# Why do people stick out their tongue when they're concentrating? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2002, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262 "2002-09-13T11:52:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/1 "2002-09-13T11:52:51Z")
Why do people stick out their tongue when they’re doing something that requires great concentration and manual dexterity? Children do it when they are colouring, adults do it when they are drawing or making something fiddly, but why? Does it help in any way? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/2 "2002-09-13T12:18:44Z")
It’s instinctive behaviour which we gradually lose as we grow up, but some people never fully lose it. Newborns who are seeking seek one thing only - food. And there prospects of ingesting food are improved if they are ready to latch on to the nipple at the first opportunity, with the tongue int the forward position. Hence the instinct to stick out the tongue. As they mature, they begin to seek other things - brightly coloured objects, for example and to make efforts to grasp them. Because they experience the same sense of sdesire plus effort, the instinct kicks in and the tongue protrudes. As I say, we gradually lose this, but in some of us it lingers longer than others. ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/3 "2002-09-13T12:25:51Z")
I have a similar question - if it’s about food, why do some people bite their top or bottom lip? Why do they stick their tounge to the side? I stick my tounge out sometimes and I bite my lip sometimes. So does my mum, so does my grandma. Maybe it’s genetic… ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/4 "2002-09-13T13:48:51Z")
perhaps someone should ask Maurice Greene (the 100m World record holder/World’s fastest human ever) man, the way that guy sticks his tongue out! [story time] i can touch my tongue to my nose… can you ? [/story time] ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/5 "2002-09-13T16:04:37Z")
I htink my guitar teacher does it just to torture me, subconsciously or not. (I have a huge crush on him, and when he sticks his toungue out, it ges my imagination, and in turn my libido, pretty stoked.) ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/6 "2002-09-13T16:23:32Z")
Unrepentant tongue chewer since birth checking in. I will chew on my tongue (with it sticking out the right side of my mouth) when concentrating or heavily into a task. I don’t have any conscious thought that pops into my head and says: “Tough task, start chewing.” It’s just something I do. I imagine it is akin to someone repetitively tapping a finger. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/7 "2002-09-13T16:24:52Z")
And, as a side note, I was chewing whilst writing that post. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/8 "2002-09-13T16:27:56Z")
I screw up my face when concentrating. I suspect in my case it provides a constant physical presence which masks the outside worlds changing stimulus that would otherwise distract me ---
**Author:** ![Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/9 "2002-09-13T18:37:36Z")
_blinks?_ I understand what the OP is referring to…because now that I think about it–I’m sure I’ve seen subjects exhibit that kind of ‘tongue-sticking’ behavior in cartoons and comics at least once in my life. But I’ve never stuck my tongue out when concentrating lightly, or deeply…nor can I ever recall having done so while growing up. The whole idea seems kinda weird. Is it normal, or does it mean that I was raised by a buncha machines? 🙂 -Ashley ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/10 "2002-09-13T18:53:09Z")
Maybe they’re concentrating on how to stick out their tongue. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-stick-out-their-tongue-when-theyre-concentrating/128262/11 "2002-09-13T22:14:06Z")
I think they just wanna “be like Mike”. 🙂