# Poll: Where is your stomach? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 3, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251 "2006-06-03T03:37:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/1 "2006-06-03T03:37:49Z")
If someone asked you to point to your stomach, would you point in the general direction of the organ, or would you point more toward your belly button? How do you refer to the general area of your abdomen? Abdomen? Belly? Tummy? Stomach? My husband insists that I’m the only person on the planet who, when told to point to my stomach, points to the organ and not my belly, which I call my belly. He calls the entire region from the bottom of his ribs to his pelvis his “stomach.” I imagine more people will agree with me, but I’m not looking for quantity, just quality. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/2 "2006-06-03T03:40:46Z")
I would point at my belly button area. I will also admit that I have NO idea where my actual stomach is. Even if I did know, it would be buried under a layer of post-pregnancy-pudge. I refer to the whole general area as my tummy. But on my baby I call it her belly. When I’m feeling redneck-y, I call it my gut. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/3 "2006-06-03T03:43:48Z")
I point above the bellybutton, below the ribcage (or below the coccyx, if you wanna get technical) with my right hand. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/4 "2006-06-03T03:45:47Z")
If pressed, I would indicate that my stomach was somewhere under that mound of flab that is my gut. I got this body by lifting weights. 12 ounces at a time. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/5 "2006-06-03T03:47:15Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > I point above the bellybutton, below the ribcage (or below the coccyx, if you wanna get technical) with my right hand. Not your coccyx, probably. Do you mean your xiphoid process? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/6 "2006-06-03T03:50:58Z")
As with **LOUNE** , I point just below my breastbone. (I certainly hope “[coccyx](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccyx)” was a mistake.) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/7 "2006-06-03T04:43:13Z")
I was quite ignorant of where my stomach was until I had a gastric by-pass. Now I am quite aware that it is much closer to my breast bone than I had previously thought. The first time after the surgery that I overate, I thought I was having a heart attack! ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/8 "2006-06-03T04:59:20Z")
Since my gastric bypass, I have to point to two places…behind my breastbone, and under my ribcage on the left. But even before the surgery, I’d point to the actual location…you know, where the gurgling and grumbling came from! It still gurgles and grumbles, but not as frequently, and much louder! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/9 "2006-06-03T06:00:39Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Not your coccyx, probably. Do you mean your xiphoid process? Heh…you mean…you guys don’t shove food up your ass? Yeah, I meant “sternum” (I was going to go with the xyphoid process, but decided to scratch it). Some reason, it came out “coccyx”. Looks like I removed myself from this thread pretty damned quick. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/10 "2006-06-03T06:02:42Z")
xiphoid process. Yeah. Just…load me in a cannon and shoot me somewhere that doesn’t have Internets access. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/11 "2006-06-03T09:04:16Z")
My stomach’s right above my guts. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/12 "2006-06-03T10:24:26Z")
I point to the area of my lower ribs on the left side of my body. ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/13 "2006-06-03T10:33:17Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > My husband insists that I’m the only person on the planet who, when told to point to my stomach, points to the organ and not my belly, which I call my belly. He calls the entire region from the bottom of his ribs to his pelvis his “stomach.” I imagine more people will agree with me, but I’m not looking for quantity, just quality. 😃 Yes, but I love you. I always deal with this with people who should know better e.g. cops. Yes, the bullet was in his belly, his abdomen. No, it was not in his stomach. I can’t answer the poll because I don’t point until I’ve resolved whether the other person knows what a “stomach” is. It is the organ. It isn’t the abdomen or the belly. Let’s not even get into the retroperitoneum. (Not that there’s a lot of room back there.) Anybody really knows where the pancreas is, raise your hand, and I give you a gold star. Sometimes I use the mealymouthed “gastric pouch” to get around the equivocation. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/14 "2006-06-03T12:13:07Z")
People in my family are pretty literal, too. We know that our stomach is inside our abdomen. I couldn’t point to my stomach without also adding, “It’s somewhere in here,” as I point. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/15 "2006-06-03T12:34:03Z")
Sorry – I point vaguely at my belly-button area. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/16 "2006-06-03T15:12:02Z")
I also use “stomach” to literally mean where the organ is. I’d guess that most of us who have had some training in medicine would. I don’t blame someone who’s never taken Gross Anatomy for not being sure where exactly the stomach is, but I’ve spent enough time staring at cut-open cadavers to be able to picture the general relationships between the stomach, intestines, liver, etc. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/17 "2006-06-03T15:52:27Z")
I understand how someone could be a bit unclear as to the exact location of their stomach. But unless you’re speaking to a small child, there’s no reason for anyone over the age of ten to use the term ‘belly’. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/18 "2006-06-03T16:27:31Z")
I point to the general area of my belly button, and talk about my “stomach” (as in, “My stomach is rumbling” or “The stomach is responsible for digestion in the human body”) to most people I know, and my “tummy” to kids. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/19 "2006-06-03T16:38:33Z")
I know where my stomach (the organ) is, as well as all my other bits. Kindly old Dr Torrington showed me how to palpate some, auscultate others and percuss the abdomen. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251/20 "2006-06-03T16:49:02Z")
To me, “stomach” refers to the specific organ. To the majority of my clients, “stomach” = “abdomen”. When someone brings their dog in for me to “check her stomach” I often explain how we could administer barium and take radiographs to evaluate the dog’s stomach. The client then says, oh, I mean here (and points to a lesion on the ventral abdomen). I also use “temperature” to mean just that. When I place a thermometer into an animals rectum and the client says, “does he have a temperature?” I reply, “yes, and it is normal.”. Temperature and fever are _not_ synonyms. A coupla years ago I had a client point to his dog’s mammary glands. He said he didn’t know what to call them. I told him the terminology is the same for a dog as it is for a human. So, of course he said, “OK, she has a problem with her titties.”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-where-is-your-stomach/359251.md?page=2)