Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 23:16, 14 March 2006

I believe farting originated in africa.

People make it sound like these animals don't produce gas if they are not labeled " Livestock " and thats completly false. What about other animals? Other sources? Also, there is no way to detect where methane came from, methane is methane. The part about 20% of methane emmisions coming from livestock is obviously untrue propaganda from the vegetarian community. -Reid

My cat farts all the time JayKeaton 08:36, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Dear Administrator I added something I think could be useful, I regret if you don't know who Dante is and what he did for Italian language, I think you should think more about it! manu thanks --Chicco 16:50, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

I hate to say it, but the reference website given on the flatulence page denotes that the main gas in a fart is indeed nitrogen, even noting that 2/3rds of people dont emit any methane from a fart.

From the site:

"According to Dr. James L. A. Roth, the author of Gastrointestinal Gas (Ch. 17 in Gastroenterology, v. 4, 1976) most people (2/3 of adults) pass farts that contain no methane. If both parents are methane producers, their children have a 95% chance of being producers as well. The reason for this is apparently unknown. Some researchers suspect a genetic influence, whereas others think the ability is due to environmental factors. However, all methane in any farts comes from bacterial action and not from human cells.

so clearly the select few who can pass gas and light it on fire (I have only met a few who can do this, not all can) clearly are in the minority. For this reason I see to it that the composition part of the article should be changed.

Don't forget the hydrogen though, that's flammable.

Cabbage, too, right?  ;-) --LMS

Would like to know what kinds of gases are emitted. Is it really methane, or is that a myth? --RjLesch

A simple experiment with baked beans and a match should convince you that it's methane :) --Robert Merkel

The explosive component may be methane, but the offensive part for most carivores and omnivores's output spells like Hydrogen Sulphide, H₂S.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=flatulence

It's so sad that Misplaced Pages's article isn't on the first few pages of the "flatulence" search results!  :-) --LMS

Flatulence has SFA (Sweet Fuck-All, do we need that too?) to do with the nature, chemical composition, or sniffability of gasses released.

I humbly suggest:

Gas released from the latter end of a consumptive's alimentary canal.

Putting on my (dusty) medical doctor's cap - I disagree. The gas released is of significance, it says a lot about the diet of the animal involved and in humans can be a diagnostic aspect in certain gastro-intestinal disorders. Plus the gas involved is a direct consequence of the microbiology of the GIT, so it relates to bacteriology. We had an entire lecture on it during second year physiology (!) (If I could remember anything I'd write the article myself) - MMGB

I just wish I could track down the New Scientist news article from 25 or more years ago where someone's excessive flatulence problem was solved when they analysed the gases. It was mostly CO2, from which, by a chain of reasoning I don't recall, they concluded he should cut down on dairy products. The report said it worked...

Plus of course "consumptive" means "infected with tuberculosis". --Paul Drye

My handy dandy dictionary would say that you're being too exclusive: consumptive - tending to consume, destructive, wasteful. Just for fun, btw, consumptive in your sense specifically means tuberculosis that affects the lungs. --Colin dellow

Not all cultures consider flatulence an embarassing or guiltily amusing subject: people from the Punjab, in my experience, consider flatulence no more amusing or embarassing than sneezing. This may well be true of other cultures: are there any other world-wide Wikipedians with examples of cultures that smiply do not give a toss about flatulence?

"As methane is flammable, some flatulence is as well" Should we add a warning ? DON'T TRY IT

"The gases are most often caused by swallowing air" - Is this bit true? If so, then methane would not be expected as "the primary gas released". There is little methane in ordinary air. -- Oliver P. 04:41 Mar 6, 2003 (UTC)

Answer: Reboot has stated in a recent edit summary, "flatulence isn't cause by swallowing air. You can cause a ructation that way but not flatulence." Thank you for clarifying that. :) -- Oliver P. 21:48 Mar 6, 2003 (UTC)

Reboot I have conducted extensive research into this subject.

Also, not only does tight clothing cause a gassy stomach to be painful, it also can contribute to the production of gas. I wonder whether this can be substantiated in any way? It looks rather dubious to me. Nafnaf 11:11 3 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Bovine flatulence is a source of greenhouse gas and may contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Is this for real? It's going to be part of the cycles of nature, ie the carbon cycle, isn't it? The difference between cows and cars, say, is that the latter "eat" fossil fuels which, until recently, were locked away underground where they couldn't affect anything... Evercat 04:20, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Unfortunately, not only is it really true, but it is also heavily significant. I can envision not including cow-farts in the article on the basis that this is about people-farts, but that is just about it. If the article is about flatulence in general, rather than flatulence in humans, the article is much too humanoflatulency-centric as it is, and probably could benefit from a wider treatment of flatulence in lower animals in general. -- Cimon Avaro on a pogostick 07:58, Mar 4, 2004 (UTC)

