# Have you ever licked a 9-volt battery? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461 "2011-12-16T22:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/1 "2011-12-16T22:51:45Z")
Once upon a time, I would have just assumed the answer to this question would be ‘yes’ for every living human being in the first world. It recently came to my attention that two people I know personally - one being my wife - have never done this. Furthermore, they both refuse to do so now that it’s been brought to their attention. So now I’m curious… ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/2 "2011-12-16T22:53:20Z")
Yes I have. I didn’t like it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/3 "2011-12-16T22:54:33Z")
Yes. It’s how to check voltage without a voltmeter. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/4 "2011-12-16T23:55:32Z")
Female - yes, because I was told not to. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/5 "2011-12-16T23:58:16Z")
How else am I supposed to check a 9V battery? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/6 "2011-12-17T00:02:59Z")
Yea, all the time. I have to keep them away from my niece. She’ll hold one to her tongue for hours at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/7 "2011-12-17T00:12:31Z")
I’d never heard of doing such a thing until I was in college. (I imagine my parents would have treated putting batteries in your mouth along the same lines as sticking a fork in an outlet.) Used it all the time to make sure the batteries in the wireless mics were fresh. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/8 "2011-12-17T00:35:57Z")
Sure! Nobody told me not to. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/9 "2011-12-17T00:42:24Z")
I have. Perhaps in the age of iPods and iPhones, 9 volt batteries are less relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/10 "2011-12-17T00:42:43Z")
Nope, never done it, and, as has been said, now that I’ve heard so much about it, I can’t get myself to do it. Same goes for getting a piece of foil in my mouth (against my fillings). Oddly though, I’ve had plenty of 120v shocks and getting another isn’t exactly something I live in fear of. Assuming it doesn’t actually kill me, it’s not all that painful. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/11 "2011-12-17T00:53:58Z")
Yep, although it’s been many years. The strange thing is, that I can taste it and feel it now–a powerful memory. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/12 "2011-12-17T01:06:15Z")
A few days before we got married, my almost-husband and I were packing up stuff to take from my parents’ house. There was a stray 9-volt battery in the mess. I mentioned something along the lines of “I’ve heard that you can test a 9-volt with your tongue.” Almost-husband said, “Nah, it’s not true. I’ve tried it, and there’s nothing to it. Here, you try.” I did. Of COURSE I got zapped! I looked at him with horror, thinking, “I want to spend my LIFE with someone like that?” We celebrated our 37th anniversary at the end of June. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/13 "2011-12-17T01:15:53Z")
still used in smoke alarms and some radios for power or backup. still an approximate test. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/14 "2011-12-17T01:18:22Z")
My first reaction to the question was, “Who hasn’t?”, but clearly many of you haven’t. Wow. For me, I’m pretty sure it was my dad who taught me I could check batteries that way. I had the best dad. I miss him. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/15 "2011-12-17T02:50:43Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > Once upon a time, I would have just assumed the answer to this question would be ‘yes’ for every living human being in the first world. It recently came to my attention that two people I know personally - one being my wife - have never done this. Furthermore, they both refuse to do so now that it’s been brought to their attention. So now I’m curious… I’m sure it’s been asked before, but how else would you know the thing is charged? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/16 "2011-12-17T03:01:33Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Of COURSE I got zapped! Zapped? That’s a considerable exaggeration. Many moons ago I had [Tandy Championship Football (the top one)](http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tandy/ChampFB.htm) and I played it so much that I broke the Pass button three times (my dad fixed it each time). It ran on 9-volts and so I had little choice but to test the battery frequently lest I lose a game in the middle of a typical blowout. Out came the tongue, as it were, since I can’t stick mine out, and when I got a nice warming sensation to go with the metallic taste I knew was good to go. Even at age 6 I never thought it was a big deal, and it still isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/17 "2011-12-17T03:03:07Z")
It would never occur to me. Had no idea this was a “thing.” ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/18 "2011-12-17T03:18:14Z")
No, but I stuck the end of a 12 volt adapter in my mouth once. I imagine the effect is pretty similar. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/19 "2011-12-17T03:36:36Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > No, but I stuck the end of a 12 volt adapter in my mouth once. I imagine the effect is pretty similar. Why the hell…Never mind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/20 "2011-12-17T04:16:30Z")
I’ve never even heard of doing this before. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461.md?page=2)