'HIC'

Yesterday I was, as happens, struck with a question I just had to find the answer for. What is a Hiccup? Here's a few paraphrased exerts from what I found:

A hiccup or hiccough is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm. The sudden rush of air into the lungs causes the glottis (the space between the vocal cords) to close, creating the "hic" noise.

By extension, the term "hiccup" is also used to describe a small and unrepeated aberration in an otherwise consistent pattern. The medical term is singultus. The word "hiccup" was in use by 1530. It is an instance of onomatopoeia, the imitation of natural sounds by words. Alternative forms of "hiccups" include "hiccough" and "hickup."

It is reported that 30% of chemotherapy patients suffer singultus as a side effect to treatment.

It is still unclear to scientists exactly why hiccups occur, particularly because it doesn't seem to give us any specific benefit. Some speculation exists that hiccups are a remnant of a bodily function that has been phased out by evolution, such as the move from aquatic gilled creatures to land animals. Ultrasounds have also shown that unborn fetuses experience hiccups. Some suggested hypotheses include hiccups as a possible muscle exercise for the child's respiratory system prior to birth or as a preventive measure to keep amniotic fluid from entering the lungs.

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For me that's all pretty fascinating....what? I get bored easily. Anyway, call me naive, but until I did that research I'd never even heard of a hiccup fetish. The world doesn't quite feel the same now that I know this. I'm going to be weary about where I hiccup and who with. There are even videos and fantasy stories out there about it. Honestly, I didn't research into this too far, but they also have a telephone number you can ring where they record your hiccups to play to people.

Just when you think you've got the world figured out, this happens.