# hiccup **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 25, 2000, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713 "2000-07-25T01:06:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jellie\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@jellie\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellie_bean)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/1 "2000-07-25T01:06:31Z")
Okay, I think that it is great that you gave alot of hot air in the speach of hiccups, but really, who accually read all of that. I am a nursing student and the explanations you gave were wonderful but like I said it was just alot of hot air. How could you leave out the the simplest explanation? On sesame street in 1980 something I learned that hiccups happened when your breathing was out of wack and your lungs/diaphagm were trying to bring everything back to norm. Simple yet satisfying, when in doubt go back to the basics and Sesame Street. Jellie Bean ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/2 "2000-07-25T15:25:11Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment. Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site. To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space **before** and **after** the text of the URL). Cecil’s column can be found on-line at this link: [What are hiccups and why do we get them? (10-Jan-1997)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_118.html) The column ( **including** Slug Signorino’s illustration) can also be found on pages 118-120 of Cecil Adams’ book “[_Triumph of the Straight Dope_](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_118.html)”. [Edited by Arnold Winkelried on 07-25-2000 at 12:03 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/3 "2000-07-25T15:57:46Z")
Eh, Arnold, your clipboard must be full–your link goes to the “Lord’s first night” column. [What are hiccups and why do we get them?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_118.html) You need more coffee. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/4 "2000-07-25T16:57:59Z")
Um, Jellie, glad to have you hear and congrats on your first post and all. May I suggest that, if you’re a nursing student, you might want to work on your spelling? “Speach”, “diaphagm” “accually” and “wack” are a lot of spelling errors for a four sentence post (I’m ignoring stuff like omitted spaces, which can just be fast typing.) I know, I know, spelling is such an insignificant, technical irrelevancy… and only rarely do I bother to comment on it. But I’d hate to be your patient if you were supposed to be writing out “aspirin” and wrote “aspartame” instead. Lots of medications are spelled VERY similarly, and learning to pay attention to spelling now could save you from a potentially fatal error later in your career. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/5 "2000-07-25T17:05:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > Eh, Arnold, your clipboard must be full–your link goes to the “Lord’s first night” column. I do believe that my link is correct, DDG! (BTW, please ignore the “[Edited by Arnold Winkelried on 07-25-2000 at 12:03 PM]” message. It means nothing.) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/6 "2000-07-25T20:38:16Z")
Ah, Arnold, Arnold…my old friend…If only I could persuade you to use your mutant post-editing ability for good, instead of evil. Ah, well, you must go your way, and I must go mine. But be assured, the next time you try to use it against the human race, I will be there to stop you–_old friend._ * * * The I Love The Internet Department: There’s a mysterious product called “HiccupsAway” that is touted as a dietary supplement to stop hiccups immediately. However, according to the website, [http://www.hiccupsaway.com/](http://www.hiccupsaway.com/) [http://www.hiccupsaway.com/msg2.htm](http://www.hiccupsaway.com/msg2.htm) not only has the FDA refused (so far) to even list it as an approved dietary supplement, apparently the guy hasn’t even got it together enough to apply for the license. But he’s still selling it. Any guesses on what it contains? BTW, Jellie Bean’s Sesame Street explanation isn’t too far off from the official [http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/hiccup.html](http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/hiccup.html) explanation. Kids don’t need to know all about the vagus nerve, just what the basic reason is for it, and whether they’re gonna die. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/7 "2000-07-26T18:13:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > Ah, Arnold, Arnold…my old friend…If only I could persuade you to use your mutant post-editing ability for good, instead of evil. Ah, well, you must go your way, and I must go mine. But be assured, the next time you try to use it against the human race, I will be there to stop you–_old friend._ You fool, Charles! The humans are our enemies! We must destroy them or be destroyed. Once I have escaped from my plastic prison, I hope you will join me in my quest. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/8 "2000-07-26T20:12:21Z")
You surprise me–I didn’t think a Swiss national hero would go to a trashy comic book movie. Went to pick up some pointers, eh? ---
