# Is it illegal to fart in public? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798 "2007-06-28T17:56:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/21 "2007-06-29T19:27:12Z")
In fact, “polite fiction” is as least as old as 1873, appearing in [a letter](http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/etexts/E000333.htm#X03) from a correspondent of the writer Samuel Butler: > [@](#): > > You only yawn when you are in the company of people who bore you, and a yawn is always the result of a sly suggestion to your muscles; it is only a polite fiction to call it an involuntary action–it is a deliberate hint. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/22 "2007-06-29T19:36:54Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] You’ve got to fight for your right to flatulence! [/QUOTE] I gotta believe you deliberately screwed up the punchline here. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/23 "2007-06-29T20:02:54Z")
While I’d imagine an accurate answer to the specifics of your question may depend on the particular jurisdiction in which you propose to engage in a public disturbance, there is an interesting discussion [here](http://law.jrank.org/pages/973/Deviance-Relationship-between-deviance-crime.html) on the relationship between deviance and crime that I came across in pursuit of an answer, if you’re interested. > [@](#): > > To a large extent, criminology and studies of deviance have developed along separate tracks although they show much overlap. Criminologists have typically limited themselves to issues about legality, crime, or crime-related phenomena. Students of deviance, on the other hand, have studied crime as well as a wider range of behaviors or conditions that are deviant by one or another of the definitions reviewed but are not necessarily illegal, such as suicide, alcoholism, homosexuality, mentally disordered behaviors, stuttering, and even such behaviors as public nose picking or flatulence, sectarian religious behaviors, and body mutilation. Hence, it is difficult to distinguish criminology clearly from studies of deviance (Bader et al.). > > Many criminologists concede that illegal acts are not fundamentally different from legal but deviant acts, except by the fact of illegality itself, which is largely an arbitrary designation by legal functionaries. At the same time, students of deviance readily acknowledge that many deviant acts are also illegal and they have found data about crime especially useful because it is more systematic than most data concerning legal forms of deviance. Recognizing this overlap is obvious among those deviance scholars who employ a legalistic definition of deviance, but almost every comprehensive treatment of deviant behavior, regardless of the definition used, includes a subsection on criminal acts that are also deviant. Furthermore, both camps have raised similar questions and have come to share a common set of theories for explaining the phenomena in their domains. Among other issues, criminologists as well as students of deviance want to explain why the acts they study are deviant or criminal; they want to describe and explain the distribution, frequency, prevalence, and change in the occurrence of various criminal or deviant acts; they want to explain why and how criminal or deviant acts are committed; they want to explain how social groups manage and respond to crime and deviance and how people who are accused or guilty of crime or deviance respond to being accused or managed; and they want to understand how criminal or deviant phenomena affect and are affected by other aspects of social life. More in the article… a worthwhile read. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/24 "2007-06-29T20:14:12Z")
True fart story from just last week!!! A big, burly, beer bellied, biker type guy with tons of tattoos is sleeping on a plastic pool-side chair, one of them hard molded plastic jobbies. He’s sort of in an upright sitting position with his head and neck resting on a towel. There were a lot of people around. He’d been drinking Blatz beer all day. He’s in a _deep_ sleep. He started to let one loose and actually woke himself up. It was one of them reverberating jack-hammer-pounding type numbers that can only be duplicated under very close, exacting conditions. Everyone’s eyes were already fixed on him by the time he woke up and noticed the sound was coming from his own ass. He sheepishly opened his eyes while the flatulescent symphony continued, unabated, and not caring that the rest of us were choking back tears of laughter. The funniest part was when my son poked his head out of the pool and said, “Daddy!!, What was that noise?!?!?” in the loudest voice a child of seven could muster. That did it, the whole place was in tears. Where’s a video camera when you need one. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/25 "2007-06-30T09:55:22Z")
[QUOTE=Kimstu] In fact, “polite fiction” is as least as old as 1873, appearing in [a letter](http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/etexts/E000333.htm#X03) from a correspondent of the writer Samuel Butler: [/QUOTE] Thanks for the tidbit. Blame me and not Judith Martin for crediting her for coining the use of the term for farting. I was on a Mobile PDA killing time at the airport and unable to due my usual due diligence. The column I remember was many (15 or 20?) years back. Much longer than the 2 or 3 minutes back I can remember without my computer. ---
