Hiccups Meaning: Is Someone Thinking of You?

What hiccups mean in folk belief

Hardly any body sign is as tightly tied to a single sentence as the hiccup. In German-speaking families, whoever goes "hic" at the table will almost certainly hear: "Somebody's thinking about you." In some families the version is that someone is talking about you right now, and depending on the speaker's mood that may be meant kindly or not. The idea behind it is old and simple: an unexplained jolt in the body must have a cause outside it, and the closest explanation is that another person is tugging at you from a distance.

Many Americans grew up with the same line, often from grandparents with roots in Central Europe or South Asia, while others only know the remedies and none of the meaning. Either way, the hiccup belongs to the same family as other body signs that folk belief reads as messages: ringing in the ears, where someone is also supposed to be talking about you, the itchy nose that announces a visitor, or the itchy palm that promises money. The difference: with hiccups there is no side, no right and no left. There is only the question of who.

The name game: who is thinking of me?

That question has turned into a little custom many people know from childhood. You list names, one after another: grandma, your best friend, the person you yourself are thinking about. At the right name, it is said, the hiccups stop. If they really do go away, you have "caught the right one."

You do not have to believe in telepathy to see why the custom works. Listing names makes you concentrate, breathe differently and pause in small ways, and hiccups usually stop on their own after a few minutes anyway. The custom ties that to something lovely: it turns an annoying jolt into a moment in which you think about people who matter to you. That may be the friendliest interpretation any body sign has ever been given.

Hiccups in other cultures

The idea that someone is thinking of you is by no means only German. In South Asia, for instance in India and Pakistan, hiccups are widely read in much the same way, as a sign that someone is remembering you right now. In Russia there is a rhyme to send the hiccups on their way: "Ikota, ikota, pereidi na Fedota," "Hiccup, hiccup, go over to Fedot," and from Fedot on to Yakov and from Yakov to everyone else. Here the hiccup is treated like a small guest that you politely redirect to the neighbors.

In Japan children tell each other that you die if you hiccup a hundred times in a row. That is a classic playground scare, not a tradition of any weight, and it is wrong, as an American farmer proved for decades. What all these versions share is that the hiccup is social. It comes from someone or goes to someone. Nobody simply has it on their own.

What Plato prescribed for hiccups

The most famous hiccup scene in literature is in Plato's Symposium, written in the 4th century BC. The guests take turns giving speeches in praise of Eros. When the comic playwright Aristophanes' turn comes, he has the hiccups, whether from the food or for some other reason Plato leaves open, and cannot speak. The physician Eryximachus steps in, gives his speech first, and gives the poet some advice as well: hold your breath for a long time; if that does not help, gargle with water; and if that does not help either, tickle your nose until you sneeze.

Aristophanes tries everything, and the sneezing works. The passage (Symposium 185c-e and 189a) is still read with a wink today, and scholars argue about whether Plato only wanted to write a comic scene or whether the hiccup has a hidden meaning. For us it is above all proof that the home remedies handed down in families today are nearly two and a half thousand years old.

What happens in your body

The medical name for hiccups is singultus. The diaphragm, the large breathing muscle beneath the lungs, contracts suddenly and involuntarily as if to breathe in. A split second later the glottis, the opening between the vocal cords, snaps shut, the inrushing air hits it, and out comes the typical "hic." The English word is simply an imitation of that sound; older English spelled it "hiccough," which never had anything to do with coughing.

Common triggers are eating quickly, carbonated or very cold drinks, spicy food, alcohol and excitement, and laughing too. Hiccups are not unique to humans; many mammals have them, and babies hiccup in the womb. One research hypothesis sees them as a legacy from very long ago: a similar reflex is found in tadpoles and lungfish, which use it to push water past the lungs and over the gills. It is not proven, but it is a charming thought: the hiccup as a memory of a time when our ancestors still lived in water.

The home remedies and what is behind them

Hold your breath, drink a glass of water in small sips, put a spoonful of sugar on your tongue, drink from the far side of the glass, get startled, pinch your nose: the list of home remedies is long, and nearly all of them aim at the same thing. They change your breathing rhythm, briefly raise the carbon dioxide level in your blood, or stimulate nerves in the throat through which the reflex runs. Very little of this has been studied well, but it rarely does any harm.

The sugar trick has one small claim to fame. In 1971 three authors reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that a teaspoon of dry granulated sugar, swallowed, stopped hiccups in 19 of 20 patients. It was a short letter without a control group, so it proves little, but it is why American grandmothers and emergency room nurses alike reach for the sugar bowl.

Getting startled is the least reliable remedy and the most entertaining one for everyone else in the room. The name game from folk belief belongs in the same group: it distracts you and changes your breathing. If you like, you can combine the two: hold your breath and go through the names in your head until the hiccups ease.

The longest case of hiccups in the world

The record holder is an American, Charles Osborne of Anthon, Iowa. In 1922, while lifting a hog for slaughter, he got the hiccups, and according to Guinness World Records they lasted until 1990, about 68 years. Osborne married twice, had eight children and led a largely normal life. He died in 1991, about a year after the hiccups had finally stopped.

His story shows two things. First, hiccups in themselves are almost never dangerous. Second, hiccups that will not stop are no longer a sign but a symptom, and they belong in a doctor's hands.