**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/9 "2000-07-27T18:04:38Z")
Ms. Bean, I am not a big fan of welcoming people as this site is an open forum for the mutual edification of all who care to show up. But I would like to apologise for CK’s patronizing, ad feminam comments. All things being equal, spelling counts but I prefer content over form. You are probably much more schooled in psychology than I but the concept of anal retentive does seem to be the motive for CK’s behavior, at least the anal part. CK, you wrote “glad to have you hear”. Spelling is such an insignificant, technical irrelevancy… and only rarely do I bother to comment on it. But I’d hate to be your web site viewer if you were supposed to be writing out “patronizing administator” and wrote “patronizing a-hole” instead. Lots of descriptions are spelled VERY similarly, and learning to pay attention to spelling now could save you from a potentially fatal error later in your career. ---
**Author:** ![Tymp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Tymp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tymp)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/10 "2000-07-27T18:44:04Z")
Smite ‘im, **CK**! Smite ‘im! Smite ‘im! Smite ‘im! You don’t need to stand for **mipsman’s** insolence. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/11 "2000-07-27T18:45:27Z")
**mipsman** , I’m sure you realize that a post such as yours in this thread would be better suited to [The BBQ Pit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=5). Suggesting that a poster should correct their spelling is one thing, but such words as “a-hole” don’t belong in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/12 "2000-07-27T19:21:27Z")
I thought I was on my best behavior by using “a-hole”. Tymp, you should be beaten like the drum for which you were named for kissing admin butt like that. (Can I say butt outside of the Pit?) But, now that I think about it, you are probably named after tympanites. ---
**Author:** ![DavisMcDavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@DavisMcDavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavisMcDavis)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/13 "2000-07-27T21:57:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jellie bean \* > \*\*On sesame street in 1980 something I learned that hiccups happened when your breathing was out of wack and your lungs/diaphagm were trying to bring everything back to norm. Simple yet satisfying, when in doubt go back to the basics and Sesame Street. > Jellie Bean \*\* I hope no one minds me going back to the original post - in reference to that, although I have to admit I adore Sesame Street, I’ve never found that hiccups actually accomplish bringing “everything back to the norm”. They just make you hiccup, and unless you actively try to stop them, you keep hiccupping. The best explanation I’ve ever heard was that hiccups are caused by a spasm of your diaphragm, and that calming your diaphragm made them go away - this was accomplished by drinking very warm water and then lying down and breathing slowly. I don’t know where I read this. Anyway, at some random point in my life I found out essentially what Cecil said about stopping them early - if I stop what I’m doing right away within the first few hiccups and concentrate on breathing slowly and steadily in and out, I can calm my breathing and make them go away. No warm water needed, just concentration. But it only works if I catch them early. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/14 "2000-07-27T22:26:50Z")
From the health kids site linked by Duck Duck Goose: > [@](#): > > But sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated, and when this happens, it pus hes [sic] up in a jerky way that makes your breath come out differently from how it normally does. When this irregular breath hits your **voice box** , you’re left with a big hiccup. But Cecil said: > [@](#): > > Within 35 milliseconds the **glottis (the opening at the top of the air passage)** slams shut, producing the characteristic “hic.” [all bolding mine for emphasis] So which is it? The glottis is not the voice box. The voice box is the larynx - the vocal chords. The glottis is the flap of skin at the opening of the trachea above the voice box. Sure they are next to each other, but they aren’t the same thing. Or is that an acceptable misdescription to give kids? DDG also said: > [@](#): > > Kids don’t need to know all about the vagus nerve, just what the basic reason is for it, and whether they’re gonna die. True, but who ever said the Straight Dope was for kids? (Certainly not Slug’s illustrations!) DavisMcDavis, jellie bean did not say the hiccups were trying to push things back in whack, he/she said your lungs and diaphram are trying to put things back in whack. Hiccups are an effect of the disturbed breathing, not a attempt to fix the problem. Whether your lungs and diaphram are trying to put things back in whack is another story - I’m not sure on that one. From my experience, I would say no, it takes conscious effort. Regarding the OP, the reason Cecil went into so much detail is because the question was asking for detail. It didn’t want the simple answer “your breathing is messed up, but it won’t kill you”, it wanted details of what is making it happen, and how that relates to eating and drinking etc. Thus the longwinded response about vagus nerves, disturbed breathing, brain trauma, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccup/26713/15 "2000-07-28T00:24:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mipsman \* > I thought I was on my best behavior by using “a-hole”. I think that if you were on your best behaviour you would have used the word “you cad!” It’s hard when reading these posts to determine if the person is red-faced and pounding the table in anger, or smiling wryly and winking in the direction of their monitor.