**Author:** ![Freezair\_SilverEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Freezair\_SilverEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freezair_SilverEye)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/26 "2007-06-30T10:18:51Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] For what it’s worth, I can remember reading about a court case in which a woman sued her co-worker because he was constantly farting around her. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying that although his actions were definitely piggy, they fell within the boundaries of free speech. [/QUOTE] I’ve heard of talking out of your ass, but that’s a new one… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/27 "2007-06-30T23:42:45Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] For what it’s worth, I can remember reading about a court case in which a woman sued her co-worker because he was constantly farting around her. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying that although his actions were definitely piggy, they fell within the boundaries of free speech. [/QUOTE] Is that what they mean by “speaking from both sides of your mouth”? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/28 "2007-07-01T07:48:59Z")
I was at a party one time where I had a reserve of gas (we call it wind over here )but was desperately trying to seduce a female guest . There was an aquaintance of mine who was also trying to get off with this girl but his plan of attack was to come over to our group at intervals,display his sparkling wit for a few minutes and then move on to another group only to return ten or so minutes later. Every time he came over I let a "silent but deadly "one go . The girl pretended not to notice (I mean we’re British dammit)the first ,second and third times but on his fourth visit she exploded(must have been all that gas) and told him to go away in most unladylike terms,words to the effect of "why dont you leave the room in short jerky movements ",I of course ,playing the part of the innocent ,reasonable bystander advised him to use the toilet. I’m not proud of myself ,it was a shameful piece of behaviour on my part but to this day I enjoy the memory of the hurt look on his face when she started shouting at him. Serves him right though. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/29 "2007-07-01T07:53:01Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] For what it’s worth, I can remember reading about a court case in which a woman sued her co-worker because he was constantly farting around her. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying that although his actions were definitely piggy, they fell within the boundaries of free speech. [/QUOTE] As an accomplished fartist, I would be devestated if I couldn’t perform my assmusic. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/30 "2007-07-01T07:58:34Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] As an accomplished fartist, I would be devestated if I couldn’t perform my assmusic. [/QUOTE] I prefer the term _[fartiste](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane)_. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/31 "2007-07-01T08:51:07Z")
My understanding is that deliberately farting on someone could be considered Assault in the state of Queensland: According to my copy of _Carter’s Criminal Law of Queensland (Thirteenth Edition)_ (bolding mine): > [@Queensland Criminal Code](#): > > Any person who strikes, touches, or moves, or otherwise applies force of any kind to, the person of another, either directly or indirectly, without the other person’s consent… is said to assault that other person, and the act is called assault. > > **In this section, “Applies Force” includes the case of applying heat, light, electrical force, gas, odour or any other substance or thing whatever if applied in such a degree as to cause injury or personal discomfort.** You could also make a case for “Common Nuisance”: > [@Queensland Criminal Code](#): > > Any person who, without lawful justification or excuse, the proof of which lies on the person, does any act, or omits to do any act with with respect to any property under the person’s control, by which act or omission dangers is caused to the property or comfort of the public, or the public are obstructed in the exercise or enjoyment of any right common to all Her Majesty’s subjects, and by which injury is caused to the person of some person; is guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for two years . The doctrine of [_De Minimus Non Curat Lex_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_minimis) (loosely translated: “The Law does not concern itself with trivialities”), would make it extremely difficult to bring a successful prosecution, however, unless there were extraordinary circumstances. Undue speculation upon the nature of which, however, would only serve to lower the tone of the thread whilst adding little of academic value, IMHO. 😉 So, in answer to the OP: In Queensland, you _could_ be arrested for Assault and Common Nuisance, but a court would, in all likely, throw the case out for being a complete waste of everybody’s time. DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, your results may vary, etc. You get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/32 "2007-07-01T10:11:58Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin] I prefer the term _[fartiste](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane)_. [/QUOTE] About 12. More than I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/33 "2007-07-01T11:17:52Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > A friend of mine perfected the art of non-chalant audible public farting, and has never been arrested. > > His masterpiece was ripping an enormous blast while walking in the departure terminal at LaGuardia airport. So loud, it could be heard over the din of the on-going activities at a distance. A couple of pilots who were sitting, waiting for their gate to become active, looked at each other and then burst out laughing. Proof positive, if proof were needed, that aviation is still a man’s world. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/34 "2007-07-08T01:52:16Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Proof positive, if proof were needed, that aviation is still a man’s world. [/QUOTE] Has anyone noticed if babies and/or toddlers fart as much as adults? I realize they do it at the worst possible time, but I’d like to think that they can’t produce the volume or the sound as much as adults do. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798/35 "2007-07-08T14:59:49Z")
[QUOTE=medstar] Has anyone noticed if babies and/or toddlers fart as much as adults? I realize they do it at the worst possible time, but I’d like to think that they can’t produce the volume or the sound as much as adults do. [/QUOTE] You might want to [rethink that.](http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1587439435) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-fart-in-public/409798.md?page=1)