To spit or not to spit

“I have a serious question: Why do guys spit(I don't mean tobacco)?
I see guys of all ages, of all types of athletic prowess or lack thereof, and all socio-economic levels spit.
Why? If it is because of exertion in sports, why don't female athletes feel the need to spit? I don't think I've ever seen a female spit (except as a joke). What do ya'll have in there?
Do you guys think it's cool? Or is it a 'y' chromosome thing?”

“Ya I spit.

8)”

“Not me, I'd rather fart!”

“i spit out all of the bugs that i eat (when i'm done gnawin' on 'em.)”

“You should visit China Town is SF or an asian country in general. Those asian chicks can really hawk up a loogie and spit on the sidewalk like nothing is out of the ordinary.”

“I like to spit and fart!”

“I have to admit that I spit when I'm shoveling snow in the winter. It's the only time I do. I think it is due to a combination of exertion and the cold affecting my sinuses. Eeeeeeewe! TMI? Well, you asked!
;oP”

“For some reason, I don't spit much unless I'm in a licorice eating contest.”

“When I'm really working up a sweat hiking or doing some sort of physical extertion, for some reason my sinuses open up. Also, I seem to bring a lot more phlegm up out of my lungs then too. So I spit it out.

But normally, no, I don't spit much. I've often wondered why almost every guy I've ever seen take a whiz into a urinal spit in it first. I don't. Is this some sort of male ritual I missed out on because my parents divorced when I was 8?”

“I spit the legs out, when I eat mosquitoes.”

“I don't spit, and none of my friends spit....must be from good upbringing.”

“Ya blowing farts is fun I like to lift my leg when I pass gas at work to let everyone know that I farted!

8p”

“A better question is why don't women spit?”

“I know girls who spit and I think its cool!!!!!

8)”

“Tango, you should come to Montana. You don't have to go all the way to Asia to see some women spitting. MT girls can hawk (did I spell that right?) up some real nice ones!”

“Have you ever been in a bar w/ a spitoon? I've seen nice lookin' ladies lean over from their stool and hawk a big 'ol wad of chew right in the things. No one even thinks twice about it.”

“Another quick MT girl spitting story for you, Tango:

My friends and I used to go watch guys ride bulls/broncs at a place called "The Horse Palace." It's a big open building w/ a sawdust floor, a metal gated arena, and a couple bleachers. One night I was people watching and I saw this cowgirl getting ready to give her cowboy a big, wet French kiss. She puckered up and all the sudden he yelled at her, "Get that F***in' chaw outta' 'yer mouth. I ain't kissin' that s**t." She leaned over and spit a nice straight stream of Copenhagen right on his boot and walked away. Later that night she was the first girl I ever saw ride a bull.”

“According to my wife, I didn't spit of fart until after we were married.

Don't know about spitting in MT, but the women here in WY definitley swear a lot more than in the bible belt.”

“Cursing is part of the MT/WY deal too, garfum. How long have you been in WY, I'm sure they have some spitting girls down there?”

“Girls who spit rock!

8)”

“Newgirl - been here in WY almost a year now. Wife was born in Sheridan. I didn't take long for her to get back into the Wyo way of doing things.”

“Yeeha, Garfum!”

“*spit*

question: is there anything wrong with spitting? as long as it's not on the floor, or on your clothes... i mean *spit* it seems just fine to me”

“Spitting is really prevalent in China, male or female. It took some getting used to, especially in the classroom. The first time one of my students, a young woman who was otherwise quite prim and proper in her decorum, leaned back at her desk so she had clearance between her knees to the floor, and let a juicy gob go -- then smear it into the concrete floor with her shoe, all without any attempt to cover her behavior, well I had a bit of mental pause in my Yankee mind.

On the street, it can be pretty forceful, along with snot shots -- the old blocking one nostril and jetting a wad out the other onto the sidewalk or street.

Up in Marquette in the U.P., in the older neighborhoods, some of the sidewalks still have the molded in message "No spitting on sidewalks" from the big campaigns earlier in the century to wipe out public health problems such as TB.”

“Bad Girls spit.

Nice Girls swallow!”

“I used to ride rodeo (bulls) when I was younger, maybe it was just PA girls, none of them either chewed or spit.

Newgirl- I was in a tobacco spitting contest 1 time for charity, I tried the minty kind, it was still yucky!

Pekka- Oh my. I just don't think I could take that. I think public spitting is gross.

Thanks for the input. I just really have not seen girls spit and don't want to, it's bad enough to see the guys do it.”

“Spittin' is the right of every red-blooded American male and every Chinese female!
When I'm running, I'm spewing. Be warned!”

