Hiccup

The word “hiccup” is an onomatopoeia that first appeared in the 18th century. Although, as early as the 16th century it was being called a “hickop” or “hicket”.

The ancient Greek physician Galen thought hiccups were violent emotions erupting from the body, while others thought they were a sign of liver inflammation.

There is only one hiccup in the works of Shakespeare, uttered, appropriately enough, by Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night.

An American farmer named Charles Osborne (see below) hiccuped continuously for 68 years They first started in 1922 when while weighing a hog for slaughter he fell and bust a blood vessel in his brain. They finally mysteriously stopped about one year before his death on May 1, 1991. His 68-year hiccup attack is a world record.

Men get hiccups more often than women.

A foetus in the womb can get hiccups.

Hiccups is the same phenomenon as hypnic jerk (the contraction that makes you wake up suddenly when you're falling asleep). It's called a myoclonic jerk of the diaphragm.

An Albanian superstition about hiccups is that they occur when someone mentions the hiccuping person's name in conversation. To stop the hiccups, one must say the names of anyone they think talked about them. The hiccups will cease once the gossiper's name is spoken.

Hiccups often occur when you're swallowing dry bread.

March 16th is National Hiccup Day.

Source Todayifoundout.com