# Can You Fart After You Die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 4, 1999, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319 "1999-12-04T07:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319/21 "2015-01-25T02:33:42Z")
Ive been reading the audiobook of March Roach’s **Stiff** , and, coincidentally, she just covered this. The answer is an unequivocal “yes”. Aren’t you glad you know this? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319/22 "2015-01-25T02:37:38Z")
I am SO updating my will to have one of those roll-up party horns installed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319/23 "2015-01-25T02:47:54Z")
[Here’s a video of a dead whale “farting” (in a manner of speaking.)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X0hq0ug9q4) ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319/24 "2015-01-25T03:05:22Z")
I’ve read that corpses can ‘breathe’ after death. The term used in the article was ‘agonal breathing’, but I looked that up and it’s not the right term. If I understood it right, the body would continue to release air through the mouth for some time after death, and that could be mistaken for breathing. ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319/25 "2015-01-25T09:10:16Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The question arose this evening after I ate a large bowl of lentil soup, and I pondered whether the seemingly endless after effects might persist well past my demise. I would have words with the cook if the soup was\*\* that\*\* bad! There’s a South Park episode on the topic. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319/26 "2015-01-25T10:10:24Z")
But if the sphincter is totally relaxed, why would gas escaping produce a sound? Gah I have been angry at that factoid about every corpse shitting itself on death so damn long, only if there was already feces waiting to be expelled in the rectum! ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319/27 "2015-01-25T10:18:54Z")
> [@grude](#): > > But if the sphincter is totally relaxed, why would gas escaping produce a sound? > > Gah I have been angry at that factoid about every corpse shitting itself on death so damn long, only if there was already feces waiting to be expelled in the rectum! I guess it would depend on resonance. Even a relaxed sphincter will have some elasticity and therefore resonance; even wood resonates under the right conditions. I didn’t cite the South Park episode to be a fact or factoid; just for humor. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319/28 "2015-01-25T10:20:19Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > …After a few days in warm conditions, the corpse appears bloated, with large belly and puffy face… That sounds like me on holidays in Tenerife… ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319/29 "2015-01-25T16:05:22Z")
Since this is an old thread and about asshole making noises, I hope this is appropriate. > [@](#): > > A medical student was in the morgue one day after classes, getting a > little practice in before the final exams. He went over to a table where > a body was lying face down. He removed the sheet over the body and to > his surprise he found a cork in the corpse’s rectum. Figuring this was > fairly unusual, he pulled the cork out, and to his surprise, music began > playing, "On the road again . . . Just can’t wait to get on the road > again . . . " > The student was amazed, and placed the cork back in the rectum. The > music stopped. Totally freaked out, the student called the Medical > Examiner over to the corpse. > “Look at this. This is really something!” the student told the examiner > as he pulled the cork back out again. > “On the road again . . . Just can’t wait to get on the road again . . .” > “So what?”, the Medical Examiner replied, obviously unimpressed with the > student’s discovery. > “But isn’t that the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen?” asked the > student. > “Are you kidding?” replied the Examiner, “Any asshole can sing country > music.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-fart-after-you-die/5319.md?page=1)