Indeed! Refer to the New Zealand Government's so-called Fart Tax: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3529313&thesection=news&thesubsection=general&thesecondsubsection=&reportid=57030

Can anybody shed a light about the relation between vegetarianism and flatulence? Guaka 22:26, 13 May 2004 (UTC)

There is an inconsistency between the statement in the "Causes" section that 90% of flatulence is from exogenous sources (i.e. air) and the statement in the "Composition" section that methane is the primary gas released. Air is about 80% nitrogen, and nitrogen is inert. So if a fart is 90% air, then the fart would be about 70% nitrogen (i.e. nitrogen would be the primary gas, not methane). Does anyone have data to reconcile this contradiction?

i have added what i thought was NECESSARY to the information on flatulence. the ofthen humerous expulsion of gas through one's rectum.

Exact mechanism by which beans cause flatulence

In beans, the most notorious offenders in this regard, the problem seems to arise from starch molecules resistant to digestion: when the polysaccharides reach the intestines, intestinal bacteria feed on them, producing gas.

My source (McGee, 1984; see article) suggests that the precise mechanism in this instance is indigestible oligosaccharides (a type of polysaccharide) reaching the lower intestine and being metabolised by bacteria, producing CO₂ etc; and that oligosaccharides are particularly prevalent in legumes where they are used for storage of sugars.

It doesn't mention starch in this context. (Is starch particularly "resistant to digestion"?)

Can anyone gainsay this? Otherwise I'll edit the article in a wee while.

JTN 21:35, 2004 Oct 14 (UTC)

Now done.

I note in passing that my reference gives significantly different figures for the composition of flatus to those given in the article:

"Work in the late sixties showed that normal individuals averaged an output of about a pint of gas a day, of which half is nitrogen and the result of swallowing air along with food or drink. Another 40% is carbon dioxide and the product of aerobic bacteria in the intestine. The remaining small fraction is a mixture of hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide, the products of anaerobic bacteria, and ammonia and the highly odorous indoles and skatoles, to which all the bacteria contribute."

However, he does also note that these things are highly variable, as you might expect.

Anyway, that's probably enough hot air from me.

JTN 20:50, 2004 Oct 24 (UTC)

Euphemsms question

Okay, is "mess your pants" and the equivalents starting with sh** really euphemisms for flatulence, or do they more accurately describe the proverbial "accident?" --Joe Sewell 16:32, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I don't think they are, and neither are most of the things under "euphemisms". Remember that a euphemism is a non-offensive way of saying something, and I hardly think things like "ass perfume" qualify. So I've divided the list into euphemisms and dysphemisms. I also deleted a few of them simply because they didn't seem to be referring to farting but to a rare unfortunate side-effect of farting (or to other activities entirely). If anyone disagrees re-add them. Reene (リニ) 02:34, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

The Thunder from Down Under

What causes the noise of a pooder? Garrett Albright 05:30, 5 Nov 2004 (UTC)

request for audio files to accompany article

It would be very encyclopedic! :-)

Don't think there's very many people in the world who haven't heard this sound before... Garrett Albright 09:01, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Is there any need?, do we need audio files for laughing, eating, clapping, talking, etc. Only deaf people have not heard a fart, and I doubt a sound file will fix that.--Clawed 11:14, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Burping and Farting

Hi, just correcting a common misconception about bovine flatulence and the greenhouse effect; the methane in fact mostly comes from animals burping rather than farting (see ), and I've corrected the article to reflect this.

Ziggurat 02:21, Nov 30, 2004 (UTC) (who has heard all the NZ sheep jokes he needs to)

Dysphemisms

By all means, if I accidentally removed a few that are in fact used and well-known somewhere in the world, re-add them (though I would defy you to find a part of the world in which "shit your pants" is a dysphemism for farting). But please do not blanketly revert my changes, especially when I'm quite confident that most of the bullets I removed are patent nonsense added by anons wishing to leave a mark on the article. The list was large and unwieldy, and ideally it should really only list the most well-known dysphemisms used. The list is not meant to document every single dysphemism ever used by any human being, after all, it's meant to serve as an example in the context of the article by listing a few well-known terms. →Reene 10:22, Jan 15, 2005 (UTC)

