# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/21 "2003-02-01T03:08:09Z")
When you are a smoker, your saliva levels increase. Just all of the smoke coating the mouth stimulates spit forming. Spitting is just as easy as swallowing. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/22 "2003-02-01T03:14:15Z")
I don’t normally spit. I now happen to be sick as a dog and my body is producing mucous like it’s going out of style and it has to go somewhere and, frankly, I’m not that hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/23 "2003-02-01T03:57:36Z")
I’ve noticed it’s mostly smokers that spit a lot. At my old high-school there was a smoking area and come lunch time there’d be a bunch of 11th graders smoking there and spitting to get the taste out of their mouthes\*. It was a pretty funny sight, come to think of it. I don’t spit much. That being said, I bet I could beat all of you on distance :). \*yeah, that’s why. I asked once. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/24 "2003-02-01T04:36:00Z")
I wonder when **Spit** will see this thread 😉 I try not to spit when in mixed company. If it’s just guys, like on the golf course or out fishing, then I will spit, but if there are women about I don’t spit. Spitting is an underrated form of expression. Sometimes I may spit outside in public, but usually only if I am a bit under the weather and I have nasal or chest congestion (and I don’t have a tissue handy). When I do spit in such instances, I try to be discreet in doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/25 "2003-02-01T08:45:23Z")
When I’m running, my respiratory tract seems to start evacuating mucus. The more intense the run, the more mucus comes up. Now I could just swallow the junk, but that would mean I’d have to pause breathing, and when I’m already getting out of breath, it just makes things worse. So I’ll discharge a hocktooey somewhere discrete (like in a bush or somewhere where nobody has to see it). I feel rather hypicritical for saying I think spitting is gross, and its extremely nauseating to see it on the street. I noticed smokers tend to spit a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/2bfe46/32.png) [@Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/26 "2003-02-01T17:54:28Z")
It doesn’t really bother me unless it was done in my direction or on my pants. But I prefer a lady to swallow. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/27 "2003-02-01T23:17:37Z")
Well maybe more women would swallow if you guys started setting us a better example 😃 . ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/28 "2003-02-02T01:02:39Z")
I generally only do it to express contempt. It just so happens that I’m a very contemptuous person. ---
**Author:** ![grettle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@grettle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grettle)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/29 "2003-02-02T01:14:20Z")
I am a woman and I spit. In daily life, not the fellatio way. I usually only do it if I have been drinking alcohol or coffee. I used to spit a lot when I smoked. I’m not sure why, sometimes your mouth just feels gross. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/30 "2003-02-03T14:31:08Z")
I’m a man and I never spit. However, two ex girlfriends were compulsive spitters. Disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/31 "2003-02-04T11:22:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Turbo Dog \* > \*\*You’ve obviously never been to Missouri. Ladies may not spit like that, but you need to try an old fashioned redneck bar sometime. \*\* I’ve been a patron of the local old fashioned redneck bars since I was a wee lass (my parents used to take me and my sister with them on Saturday nights), and I’ve never witnessed any redneckettes hocking their gobs all over the sidewalk like their male counterparts do. For some reason they like to do it just outside business entrances. Yeah, guys, I know it’s the Show Me State, but there’s lots of things I do NOT want to see. Your phlegm leads the list. ---
**Author:** ![NardoPolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NardoPolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NardoPolo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2003, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913/32 "2003-02-04T12:09:47Z")
**WHY** in Heaven’s name is it _less_ disgusting to swallow that thick roil of phlegm than to spit it out?! Next you’ll be telling me _not_ to blow my nose (eew! look at what he put in that tissue!) but to sniff it all down. Though I agree spitting on the sidewalk is bad taste. Aim for the next storm drain or for the grass. Or in the urinal or toilet bowl is just fine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-guys-spit-all-the-time/151913.md?page=1)