances.
The other tongue gestures, especially the erotic ones, may owe a little to this (erotic games often seem to include a return to child play patterns), but has a pretty obvious sexual suggestion to it (“I can use this to lick you with”). For which, have a look at Desmond Morris’ picture books, like Gestures or Bodywatching.
I’ve read the same - although it was in the context of the infant pushing out the mother’s breast/nipple after feeding.
Grim
That’s actually pretty brilliant. I’ll also add, completely from Anecdote Land, that caregivers tend to laugh when that happens, and mimic the baby’s action, often with a “bleh!” sound. As the kid gets older, many people use the “bleh”/tongue out combo to warn kids away from the garbage can, the open dishwasher, the open diaper with a wad of feces in it, the gum on the sidewalk or other “gross and dirty” stuff. We effectively teach them that tongue out = “gross and dirty and don’t touch”. It doesn’t seen surprising that they then start using it in day care or preschool to mean, “You’re gross and nasty and I don’t want to touch (play with) you!”
As we get older, of course, it become ridiculous and/or sexualized. At that point, it becomes funny to use it ironically - as in an argument with your cubicle neighbor over the Bulls game last night.
Just goes to show: If you want to say “Nuts to you” without speaking, there’s only one way to do it.
By the way, it occurs to me that I read that tidbit in the appropriately-named The Origin of Table Manners by Levi-Straus
And the standard third-grade reply to someone sticking out their tongue at you is, “No thanks, I use toilet paper.”
By the way, the “sticking out the tongue” gesture used by ancient symbols such as he Gorgon, Kirtimukkha, Bes, Rahu, Rangda, Tiki, Tonatiuh, Mixtecuhtli, and others has , I believe, a completely different meaning and origin. An entire chapter of a book by someone I greatly admire was devoted to this.
I originally meant, literally, what it means. Does it mean a phrase (such as “fuck you”) or something milder “you’re a poopy face.” Or is it a purely dismissive gesture that doesn’t translate directly into words?
But, now that I read the discussion, “why the tongue?” becomes very interesting!