Back to The Human Tongue

A person takes their temperature by placing the thermometer under the tongue;
As a muscle, the tongue is also important as a means of creating the negative pressure necessary for infants to suckle;
The tongue is a most important adjunct to correct speech. Its wide variety of movements allows us to form sounds for speech and song;
It is an essential tool for playing all musical instruments that need the initiation from the mouth;
The human tongue also plays a valuable role in other acts, such as for blowing bubbles and whistling;
Spitting, burping and coughing - all require the services of the tongue in different ways;
The tongue plays a primary role in certain forms of kissing known as "tongue kissing" or "French kissing". Generally, use of the tongue (such as licking), or interaction between tongues, appears to be a common gesture of affection, not just in humans but throughout the animal kingdom, and particularly in mammals;
The tongue is sometimes associated with sensual or erotic connotations;
Showing the tongue (pulling a tongue) is an international emotional gesture used primarily by children, or by adults behaving (deliberately or not) in a childish manner; Think how often you "lick your lips" especially during dry weather conditions;
Many people have a mysterious habit of sticking the tongue out when they are concentrating hard at some task or even whilst participating in a sports event - why?
The tongue also functions as an accessory organ for grooming and cleaning (by producing antibodies that protect the mouth), as well as for open wounds that an animal might clean with its tongue;
It has not been shown that human licking of wounds disinfects them, (as is the case with many in the animal kingdom), but licking can help to clean the wound by removing larger contaminants such as dirt and may help to directly remove infective bodies by brushing them away;
Therefore, licking could be an effective way of "washing" the wound, especially if purer water isn't available to the animal or person;
The tongue is often used as a figure of speech in different ways, for example as in the phrase "mother tongue".
In fact, many languages have the same word for "tongue" and "language".
A common temporary failure to remember a word is referred to as "on the tip-of-the-tongue".
Then there is the term "tongue in cheek".
"Tongue twisted" is a term used to describe being unable to pronounce a word or phrase correctly. A "tongue twister" is a phrase meaning that a sentence is difficult to pronounce.
Try, for a week or two, to think about the actions that the tongue is performing during your waking hours. Gain respect for it. By doing this, you will appreciate more and more the importance and the multitude of actions that the tongue is performing - without you ever thinking about it or having to activate it. The human tongue performs its tasks automatically. But in some important functions it needs your help and co-operation for your good.

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