“While running I once spit on my platoons sargeants foot. He was p!ssed, I did a lot of push-ups that morning....”

“Ya it I like to spit!!!!

Its fun!!!!

8)”

“Still it begs the question CMB. Why do you do it? Aren't you afraid you'll run out of spit?”

“HHHHHHHAAACK TOOOOOIE!”

“Run out? There must be a surplus if it's gotta go!”

“I don't spit, sometimes my mood makes me want to.”

“If I am really by myself in the middle of nowhere I might spit--you'll never see me do it for sure.

When I was a kid on the reservation the women used to have spitting contests (tobacco juice I imagine--don't remember) outside in front of our store. They could spit a really fantastically long way. I would sit up in my treehouse and spy!”

“Years ago when I was in Kowloon, I decided to eat in a really local divey kind of place. People sat at long tables - there was nothing for individual parties. Lots of people were eating chicken. What blew my mind was that people were spitting the chicken bones out on the table! I was worried someones bone was going to bounce into my plate.

Ever see that in the parts of China you stayed in Pekka?”

“TBP doesn't spit, he swallows!”

“Well, that's what I heard.”

“Ped, where in the wide wide world of sports is Kowloon?”

“1. Kowloon is the peninsula that juts out of the mainland toward Hong Kong island and onto which the city of Hong Kong spread.

2. Yeah, Ped, saw it all the time. Often it was straight onto the floor of the restaurant. The politer eaters would just take the bones out of their mouths and set them on the table top, but that was pretty few folks.”

“I wont date a girl inless she swallows:)”

“I spit. When cycling the nose tends to run. Swallowing that is grosser than spitting. I also will blow my nose by putting a finger on the side to close one nostril and clearing the other. Again its grosser to keep this junk in my head. I don’t do this at dinner or in staff meetings, only when under heavy physical exertion. It is also bad form to do this when you are at the front of a pace line. The rider behind you will not appreciate it at all.”

“Veeeeery interesting discussion.”

“Very enlightening. I have never seen anything like this. I must have lived a sheltered life. LOL”

“I blow my nose like that too when I'm walking or hiking. I also carry a handkerchief to clean up my nose when I'm done.

It's either do that, or drown in the stuff.”

“Pedxing and Pekka, Chinese society is going into the toilet (maybe they're there already). Ever since Chairman Mao took over in the early '40's...he has instructed the youths to ignore, ridicule and destroy etc. all previous teachings and etiquettes. Parents, teachers and basically anybody who has authority (except the commie party members) is to be ignored or turned in. The last 2 or 3 generations are like wild children...it's no wonder they spit all over. A lot of the older generation (pre-commie) and their kids born overseas are way well behaved.”

“stanlee, Mao is dead and so are the vast majority of his ways. Respect for teachers and parents and grandparents was clearly inculcated among youngsters when I was there. I saw it in practice, and in the writings of my students, who came from all parts of Sichuan Province, the "breadbasket" and one of the most populous provinces. Mao's attempts to stamp out the deeply embedded elements of pre-communist Chinese culture ended up failing. Much was destroyed physically, but there has been a decided resurgence in respect for older ways. The current battle is between Chinese culture and Western consumer culture. Compared to Japan, China has always been a much "messier" society. It is chaotic and confusing and vibrant and engaging.

To point one thing out with spitting in my classroom: Unlike America, my only responsibility in the classroom was to show up and teach. The students were responsible for the cleanliness of the classroom and the comfort of the teacher. When I came in, I could expect there would be freshly filled thermos bottles of boiling water so I could make tea. At the end of the school day, students swept and, if necessary, mopped the floor of the classroom and did other cleanup. When the students spit on the floor, they knew they also had to clean it up.

While not every Chinese spits, or spits in the same manner--Chinese persons are individuals, too-- spitting is not something the Chinese took up in the last few decades. My father was in China for more than two years in the 30s, and my uncle served there in WWII, flying out of the very city I ended up teaching in. Their stories indicated not much had changed in social mores on the very "pedestrian" level. Those born overseas have adapted to other cultural mores.”

“next time yer at the front of a pace line squirt water under yer saddle .

hehehe”

“Points well taken Pekka...good to know that the new generation are respecting their elders.

With internet and television, the populace is smarten up....of course this also brings in bad influence.”

“It will be too bad if the good parts of old Chinese culture are overwhelmed by the bad parts of Western culture. It was hard to explain when we were there why we wouldn't endorse everything about our ways. If our decaying civility puts down roots in China, it won't be a matter of if they spit anymore, but where and on who.”

“that nose blowing technique is called a farmers hankie”