View source for Spitting

{{Short description|Ejection of saliva}}
{{other uses|Spit (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed |date=February 2014}}
[[File:Hinko Smrekar - Avtoportret kot Charlie Chaplin.jpg|thumb|A cartoon of [[Charlie Chaplin]] spitting on the ground (1931, by [[Hinko Smrekar]])]]
'''Spitting'''  is the act of forcibly ejecting [[saliva]], [[sputum]], [[nasal mucus]] and/or other substances from the [[mouth]].  The act is often done to get rid of unwanted or foul-tasting substances in the mouth, or to get rid of a large buildup of [[mucus]].  Spitting of small saliva droplets can also happen unintentionally during [[speech|talking]], especially when [[articulation (phonetics)|articulating]] [[ejective consonant|ejective]] and [[implosive consonant]]s.
Spitting in public is considered rude and a social [[taboo]] in many parts of the world including [[Western world|the West]], while in some other parts of the world it is considered more socially acceptable.
Spitting upon another person, especially onto the [[face]], is a global sign of [[anger]], [[hatred]], [[disrespect]] or [[contempt]]. It can represent a "symbolical regurgitation" or an act of intentional contamination.<ref>{{cite book|title=Civic Sense|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lW2zxPxTALwC&pg=PA116|publisher=Excel Books India|isbn=978-93-5062-032-8|pages=116–}}</ref>
==Cultural attitudes==
=== Western world ===
Social attitudes towards spitting have changed greatly in [[Western Europe]] since the [[Middle Ages]]. Then, frequent spitting was part of everyday life, and at all levels of society, it was thought ill-mannered to suck back saliva to avoid spitting.{{cn|date=March 2020}} By the early 1700s, spitting had become seen as something which should be concealed, and by 1859 it had progressed to being described by at least one etiquette guide as "at all times a disgusting habit." Sentiments against spitting gradually transitioned from being included in adult [[conduct books]] to so obvious as to only appear in guides for children to not be included in conduct literature even for children "because most [Western] children have the spitting ban internalized well before learning how to read."<ref name="you will die">{{cite book |last1=Arthur |first1=Robert |title=You Will Die: The Burden of Modern Taboos |date=2012 |publisher=Feral House |isbn=978-1-936239-46-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZjeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT17 |access-date=29 March 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:OakDoNotSpitOnFloor.jpg|thumb|Advisory on the wall of a building in [[New Orleans]]]]
[[Spittoon]]s (also known as ''cuspidors'') were used openly during the 19th century to provide an acceptable outlet for spitters. Spittoons became far less common after the [[Spanish flu|influenza epidemic of 1918]], and their use has since virtually disappeared, though each justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] continues to be provided with a personal one.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-19-court-rituals_N.htm|title=Supreme Court holds to tradition|author=Joan Biskupic|author-link=Joan Biskupic|newspaper=USA Today|date=2007-03-19}}</ref>
In the first half of the 20th century the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, the precursor to the [[American Lung Association]], and state affiliates had educational campaigns against spitting to reduce the chance of spreading [[tuberculosis]].<ref>{{Citation |url=http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/alav/campaigns/ |title=The American Lung Association Crusade |publisher=University of Virginia Claude Moore Health Sciences Library |access-date=2014-12-16}}</ref> According  to the [[World Health Organization]] coughing, sneezing, or spitting, can spread tuberculosis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/features/qa/08/en/|title = Tuberculosis}}</ref> The chance of catching a contagious disease by being spit on is low.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43372154|title = Why is spitting so bad?|work = BBC News|date = 12 March 2018}}</ref>
After [[coffee cupping]], [[tea tasting]], and [[wine tasting]], the sample is spit into a 'spit bucket' or [[spittoon]].
