# Tongue zombie **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737 "2013-06-23T23:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/21 "2013-06-25T18:18:13Z")
That actually sounds right, but IANAWhatever the hell the people who think about these things are called. I also should correct my previous post. I’m getting from the Wiki that the host’s diet is not changed. On the other hand, another cite there has it that human connoisseurs isolate the parasite for their diet, which makes the host more likely for predation. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/22 "2013-06-25T18:19:22Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Holy shit. Now _that_ would be a scary movie, putting the creators of _Alien_ to shame. Actually, a PS3 game (the last of us) takes that as its main premise. Happy gaming! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/23 "2013-06-25T18:20:22Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Well, host no longer has to maintain a healthy tongue. Or worry about a bunch of tongue parasites. Parasites get parasites, so both of the statements can be quibbled with. Wanna quibble? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/24 "2013-06-25T18:26:43Z")
I don’t quibble ere I nibble a dabble or a dibble. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![opmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@opmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/opmike)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/25 "2013-06-25T18:41:20Z")
A further quibble. Though zombie lore varies, a common theme is the reanimation of necrotic tissue. In this instance, the tongue dies and is discarded. It isn’t being reanimated and the parasite appears alive and well. Too well, actually. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/26 "2013-06-26T04:39:15Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > You think that parasites bad? Check out cordyceps. It’s a fungus that enters the brains of arthropods (ants are a popular choice,) and _modifies their behavior_ so they crawl to a better location for the fungus, at which point the fungus “finishes the job,” and sprouts from the ant. > > [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://i.imgur.com/BLwGUvr.jpg) And it costs about USD$10,000 a kg as a Chinese medicine. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/27 "2013-06-26T15:43:49Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Holy shit. Now _that_ would be a scary movie, putting the creators of _Alien_ to shame. > > It would be wonderful if mood and other mental disorders were found to derive from a parasite. I think. Subject for a different thread. As said, there’s a PS2 game with the premise being that cordyceps mutated to start infecting humans. Basically, they become zombies, but just with a different reason. And I’ve heard theories that parasites like toxoplasmosis might be responsible for certain “off” behaviors…crazy cat lady, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/28 "2014-10-13T04:39:58Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I love that smug, self-satisfied look on its face . . . knowing the fish can’t do a damned thing about it. I somehow suspect that that is its ass end ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/29 "2014-10-13T05:59:16Z")
Man, if only there were some type of word to use for a thread that was created awhile ago… > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Great photo, and thanks for the subsequent posts on it. > > So what the hell is this host relationship termed? It’s not symbiotic, because I don’t see the fish getting anything more out of it. On the other hand, it’s not losing anything but its previous diet, and the new one is not detrimental. [Commensalism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commensalism) perhaps. One gets a benefit, the other gets no benefit, no detriment (YMMV). A bunch of [behavior-changing](http://io9.com/12-real-parasites-that-control-the-lives-of-their-hosts-461313366) parasites. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/30 "2014-10-13T06:34:34Z")
There are many things I don’t understand about evolution but this one just worked its way to the top. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/31 "2014-10-13T12:06:35Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Holy shit. Now _that_ would be a scary movie, putting the creators of _Alien_ to shame. > > It would be wonderful if mood and other mental disorders were found to derive from a parasite. I think. Subject for a different thread. That suggestion has indeed been made. In fact, one of my stories makes the suggestion that it was such a parasite-borne behavior change that’s responsible for human civilization. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/32 "2014-10-13T13:50:58Z")
GEEEE-EEEUUUWWW… ain’t Mother-Nature a BITCH?! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/33 "2014-10-13T15:11:32Z")
Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Limpet. ---
**Author:** ![Slowki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@Slowki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slowki)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/34 "2014-10-13T15:39:10Z")
This is the final push I needed, I’m duct taping my mouth shut at night. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/35 "2014-10-13T15:55:23Z")
> [@Slowki](#): > > This is the final push I needed, I’m duct taping my mouth shut at night. Don’t forget to use earplugs to keep out the earwigs.\* \*Yes, I know earwigs don’t really do that. But I’m sure there are other parasites that can enter through the ears. ---
**Author:** ![Slowki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@Slowki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slowki)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/36 "2014-10-13T16:08:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Don’t forget to use earplugs to keep out the earwigs. Way ahead of you on that one. Although I may augment them with duct tape in the future, to be extra safe in case of eardrum zombies. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/37 "2015-02-07T03:00:56Z")
[Dr Who] “What Is Your TRUE NAME? What plans do you have for Earth!?” [/Dr Who] [_some suspense music_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkcHgI_TIYQ) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/38 "2015-02-07T15:57:44Z")
[Zombies of a zombie for a zombie.](http://twistedsifter.com/2009/09/tongue-eating-parasite/) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/39 "2015-02-07T18:21:57Z")
Luckily I never liked fish much anyway. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737/40 "2015-02-07T21:36:51Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > [Commensalism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commensalism) perhaps. One gets a benefit, the other gets no benefit, no detriment (YMMV). I fail to see how **A PARASITE EATING YOUR TONGUE** can be termed anything but detrimental. :eek: :eek: :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tongue-zombie/661737.md?page=3)