# Why do people spit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987 "2010-02-22T17:02:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/21 "2010-02-23T18:30:06Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > Really, why is it more gross then bird shit, road salt or any number of things that are found on the ground? It’s only gross because we’ve been trained to think it is gross. It spreads Tuberculosis. That’s why the “no spitting” laws, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/22 "2010-02-23T19:06:45Z")
One other thing that no one has mentioned: young guys probably do it as a way of marking their territory. “Ha ha, I just made everyone walk through my spit, I rule!” ---
**Author:** ![countdookutronics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@countdookutronics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/countdookutronics)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/23 "2012-10-24T20:24:43Z")
> [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > Applicable to why me and my buddies constantly spit when smoking cigars. Since you don’t inhale that smoke, it stays in your mouth, combining with saliva. You don’t want to swallow the stuff so out it goes; wrt **hogarth’s** comment, I suppose it could be called poison, after a fashion. i experience the same thing from smoking ciggarettes. i’m kind of a lot more blah about it now since i’ve been doing it for forever now. I can kind of see both arguments about it being as normal as farting or coughing, while also disgusting and intrusive on others ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/24 "2012-10-24T23:45:25Z")
I think it is a requirement if you play professional baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/25 "2012-10-25T00:44:09Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I think it is a requirement if you play professional baseball. I thought that was originally chewing tobacco. At least, to me the stereotype is always the baseball player with his chaw. They even had that gum, “Big League Chew,” when I was a kid. As several people have said already, I only spit when exercising, because I find the saliva that fills my mouth is thick and hard to swallow. Oh, and when I’m on a high building, because I guess I’m still 10. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/26 "2012-10-25T01:28:30Z")
Yeah, I was going to mention baseball here. I am watching the World Series and there is rarely a view of these guys when they are not spitting. Looks like some of them chew gum, others munching sunflower seeds - but all of them are chewing and spitting all the time. No other sport I have seen has that much spitting. I guess it is due to the game being so slow and nerve-racking. Personally, I only spit when a phlem ball works it’s way into my mouth - it is best to get that all the way out. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/27 "2012-10-25T03:12:25Z")
Because it’s expectorated of them. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/28 "2012-10-25T03:32:44Z")
I almost never spit except in very, very rare cases. For me when I run or bike long distances not only do I generate a lot of spit, but sometimes the spit becomes INCREDIBLY thick and my throat starts burning. I can try to swallow forever, but it will never come down and will start to make me feel like I’m choking (and in fact will sometimes form a bubble in my mouth that will make inhaling or exhaling a legitimate problem). This happens very rarely, maybe once every two-three months tops, but in that situation my only solution is to spit which lets me breath easily (literally) again. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/29 "2012-10-25T11:57:55Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > This is not a question of decency or manners. Mostly, yes it is. And after you’ve been Undead for awhile, it’s quite a relief. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/30 "2012-10-25T12:24:47Z")
I spit when I don’t want to swallow, for whatever reason. Sometimes I’ve got gunk in my throat, other times I have a bad taste in my mouth, and sometimes I’m just sick of swallowing loads of saliva. Don’t really understand what’s the big deal about it. It’s not like I’m taking a dump on the street. A friend of mine from highschool had an extremely high saliva production, so much so he had to spit it out not to get nauseous. Every time after a break you’d see this big puddle of saliva where he’d been standing. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/31 "2012-10-25T14:14:25Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Yeah, I was going to mention baseball here. I am watching the World Series and there is rarely a view of these guys when they are not spitting. They spit constantly. I wonder what they’re like at home. I mean, someone who has the uncontrollable compulsion to spit that often is either spitting on the floor of their own house, or has a spittoon in every room, or walks around with a cup as a receptacle. What do they do if they go to a restaurant, the movies, or someone else’s house? It must be awful to live with that kind of disorder. Imagine if every workplace were like a baseball field. “And here are last month’s sales figures [ptooey].” “Well, I like the rise in revenues but are we holding our margin [ptooey]?” “Yes sir, I think we have that style in a [ptooey] ten and a half. Let me check in the [ptooey] back.” “Would you like fries with that [ptooey]?” ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/32 "2012-10-25T16:06:38Z")
I don’t know, but I spit fairly often. I spit in the sink nearly every time. Even if I’m just washing my hands. It’s like a switch goes off in my brain, ‘oh, you don’t have to swallow this spit this time, nice.’ I don’t spit indoors otherwise, save for toilets (seat up) and urinals. Mostly I spit in the grass - failing that, the gutter. Distance, accuracy – I appreciate it on some level. Also, to the cigar guy. Start swallowing your spit for your next few cigars. You’ll end up producing much less. It’s psychosomatic. You’ve trained yourself that cigar = saliva production. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/33 "2012-10-25T16:14:30Z")
If a person has some anxiety going on his saliva may become frothy and full of air, swallowing excess air can cause chest pains that mimic heart attacks. Pains in the jaw, left arm, chest and neck can all be attributed to swallowing air if the heart issue has been eliminated. Wiping my mouth with a hanky instead of swallowing or spitting is how I handle this. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/34 "2012-10-25T16:29:40Z")
Sometimes its a sign of not-too-subtle disrespect. Back when I was a plain clothes cop all the thugs knew who we were and what cars we drove. If they had the occasion to walk in front of our car they would look us right in the eye and then spit on the street. ---
**Author:** ![Multitudinous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@Multitudinous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Multitudinous)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/35 "2017-08-20T23:26:19Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > They spit constantly. I wonder what they’re like at home. I mean, someone who has the uncontrollable compulsion to spit that often is either spitting on the floor of their own house, or has a spittoon in every room, or walks around with a cup as a receptacle. What do they do if they go to a restaurant, the movies, or someone else’s house? It must be awful to live with that kind of disorder. Imagine if every workplace were like a baseball field. “And here are last month’s sales figures [ptooey].” “Well, I like the rise in revenues but are we holding our margin [ptooey]?” “Yes sir, I think we have that style in a [ptooey] ten and a half. Let me check in the [ptooey] back.” “Would you like fries with that [ptooey]?” I have ocd and one of my recent rituals is spitting, I don’t just spit on the floor though, I go to the sink. I don’t normally spit into a container because it grosses me out. It gets annoying when i’m out though (I usally just not swallow and then sneak off) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987/36 "2017-08-21T03:18:43Z")
Spitting used to be strongly associated with TB. Which was one of the reasons it was discouraged, which was one of the reasons why chewing tobacco became less popular. To a lesser extent it is associated with any bronchial or lung damage, including smoking I’d still suggest that anybody who spits a lot is either sick, or chewing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-spit/529987.md?page=1)