There have been instances of spitting reported in the US, particularly from American men.<ref>{{Cite news|last=John Metcalfe|date=2012-01-25|title=Are Cities Right to Criminalize Public Spitting?|language=en|work=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]]|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-01-25/are-cities-right-to-criminalize-public-spitting}}</ref> In [[Minnesota]], instances have been reported from some young people.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brandt Williams|date=2015|title=Are Mpls. laws that ban spitting, 'lurking' racist?|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/04/03/spitting-laws|website=[[Minnesota Public Radio]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Charles Hallman|date=June 4, 2015|title=Mpls city council considers repeal of lurking, spitting laws|url=https://spokesman-recorder.com/2015/06/04/mpls-city-council-considers-repeal-lurking-spitting-laws/|website=[[Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder]]|language=en-US}}</ref> In Canada, spitting has been reported for cities such as [[Ottawa]] and [[Winnipeg]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jo Holness|date=September 2, 2015|title=A letter to those spitting on Winnipeg's streets, just stop already|work=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/a-letter-to-those-spitting-on-winnipeg-s-streets-just-stop-already-1.3213546}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bruce Deachman|date=2009|title=Spit happens|url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/ottawa-citizen/20090725/281801394964595|website=[[The Ottawa Citizen]]}}</ref>
=== Other regions ===
In certain nations, spitting is an accepted part of one's lifestyle.
Spitting has been attributed to some people{{explain|date=October 2021}} from Asia-Pacific countries such as Bangladesh,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Emily Manthei|date=March 13, 2018|title=What Are Things to Do in Bangladesh?|url=https://traveltips.usatoday.com/things-bangladesh-60563.html|website=[[USA Today]]|language=en}}</ref> China,<ref>{{Cite news|last=AGNESS WALEWINDER|date=2014-05-05|title=What Chinese locals are really like|url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/destinations/asia/what-chinese-locals-are-really-like/news-story/e5943b8730325ced233f23a5e77b15be|website=[[News.com.au]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=ONSIRI PRAVATTIYAGUL|date=2014|title=Tourism troubles|work=[[Bangkok Post]]|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/399571/tourism-troubles}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=May 28, 2013|title=Chinese tourists overtake Americans as richest and most annoying|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-05-28/chinese-tourists-overtake-americans-richest-and-most-annoying|website=[[The World (radio program)]]|language=en}}</ref> India,<ref>{{Cite web|last=RAKHI BOSE|date=2019-04-15|title=UK City Puts Up Sign in Gujarati and Announces Rs 13,000 Fine to Stop Indians From Spitting Paan|url=https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/uk-city-puts-up-sign-in-gujarati-announces-rs-13000-fine-to-stop-indians-from-spitting-paan-2103119.html|website=[[News18]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Jason Overdorf|date=April 29, 2010|title=India health: Spit and polish?|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2010-04-29/india-health-spit-and-polish|website=[[The World (radio program)]]|language=en}}</ref> Indonesia,<ref>{{Cite web|last=KALPANA SUNDER|date=2021|title=A woman leads campaign to make spitting in public illegal in India|url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/a-woman-leads-campaign-to-make-spitting-in-public-illegal-in-india-49168|website=[[TRT World]]|language=en}}</ref> Myanmar,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dave Grunebaum|date=February 3, 2020|title=In Myanmar, Betel Quid Chewing Remains Popular Despite Risks|url=https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/myanmar-betel-quid-chewing-remains-popular-despite-risks|website=[[Voice of America]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-03-14|title=Red betel nut stains cause alarm in South Korea {{!}} Coconuts Yangon|url=https://coconuts.co/yangon/news/red-betel-nut-stains-cause-alarm-south-korea/|website=Coconuts|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=ITN|date=2012-12-20|title=Burma's politicians call for spitting ban - video|language=en-GB|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2012/dec/20/burma-politicians-call-spitting-ban-video|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Papua New Guinea,<ref>{{Cite news|date=2018-07-21|title='Scared to chew': How a betel nut chewing habit nearly cost an ARIA-award winning singer his gift|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-22/how-a-habit-as-common-as-chewing-gum-nearly-cost-aria-award-win/10013786|website=[[ABC News (Australia)]]|language=en-AU}}</ref> Philippines,<ref>{{Cite web|last=PATERNO R. ESMAQUEL II|date=2012|title=Punish spitting, says solon; but how?