The spiritual reading: the interrupted word

If you want to read the hiccup beyond folk belief, its mechanism offers a fitting image. With each hic the body wants to breathe in, and the throat closes. Something wants to come in, and something stops it. In today's reading practice the hiccup is therefore often read as a sign of the unsaid: words you "choke on," a conversation you are having too hastily, a feeling you swallow instead of saying it.

Just like Aristophanes, who has to postpone his speech because of his hiccups, the hic forces you to pause. The gentlest reading is therefore: slow down. Breathe first, then speak. And if a particular person comes to mind while you have the hiccups, perhaps it is not because they are thinking of you, but because you still have something to tell them.

Your hiccup reader

When did the hiccups start, and how long have you had them? The first table gives you the folk reading and the likely everyday cause; the second tells you honestly when it is no longer a sign.

When the hiccups came, and what folk belief makes of it

When it started	The folk reading	What is probably going on
While eating or drinking	Someone is talking about you at their own table.	Eating fast, fizzy drinks or very cold drinks, the most common trigger.
After a fit of laughter	Someone is remembering a happy moment with you.	Laughing changes your breathing rhythm abruptly.
At night or falling asleep	Someone far away is thinking of you before bed.	A full stomach lying down, or simply a quiet room in which you notice it.
Before something exciting	Someone is rooting for you.	Nerves. The diaphragm reacts to excitement.
While thinking of a specific person	That person, of course.	Coincidence, and a very human wish.
Out of the blue	Play the name game and see.	Often no identifiable cause; it usually stops within minutes.

How long have you had them? The honest line

Duration	What to do
A few minutes	Breathe, sip water, try the name game. It usually passes on its own.
About an hour	Still ordinary. Try a spoonful of sugar or slow sips of cold water, and eat more slowly next time.
Several hours	Annoying, but rarely a concern. Rest, avoid carbonated drinks and alcohol.
More than two days	This is no longer a sign, it is a symptom. See a doctor.
Keeps coming back for weeks	Get it checked by your primary care provider, even if each bout is short.

Voices from practice

No quotes and no names, only the situations in which hiccups typically come up when people talk about body signs:

• The name that will not let go. Many people say that in the name game they keep ending up with the same person, often someone they have not heard from in a long time.
• At the family table. "Somebody's thinking about you" is usually not believed, but it is almost always said. It is one of the lines people inherit from their grandparents.
• Before the big moment. Hiccups before an exam, a speech or a date are often recognized as nerves, and that is exactly what they are.

What we do not promise

• No telepathy. There is no evidence that hiccups happen because someone is thinking of you. It is a lovely folk belief, not a fact.
• No miracle remedy. No home remedy and no name game works reliably. Hiccups usually stop on their own.
• No danger from a hundred hics. The Japanese playground scare is false.
• No substitute for medical advice. Hiccups lasting more than 48 hours, or coming back again and again, need to be checked by a doctor.

In practice: what to do with it

• Breathe first. Breathe in deeply, hold it, breathe out slowly. That is the advice of Eryximachus, and it is still the best.
• Then the name game. Go through the people who matter to you in your head. If the hiccups stop, text the person you had just reached.
• Eat more slowly. The most common cause is the simplest.
• Listen in. Is there something you are swallowing right now? A sentence you would like to say?
• Know the limit. More than two days, or again and again: see your primary care provider.

Frequently asked questions

What do hiccups mean in superstition?

In German folk belief, and in similar beliefs across South Asia, hiccups mean that someone is thinking of you or talking about you. There is no evidence for this connection.

Why do people say names when they have hiccups?

According to the folk belief, the hiccups stop when you name the person who is thinking of you. In practice listing names helps because it distracts you and changes your breathing.

What stops hiccups fast?

Holding your breath, slow sips of cold water, gargling or a spoonful of sugar are the classics. Plato already has the physician Eryximachus recommend holding the breath, gargling and sneezing. None is well proven, and they rarely do harm.

What causes hiccups?

The diaphragm contracts suddenly, and a split second later the vocal cords snap shut. The inrushing air hits them and makes the hic sound. Common triggers are eating fast, carbonation, alcohol and excitement.

When should you see a doctor for hiccups?

If hiccups last longer than 48 hours or keep coming back over weeks, have them checked by a doctor. At that point they are a symptom, not a sign.

Who had the longest case of hiccups?

Charles Osborne of Anthon, Iowa, had hiccups from 1922 to 1990 according to Guinness World Records, about 68 years.

Sources and further reading

• Antiquity: Plato, Symposium 185c-e and 189a (Aristophanes' hiccups, the advice of Eryximachus).
• Medicine: Mayo Clinic, "Hiccups: symptoms and causes" (persistent hiccups beyond 48 hours); Cleveland Clinic, "Hiccups."
• Evolution: Straus C. et al., "A phylogenetic hypothesis for the origin of hiccough," BioEssays 25 (2003), a hypothesis, not established.
• Sugar: Engleman E. G., Lankton J., Lankton B., "Granulated sugar as treatment for hiccups in conscious patients," New England Journal of Medicine 285 (1971), a small, uncontrolled report.
• Record: Charles Osborne, 1922-1990, Guinness World Records.
• Folk belief: "someone is thinking of you" (German-speaking countries, South Asia); Russian rhyme "Ikota, ikota, pereidi na Fedota"; Japanese children's scare about a hundred hiccups.
• More in the magazine: Ringing in the ears · Itchy nose · Itchy feet · Itchy palm

The readings in this piece are folk belief and tradition, not scientific findings, and they do not replace medical advice. Questions about an order: 28@templeofdesire.com.