A few weeks ago, on an early morning fishing trip off the Fla. coast, I availed myself of the opportunity to return the previous night’s seabass-in-butter to it’s original home. It struck me that the process made a lot of noise, so I wondered if you use your vocal chords in the process, and why?
I don’t imagine so.
Your vocal cords, being in your trachea (windpipe), not your esophagus, would be closed off during the vomiting process. Any noise you make is purely from the stomach.
I think most people use their vocal chords when they chuck, but it’s a learned behavior. It’s more of a signal to others that, “Hey, I don’t feel so good…” It’s usually a kind of whiney-moaning-grunt sort of sound, although some people give out a kind of “hoowhaggg” sound as if they are trying to help propel the unwanted material out of their bodies as they choke on the debris. The sound is usually muted due to the point that AWB made… I don’t think vocalization is a natural part of regurgitation, since most babies don’t make sounds when they hurl.
I agree with Joey. As someone who has had some practice with this in the last few days, I am pretty vocal when I upchuck. It feels like an emotional expression rather than a practical one, but it might aid the process on some sort of psychological level (kinda like how vocalizations can aid in fighting).
Nor do most heavily drunk folks when they give a sudden hurl that they weren’t really expecting…
On a similar note, I tend to be pretty loud when I sneeze. I am confident that I learned this from my mother.
AWB:
I’m not sure that this is actually the case. It’s true that your trachea gets closed off when swallowing, but that may not be the case when things are going in reverse. (Any anatomists out there?)
I used to work as an operator on a line that handled poison control. I remember that they almost completely quit recommending the inducing of regurgitation, because of a fear of drawing the poisonous substances into the lungs.
Carpe hoc!
Vomiting does not close off your windpipe. Quite the contrary, it is usually accompanied by a very forceful exhalation, because the diaphragm contracts violently along with the stomach. (No doubt to keep the debris out of the windpipe).
Didn’t you ever notice you cannot draw another breath until the stomach and diaphragm have finished their spasms? The dry heaves are especially excruciating after that first “HUU-WAHHHH!” Oh. You don’t add the sound effects? Well, you’re wierd.
I’m definitely not one of the vocalizers either when ralphing or sneezing. I have often wondered about but never understood this phenomenon. I find this trait to be extremely annoying, its not as if the act of vomiting weren’t disgusting enough without the bonus sound effects.
Giving this more thought, I tend to believe that the vocalizers are the ones who fight the need to vomit. I, being a pro, am all to willing to upchuck a payload of vomit that has been causing me to feel nauseous. But I guess there are people that don’t understand that purging the vomit is a good thing when you’re already at the point of nausea.
I’ve also noticed a variation to this where people actually cough when vomiting. This of course having its own disgusting implications when vomit is expelled at the speeds reached by a cough. Dunno if this can also be explained by the “fighting it” hypothesis.
If anyone here thinks themselves capable of indulging in the dry heaves without any accompanying vocalizations, I’d pay to see that.
Voltaire,how can you ‘shout for Ralph’ with OUT vocalizing? Seems to me you are not Ralphing if you aren’t vocalizing. Heaving, worshipping at the porcelin altar, reinspecting dinner, getting aquainted with the inner you,but not ralphing.
If anyone here thinks themselves capable of indulging in the dry heaves without any
accompanying vocalizations, I’d pay to see that.
Been there, done that, not a peep. I always know that its coming at least 10 minutes prior to any disgorging. I make my way to a safe-puke-zone (hopefully with tissue and Listerine in hand) and anxiously await the perfect time to offload. I don’t force it, but I don’t fight it either. I think this is the key. My voids usually come in groups of about 5, and are sometimes accompanied by the dry-heaves once there is no more payload but the nausea persists. And I’ve had dry heaves that have left my ribs and chest hurting the next day, but I still don’t vocalize.
I think this topic is fun if not just to see how many words for ‘vomit’ you can employ.
Wow. I’m constantly amazed at the diversity of the human race! I never imagined there were people who could always control when and where they indulged in this seemingly involuntary process.
I can think of a few times when I’d have liked just a few extra seconds of running time to reach that Porcelain Goddess or even get my head out a car window. Disgorging one’s stomach contents in public has got to be one of the most humiliatin’ experiences known to man; all the time they’re saying “Oh! you poor thing!” while thinking “Eeew god, get me out of here.”
And now that I’d written that, I suddenly realized - vocalizing during the ralph is generally not something people do unless within earshot of loved ones who can be trusted to have genuine sympathy for the ralpher. Must be a learned behavior, the intensity of the reward (a day off school, a dish of ice cream, a tender embrace) somehow subconsciously linked to the volume, duration and creativity of the accomanying vocals. (My little boy has put on some virtuoso performances worthy of Povarotti himself).
Disgorging one’s stomach contents in public has got to be one of the most humiliatin’ experiences known to man; all the time they’re saying “Oh! you poor thing!” while thinking “Eeew god, get me out of here.”
I was once the victim of some very under-cooked and obviously tainted hot-dogs at a Lollapaloser festival in Miami. Thinking back, it was my own dumb fault for even eating them because they were being stored in coolers where most, if not all, of the ice had long since melted in the hot South Florida summer sun. The lines for these WAY-OVERPRICED, toxic hot-dogs were so long that they were barely getting warm on the hot-dog roller thingy before they were served up to the anxiously awaiting starved patrons.
To make a long story short, I ended up on top of a hill in the bushes puking my brains out throughout the entire Beastie Boys and Smashing Pumpkins set. Its amazing the type of people you meet in the bushes on the top of a hill at a Lollapalooza fest. Not bad I guess, having females which were complete strangers consoling you during your ordeal, probably thinking that it was brought on by shrooms instead of a rank frank.
BTW, haven’t had a hot-dog since.