|url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/punish-spitting-says-solon-but-how|website=[[Rappler]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=No Spitting of Moma in Philippines|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/philippines/the-cordillera/background/other-features/3976df39-57e1-4232-85c5-13a8057daebe/a/nar/3976df39-57e1-4232-85c5-13a8057daebe/357313|website=[[Lonely Planet]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Dumlao|first=Artemio|date=August 13, 2021|title=Betel woes: Barangay suspends 'freedom of spit'|url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/08/13/2119607/betel-woes-barangay-suspends-freedom-spit|website=[[The Philippine Star]]}}</ref> South Korea,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Aparna Yeluru|date=2016-07-21|title=No more spitting, please|language=en-IN|work=[[The Hindu]]|url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/No-more-spitting-please/article14499359.ece|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=He-rim|first=Jo|date=2018-11-26|title=[Feature] Why do people spit on streets in Korea?|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20181126000719|website=[[The Korea Herald]]|language=en}}</ref> United Arab Emirates,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mohammad Ejaz Ahmad|date=February 4, 2018|title=Banned betel leaves still causing trouble|url=https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/community/banned-betel-leaves-still-causing-trouble-1.2168206|website=[[Gulf News]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Anwar ahmad|date=February 12, 2017|title=Almost 200 in Abu Dhabi fined in 2016 for spitting on streets|url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/almost-200-in-abu-dhabi-fined-in-2016-for-spitting-on-streets-1.82734|website=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)]]}}</ref> and Vietnam.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-10-28|title=Expats name annoying habits in Vietnam|url=https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/city-diary/20181028/expats-name-annoying-habits-in-vietnam/47400.html|website=[[Tuoi Tre News]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=April 1, 2016|title=Vietnamese travelers told to show a little decorum|url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel/places/vietnamese-travelers-told-to-show-a-little-decorum-3379848.html|website=[[VnExpress]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-05-10|title=Beware! You may get spit in your face while driving in Vietnam|url=https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20150510/beware-you-may-get-spit-in-your-face-while-driving-in-vietnam/11971.html|website=[[Tuoi Tre News]]|language=en-US}}</ref> The practice is often linked to [[Betel-chewing|betel chewing]] in many of those regions.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Johan Nylander|date=2016-09-06|title=Taiwan tries to kick deadly addiction to betel nuts|url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/05/asia/taiwan-asia-betel-nuts/index.html|website=[[CNN]]|language=en}}</ref> Spitting has also been reported in some parts of Africa, such as Ghana.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mabel Delassie Awuku|date=2020|title=Stop The Haphazard Spitting – It's Covid-Friendly|url=https://www.modernghana.com/news/1012718/stop-the-haphazard-spitting-its-covid-friendly.html|website=[[ModernGhana]]|language=en}}</ref>
In India and Indonesia, spitting is often associated with various forms of chewing juices.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2013-04-17 |title=Plymouth professor studies Asian spitting behaviour |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-22184499 |access-date=2023-12-19}}</ref>
According to Ross Coomber, a professor of sociology at [[University of Plymouth|Plymouth University]], spitting is perceived as a cleansing practice for the body by many individuals in China.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2013-04-17 |title=Plymouth professor studies Asian spitting behaviour |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-22184499 |access-date=2023-12-19}}</ref>
==Competitions==
There are some places where spitting is a competitive sport, with or without a projectile in the mouth. For example, there is a [[Guinness World Record]] for [[cherry pit spitting]] and [[cricket spitting]], and there are world championships in [[Kudu dung spitting]].
==Spitting as a protection against evil==
In rural parts of [[North India]], it was customary in olden days for mothers to lightly spit at their children (usually to the side of the children rather than directly at them) to imply a sense of disparagement and imperfection that protects them from [[evil eye]] (or ''nazar'').<ref name="ref66razeq">{{Citation | title=Indian ritual and belief: the keys of power | author=John Abbott | year=1984 | publisher=Usha, 1984 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkIvAAAAYAAJ | quote=''... A woman spits on a child to avert from it her own evil-eye ...''}}</ref> Excessive admiration, even from well-meaning people, is believed to attract the evil eye, so this is believed to protect children from ''nazar'' that could be caused by their own mothers' "excessive" love of them.<ref name="ref66razeq"/> However, because of hygiene, transmission of disease and social taboos, this practice has waned and instead a black mark of kohl or kajal is put on the forehead or cheek of the child to ward off the evil eye. Adults use an amulet containing alum or chillies and worn on the body for this purpose. Sometimes, this is also done with brides and others by their loved ones to protect them from ''nazar''.
