# Why do guys spit all the time? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 31, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913 "2003-01-31T18:11:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/1 "2003-01-31T18:11:45Z")
It’s disgusting! What on earth could cause you to spit so much? I’m not necessarily talking about hawking back a wad of snot and spitting—just a mouthful of regular ol’ spit. What’s wrong with swallowing? ---
**Author:** ![merge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9f8e36/32.png) [@merge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merge)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/2 "2003-01-31T18:28:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolores Claiborne \* > \*\*wrong with swallowing? \*\* 😃 exactly…😉 ---
**Author:** ![greck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ab992/32.png) [@greck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greck)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/3 "2003-01-31T18:31:21Z")
cause there’s stuff in our mouths that we don’t want there. bad tase snot etc and we simply don’t care that someone else might not like it. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/4 "2003-01-31T18:32:16Z")
I’m a guy and I’m wondering this too. Does everyone else just not chew their food all the way when eating? Is everyone secretly chewing tobacco? I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/5 "2003-01-31T18:34:19Z")
We spit because society allows us to. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/6 "2003-01-31T18:46:51Z")
You’ve obviously never spit near me, and gotten glared at through lorgnettes and told, “well, _really!_” ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/7 "2003-01-31T18:54:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by merge \* > \*\*😃 > > exactly…😉 \*\* I _never_ spit! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/8 "2003-01-31T19:01:17Z")
I’ve wondered the same thing. You never see women spitting like that. And I doubt that men have different saliva levels than women. So I think men do it as a sort of animal-marking-his-territory thing, like when a dog pisses on the corner. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/9 "2003-01-31T19:05:44Z")
Well, in the summertime it’s kinda fun trying to hit flies. 'Specially if you’re drinking beer. 😃 Had a friend who had a gap between his two front teeth. GOD that man could spit. He could let fly with one that’d go about ten feet! (On a day with no wind) Couldn’t hit any flies at that distance though… It’s a guy thing. ---
**Author:** ![merge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9f8e36/32.png) [@merge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merge)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/10 "2003-01-31T19:33:59Z")
I don’t spit unless I have a horrible taste in my mouth… but other than that… I think spitting is gross… and… > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolores Claiborne \* > \*\*I _never_ spit! 😉 \*\* lol… good woman…😃 ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/11 "2003-01-31T20:05:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolores Claiborne \* > \*\*What’s wrong with swallowing? \*\* I keep asking the Mrs. the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/12 "2003-01-31T20:22:36Z")
If I feel like there’s some slime or other nastiness in my mouth, I’ll spit. I’ve never considered spit to be all that nasty, so I don’t give it a second thought. My girlfriend doesn’t really like it, but she doesn’t hassle about it, either. The most she’ll usually say is something like, “Jeez… you and Vanessa…” (her 15-year-old daughter spits a lot, too) ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/13 "2003-01-31T21:19:50Z")
It’s just a Guy Thing. We never pass up an oppurtunity to shoot a hot moist wad out of an orifice. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Age_Quod_Agis)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/14 "2003-02-01T00:27:35Z")
> [@](#): > > _Skelji:_ > It’s just a Guy Thing. We never pass up an oppurtunity to shoot a hot moist wad out of an orifice. Holy Moly, that’s funny. I have no idea why, but I spit sometimes when I’m about to pee into a urinal. I think it’s for the same reason that I like to pee outdoors. Perhaps it’s some evolutionary compulsion to mark my territory. Or maybe the orifice thing. ---
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/15 "2003-02-01T01:38:02Z")
Because they are slope browed trogdolytes with an oral fixation. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/16 "2003-02-01T02:01:27Z")
Hey, I see teenage girls spitting _all the time_. I didn’t even notice until the GF said :“why do the young girls spit so much nowadays,do they think it makes them look cool or something?” Me : “helephino” Its always the same motions : girl turns head ,holds hair with one hand,angles pie-hole downward,spits Funny… ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/17 "2003-02-01T02:17:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Age Quod Agis \* > \*\*I have no idea why, but I spit sometimes when I’m about to pee into a urinal. I think it’s for the same reason that I like to pee outdoors. Perhaps it’s some evolutionary compulsion to mark my territory. Or maybe the orifice thing. \*\* We’ve had a few threads on that in the past, no really good answers other than “because it’s there” [Urinal Spitting ?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=7891) [Men. Urinals. Spit.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=10531) [Spitting in Urinals](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=100921) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/18 "2003-02-01T02:19:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolores Claiborne \* > \*\*It’s disgusting! What on earth could cause you to spit so much? I’m not necessarily talking about hawking back a wad of snot and spitting—just a mouthful of regular ol’ spit. What’s wrong with swallowing? \*\* As an ordinary, reasonably masculine guy, I must report that I don’t spit, and none of my friends spit. I’ve never even seen guys on my ball team spit. Maybe it’s a cultural thing. Where are you from? ---
**Author:** ![Turbo\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Turbo\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turbo_Dog)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/19 "2003-02-01T02:30:40Z")
Same reason we pee in the shower. We are disgusting pigs. We try to get wives to pull our finger because it cracks us the hell up. Even the most socially correct male debutante is in the bushes on the golf course horking up a lugie now and then. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ratatoskK \* > \*\* You never see women spitting like that. \*\* You’ve obviously never been to Missouri. Ladies may not spit like that, but you need to try an old fashioned redneck bar sometime. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/20 "2003-02-01T03:03:28Z")
I spit, but only if I’m outside(obvious, I hope) and no one is around. Think about it, there is something in your mouth you wish to rid yourself of(ususally phlegm). you can swallow it or spit it out. which would you rather do? I **know** there are at least a few women out there that can understand that problem:). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913.md?page=2)