Go ahead and indulge your craving because on today’s Wacky Word Wednesday, a weekly celebration of the wackiest and most interesting words from around the world, we will talk about a feeling you get after you eat too much.
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Crapulence
[crap-yuh-lents]-noun Discomfort from eating or drinking too much. |
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Judging from its first four letters, you might think that crapulence has something to do with excrement. But as it turns out, that’s not the case at all. Crapulence started as crapula, a Greek word meaning excessive drinking or a hangover, and it refers to a feeling of discomfort from eating or drinking too much. You can also use crapulence to describe the effects of excess of anything. Other words that have a similar meaning to crapulence are vinolent, which means “addicted to wine,” and methomania, meaning “alcoholism.”
When you eat too much, you may feel like your stomach is about to burst. But it’s highly unlikely it will actually explode from overeating. Mary Roach, the author of Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, said our stomachs can handle around a gallon or nearly four liters of food before we will throw up as a gag reflex. However, there are a few cases where people have managed to ignore their natural gag reflex and keep eating, causing their stomachs to rupture. In 2003, for example, a 49-year-old man reportedly died due to a rupture of the stomach.
Finally, let’s learn how to properly use today’s word in a sentence:
- See, my fear is that after all this pre-millennial buildup, we’re going to party like it’s 1999, and then on January 1, 2000, we’ll all wake up feeling just as crapulent as ever. (Martha Barnette)
- Then there are those, wallowing in their own greedy crapulence, who, because either their pockets or their heads are filled with the filthy detritus of insurance industry cash and lies, want Americans to die. (Progressives vs. Democracy by Brian Doherty)
We know how hard it can be to control our appetite especially during food-filled holiday season. So if you ever find yourself pigging out, remember that drinking a cup of herbal tea or simply walking it off are some simple ways you can do to ease your crapulence. We hope to see you next week for another edition of Wacky Word Wednesday!
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