August 23, 2005
THE TONGUE
What an amazing instrument the human tongue. It can do so many things. And so much can be done with it.I give you an example. I was eating a bowl of soup for lunch. Progresso Split Pea soup. Which I love. It was the brand of soup in which the peas are not totally crushed though well cooked so that when you put a spoonful of soup in your mouth you can feel and taste the little chunks of peas rolling on your tongue.
Now one would assume that to digest this pea soup properly before ingesting it your teeth would crush the little peas that have not yet been totally crushed so that they can be swallowed more smoothly.
Well that's where the tongue comes in. I always assumed as others eating split pea soup must also assume that it is the teeth that crush the little peas. And probably the molars do the crushing. Well today I discovered while eating my split pea soup that it was my tongue that did the crushing. Or rather I should say did the smashing because it was against the palate of my mouth that my tongue smashed the little peas.
This is only one example of what the tongue can do besides smashing peas. It can taste. It can lick. It can stick itself out to mock someone we dislike. It can penetrate the mouth of another in the French style of kissing. It can turn upon itself and make tongue sounds. It can lick the lips of the mouth and some tongues can even reach the tip of the nose. Of course we can make our tongue lick many parts of our body within reach of our mouth. There are a few very flexible human beings who with lots of bending and twisting can lick parts of their bodies which most common mortals only wish they could. It's also essential for whistling. Not to mention its primary role in wine tasting.
One thing that my tongue likes to do particularly is rub its tip against the back of my teeth. Both upper teeth and lower. My tongue seems to enjoy the smoothness of the back of these teeth.
Also I should confess that my tongue likes to lick other people. Other people's bodies. Especially the body of a woman. There is nothing more lickable if I may permit myself a little pun than the flesh of a woman's body. I am not going to embarrass my tongue by revealing here which parts of a woman's body my tongue favors.
Oh before I forget. A lot of people ignore the fact that one can send messages with the tongue. For instance, licking one's upper lips with the tip of one's tongue supposedly means something. Moving one's tongue rapidly with an open mouth also suggests something. But usually I am not very good at reading tongues' messages. For instance the other day some guy on the freeway who wanted to pass me and then cut in front of my car sent me a rather enigmatic message with his tongue. He stuck out his tongue and closing his hand to form a hole with his fingers he proceeded to push his tongue into that hole. That tunnel. Me I didn't reply with my tongue. I replied with my index finger. But I am digressing.
Of course without our tongue we would be incapable of articulating correctly and properly the language we speak. In some countries people waggle their tongues much more than in countries where people speak between their teeth with their mouths half closed.
Much more could be said about the tongue. That of humans and that of animals. So much more could be written about how animals use their tongues. Not only to eat. But to kill. Like snakes. Or to smell. Yes certain animals especially fish smell with their tongues.
Perhaps I should mention that I speak tongues. Yes sometimes tongues come out of my mouth without me being aware of what I am saying. And usually my tongue plays a major part in articulating the words of my tongues. But that's another story which has already been written. Those interested in reading about my tongues may request a free copy by email: mytongues@aol.com
