I would probably be the world champion gleeker if it were any Olympic sport. I rule in terms of accuracy and distance - about three metres at a 45 degree angle. My best shot ever was to spray the inside of the school bus driver’s windscreen from the front seats on the other side of the bus. He had no idea what was going on.
I don’t use the roof of my mouth - just position the tongue halfway down and back, then move it quickly down. The best way to get volume is to ‘charge’ the gland up by yawning but holding it in, then expel the saliva with the tongue.
Once, when I hadn’t eaten for a day, the smell of some food made me spontaneously gleek. Luckily it landed on the floor.
“I’m sorry, that’s never happened before.”
“That’s OK, honey, it’s no big deal.”
I can’t do it at will (and I’ve been trying to follow the tutorials!)
Incidentally, we called it snake spitting. You know the scene in Grease where Danny is sitting in the diner, surreptitiously glancing over his shoulder at Sandy and Rizzo comes along and says, “Somebody snakin’ ya, Danny?” Is that a reference to gleeking, and if not, what the heck did she mean by that?
I don’t think you have a proper appreciation for the badge of honor that went along with being able to gleek skillfully in the elementary and junior high years.
In Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene I, Titania awakes to find Bottom singing about birds. She flirts, and he demurs. He modestly says he not so hot, and, “Nay, I can gleek upon occasion.”
A source I read long ago said gleek meant sing in Shakespeare’s day. My old 12-pound dictionary gives half a dozen other meanings, none of which is spit or sing.