Shopkeepers in the region used to sometimes make a spitting gesture on the cash proceeds from the first sale of the day (called ''[[bohni]]''), which is a custom believed to ward-off ''nazar'' from the business.<ref name="fallon1879">{{Citation | title=A new Hindustani-English dictionary: with illustrations from Hindustani literature and folk-lore | author=S.W. Fallon | year=1879 | publisher=Medical Hall Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mxsYAAAAYAAJ| quote=''... bohni ... the first money received during the day, or the first ready-money sale ... no credit being given as a rule for the article first sold ... many superstitious people will spit on ... bohni thoni, rad bala ...''}}</ref>
Such a habit also existed in some Eastern European countries like [[Romania]], and [[Moldova]], although it is no longer widely practiced. People would gently spit in the face of younger people (often younger relatives such as grandchildren or nephews) they admire in order to avoid ''deochi'',<ref name="vrajitoare">[http://www.libertatea.ro/detalii/articol/ptiu-sa-nu-te-deochi-285438.html "Ptiu să nu te deochi" - an article about spitting against "deochi" in a Romanian newspaper]</ref> an involuntary [[curse]] on the individual being admired or "strangely looked upon",<ref name=vrajitoare/> which is claimed to be the cause of bad [[Luck|fortune]] and sometimes [[malaise]] or various illnesses.<ref name="rev_superstitii">[http://www.superstitii.ro/modules/news/article.php?storyid=113 ''Revista de Superstitii si Obiceiuri Populare'' | ''Deochiul - superstitie sau adevar?'' (Deochi - superstition or truth?)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014081924/http://www.superstitii.ro/modules/news/article.php?storyid=113|date=2013-10-14}}</ref> In [[Greece]], it is customary to "spit" three times after making a compliment to someone, the spitting is done to protect from the evil eye.<ref>[http://www.greekembassy.org/embassy/content/en/Article.aspx?office=7&folder=1004&article=23878 greekembassy.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609054225/http://www.greekembassy.org/embassy/content/en/Article.aspx?office=7&folder=1004&article=23878 |date=2011-06-09 }}</ref> This applies to all people, not just between mothers and children.
A similar-sounding expression for verbal spitting occurs in modern Hebrew as "Tfu, tfu" (here, only twice), which some say that Hebrew-speakers borrowed from Russian.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/word-of-the-day/.premium-1.542077 |title= Word of the Day / Jook ג׳וק A grisly load from Russian.|newspaper= Haaretz|publisher= Haaretz online, 18 August 2013.}}</ref>
==Anti-spitting hoods==
{{main|Spit hood}}
When a suspect in a criminal case is arrested, they will sometimes try to spit at their captors, which often causes a fear of infection by [[Hepatitis C]] and other diseases. [[Spit hood]]s are meant to prevent this.
== Gleeking ==
Gleeking is the projection of saliva from the [[submandibular gland]] under the tongue. It can happen deliberately or accidentally, particularly when [[yawn]]ing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Salivary Gland Terminology (Anatomy, Salivation, Dry Mouth, Drooling) {{!}} Iowa Head and Neck Protocols |url=https://medicine.uiowa.edu/iowaprotocols/salivary-gland-terminology-anatomy-salivation-dry-mouth-drooling |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=medicine.uiowa.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What purpose does "gleeking" serve? {{!}} San Diego Reader |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2001/mar/15/what-purpose-does-gleeking-serve/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=www.sandiegoreader.com |language=en}}</ref>
==In other animals==
* [[Camel]]
* [[Llama]]
* [[Spitting cobra]]
* [[Spitting spider]]
==See also==
* [[Drooling]]
* [[Spit-take]]
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Spitting}}
[[Category:Habits]]
[[Category:Excretion]]
[[Category:Saliva]]