Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 September 8

= September 8 =

Drinking straw use
When people drink a beverage with a drinking straw, how deep do they put it in their mouth? Do they usually hold it between their teeth, or only between their lips so the end is in front of their teeth? &#x2013; b_jonas 02:58, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Either and both. Small children are likely, also, to put the straw up one nostril and close the other ... probably only once, though. --Tagishsimon (talk) 03:17, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Children and drunkards chew them. Otherwise, just use tongue and lips. Le Sanglier des Ardennes (talk) 06:15, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
 * If you have sensitive teeth and a very cold drink you will find that it is less painful to put the end of the straw behind the teeth. Wymspen (talk) 08:26, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I see. &#x2013; b_jonas 11:19, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
 * My quantitive answer is 1 inch or 25 mm. Own experience of drinking sweet beverages through a straw is that it would be unnatural to grip the straw using lips only, which would require sucking through the front teeth, and that the top end of the straw more easily rests in the median sulcus groove of the tongue which may curl around it. This position allows passive lips which seal around the straw and immediate enjoyment of the taste sensation by direct delivery to Taste buds on the upper surface of the tongue. It also allows most direct control of the fluid flow by slighly raising or lowering the tongue against the straw, Cheek action is not required and minimum fluid volume is held in the mouth. Drinking by straw is the closest in sensation to Breastfeeding that one can normally expect after being weaned as an infant and having grown front teeth. AllBestFaith (talk) 03:25, 9 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Thank you. &#x2013; b_jonas 16:06, 9 September 2016 (UTC)
 * This may be useful? -- Jayron 32 15:04, 9 September 2016 (UTC)