# Spitting in urinals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451 "2003-08-06T23:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bruce5808](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@bruce5808](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bruce5808)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/1 "2003-08-06T23:02:02Z")
As a frequent user of urinals in public men’s rest rooms, I’ve noticed for as long as I can remember that many users spit into the urinal prior to doing their business. I’ve seen the same odd behavior in people spitting on sidewalks and onto subway tracks. Is this merely due to e.g. excessive saliva or smoking, or are these people, similar to some animals, in some peculiar way also marking their territories? Also, do people sometimes spit prior to fisticuffs as a display of hostile intent? - signed, call me “All Wet”, Bruce F.😕 ---
**Author:** ![snac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@snac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snac)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/2 "2003-08-06T23:03:58Z")
I always do it in urinals, and I have absolutely no idea why. Which suggests some deep psychological need…rather than simple excess saliva, don’tcha think? ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/3 "2003-08-06T23:21:34Z")
I do that too. No idea why. It does give me something to aim at. ---
**Author:** ![bruce5808](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@bruce5808](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bruce5808)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/4 "2003-08-06T23:29:54Z")
As a new “member”, all I can say to both snac and jack@ss is that they’ve been “hanging” around either urinals or this message board too long!😉 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/5 "2003-08-06T23:30:38Z")
I used to do it, but my last gf broke me of it. She broke me of a lot. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/6 "2003-08-06T23:34:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > \*\*I used to do it, but my last gf broke me of it. She broke me of a lot. ☹ \*\* …and how, pray tell, did she know? ---
**Author:** ![bruce5808](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@bruce5808](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bruce5808)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/7 "2003-08-06T23:44:44Z")
When I mentioned to a friend that I had just seen him spit prior to urinating in the urinal and what the reason for this odd behavior might be, he said that it helped to start the flow.:wally ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/8 "2003-08-06T23:47:59Z")
I had ad ouble take reading your OP, I thought you were talking about other people spitting on subway tracks and on sidewalks before urinating there! Personally I will swallow saliva, unless there is a place that it can be politely and cleanly gotten rid of. A urinal is perfect, so if I would like to spit I will spit in the urinal, as it is soon going to be followed by much stronger bodily fluids I don’t see it as being a dirty thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/9 "2003-08-06T23:50:11Z")
I assumed I just sometimes have a build up of phelgm, and/or an urge to spit, but just literally and metaphorically swallowed it almost subconsciously, except when I could. ie. at a urinal, or in the woods. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/10 "2003-08-06T23:53:55Z")
ah-HAH! I brought up this very subject in another thread about people not washing their hands after urinating, and related topics, and _nobody_ picked up on it or even acknowledged the fact. My speculation (expectoration?) in that thread was along the lines of **bruce5808** ’s friend’s observation that this is some sort of ‘kick-start’ for peeing. I see this all the time, but don’t ask the hawkers why because I don’t want to get my ass kicked in a toilet. ---
**Author:** ![bruce5808](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f1d935/32.png) [@bruce5808](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bruce5808)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/11 "2003-08-06T23:54:29Z")
Sorry, Bippy the Beardless. Maybe the absence of a comma caused some confusion. I meant that I’ve seen men and women spit onto subway tracks as an isolated behavior, not in any way connected to urination. I find it particularly gross when I see women do it. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/12 "2003-08-07T00:03:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ltfire \* > \*\*…and how, pray tell, did she know? \*\* Toilets, urinals. Same thing. Your SO has never seen you piss? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/13 "2003-08-07T00:05:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chefguy \* > \*\*ah-HAH! I brought up this very subject in another thread about people not washing their hands after urinating, and related topics, and _nobody_ picked up on it or even acknowledged the fact. My speculation (expectoration?) in that thread was along the lines of **bruce5808** ’s friend’s observation that this is some sort of ‘kick-start’ for peeing. I see this all the time, but don’t ask the hawkers why because I don’t want to get my ass kicked in a toilet. \*\* Men don’t pee, men piss. Women pee. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/14 "2003-08-07T00:26:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > \*\*Toilets, urinals. Same thing. Your SO has never seen you piss? \*\* I think it’s assumed that a urinal is located in a public restroom, and not in your home. SO seen me piss? an old joke says that you know the honeymoon is over when you are shaving and your honey pushes past you to take a dump. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/15 "2003-08-07T01:10:01Z")
Is it some sort of psychological thing to, as described above, “start the flow?” Then this behavior might fall into the same class as that of flushing the urinal as one starts. Some say that helps them flow. But others say they flush to see if they can time the wizz to conclude at the end of the flush. Why? Nobody seems to know. Or is it a matter of the body wanting a general fluid dump, and there’s excess saliva accumulated along with the contents of the bladder? In that case this becomes yet another “spit or swallow” thread. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/16 "2003-08-07T01:51:02Z")
Many of do spit at puddles, etc. Hmmm. Could being shiny have something to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/17 "2003-08-07T02:41:12Z")
I just want to point out I never do this in my standard toilet at home. The urinal at work though… sure. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/18 "2003-08-07T03:12:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > \*\*Men don’t pee, men piss. Women pee. \*\* I was trying to be delicate on the GQ board so as not to **piss off** the moderators. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@Stan\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/19 "2003-08-07T03:26:55Z")
IIRC, Sex Advice Columnist Dan Savage had a column addressing this question, along with other curious bathroom behavior. A couple theories being thrown around: 1.) A variation on the marking territory idea- someone observed that straight guys spit in urinals to show one another that they are one of the guys, i.e., not gay. Some men feel uncomfortable standing next to another man with their penis out, so they go out of their way to act manly - belch, spit, throw a cigarette butt in the urinal, say something stupid, etc. to relieve tension. 2.) Because of [psychological theory goes here] some men associate using the bathroom with disgusting/socially unacceptable behavior in general. This explains why men use bathroom stalls for graffitti, wiping boogers, etc. and why bathroom stalls are often constructed using tamper-proof screws. ---
**Author:** ![JasonFin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4af34b/32.png) [@JasonFin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JasonFin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451/20 "2003-08-07T03:29:54Z")
I have never noticed anyone doing this. I can’t imagine what might motivate them to do such a thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spitting-in-urinals/193451.md?page=2)