I have not heard 90% of the dysphemisms you have retained. So on what basis are words to be retained? Shall I delete all those I have not heard of? I suspect every word that has been included in this list has been heard by someone and few if any are inventions. I believe the slang words for flatulence occupy a secret and private space in society around family and close friends and Misplaced Pages is an opportunity to list and share these with both a scientific and humorous result. So I vote for keeping this list as open and as extensive as possible, I have made it into an alphabetic list of paragraphs so that it takes up less space. Lumos3 23:10, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I would encourage you to use the google test in this instance, as I have. For example, "cut the cheese" gets 22,000 hits. "Let one rip" gets 6,230. On the other hand, ones like "lay an air biscuit" gets a whopping 95, and "ass perfume" gets 81. Continue ad nauseum. I notice you also removed "fart" from the list for some reason, and that one gets over two and a half million hits. I'd also like to remind you that Misplaced Pages does not serve as a repository for every slang term and neologism ever coined. If it's not got some measure of notability, then it doesn't belong on a list where it only serves to bloat the article. →Reene 01:42, Jan 16, 2005 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages does contain glossary pages for various specialised fields (see Misplaced Pages is not) and I believe this list fits this criteria. I like the idea of using Google to cheek the currency of terms . I have a dictionary of historical slang which contains dozens of possible candidates none in current use but all relevant to the article . Perhaps in the future the article could divide terms by century as well .Lumos3 11:14, 16 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Slang terms for flatulence, the last time that I checked, do not constitute a "specialised field" that deserves a glossary page. Only terms with some notability (and this goes double for slang) deserve mentions on Misplaced Pages. As Reene has demonstrated, "fart", "cut the cheese", and "let one rip" all have a massive amount of currency and notability. "Ass perfume" and "lay an air biscuit" on the other hand do not. Please don't add them again until they do. ] 04:07, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Is the history of flatulence and the terms used to describe it not a valid area for this article to expand into. Historic terms may have little currency or Google hits but are still of interest. Lumos3 22:14, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Flatulence has a history? Have farts evolved over time? Come on. And you do not expect me to believe that "lay an ass air biscuit" is a historical term for fart. Please tell me you don't. ] 23:56, 19 Jan 2005 (UTC) -- Sorry, "air" biscuit.

Damned kids...

That's a neat trick; the offending text below isn't in obvious in the code. I thought I could get rid of it, but maybe not. Maybe someone else got to it seconds before I did.

"Flatulence my dad fart at homwe all the time so i have a real gas mask i carry around with me hows about dat lol hashahahha consists of gases that are produced by symbiotic bacteria and yeasts living in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals and are released through the anus. Flatulence is known colloquially as farting."

• Don't worry - apparently someone got to it just before you did =) ] 22:45, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Sound amplitude plot for deaf people

Hi, ..I just read someone before mentioned that deaf people are the only who did not hear fart sunds. It would be thus useful to add sound amplitude plot. Also, composition of gasses in form of chart or pie-chart would be more useful than reading through sentences to gain information on composition of gasses. There are also studies that were conducted at various scientific institutions that include thermal images of flatulance "event" itself, showing warmer gasses escaping from the "rear" in red and orange colors while the surrounding is left in blue.

This would be great! -69.110.10.32 05:09, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Palliatives

Many people notice that if they reduce their intake of most refined carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, potatoes, and breads, their stomach gas production decreases significantly. What is the evidence for this? I'm not a nutritionist, but I've never heard of rice and potatoes described as being refined carbohydrates.--JBellis 18:40, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Whoever smelt it, dealt it. Whoever made the rhymme, did the crime.

Encyclopediciety

At the moment, the article has only one reference: a cookbook. That's rather thin. Does anyone have access to a more, shall we say, "core text" on flatulence?

Dunno about core texts. The following looks like the most relevant reference in McGee's bibliography:

Pfeiffer, C.J. (1968). "Gastroenterologic aspects of manned space flight". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 150: 40–48.

Chasing this suggests other relevant reading. -- JTN 20:33, 2005 Apr 3 (UTC)

I also changed the very long list of eu- and dysfemisms into running text, to avoid dysbalance. I do not think Hindi and Malay terms should be mentioned here, unless they have significant usage amongst English speakers.

I suspect this whole section should probably be in Wiktionary, in its capacity as a thesaurus. (I believe that non-English terms would be appropriate in Wiktionary.) -- JTN 20:33, 2005 Apr 3 (UTC)

Are there cultures in which farting in public is accepted? At the moment, the "social context" paragraph is rather unspecific. JFW | T@lk 20:01, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Selling Beans

Don't you think they should sell baked beans at gas station convenience stores -- just so people can get gas for themselves as well as for their cars?

lol =P

Flarn 20:12, Apr 3, 2005 (UTC)

A poem about farts

Beans, beans,
They're the musical fruit.
The more you eat 'em,
The more you toot!

Beans, beans,
They're good for your heart.
The more you eat 'em,
the more you fart!


Flarn 20:12, Apr 3, 2005 (UTC)

Hello everybody, I added a few lines adding some stuff about Dante's Inferno, in which he said something funny about the topic! --Chicco 16:42, 20 May 2005 (UTC)

Trivia

Recently I spent quite some time mercilessly slashing teenage humour and irrelevant trivia. Gradually, more stuff in inserted. All those quotes from Dante and Rabelais are very funny, but there must be hundreds of these in world literature. Similarly, the episode of a British royal is very funny but probably not the only one of its kind. The list would be endless, similar to the list of slang words which I murdered recently.

If Misplaced Pages wants to be taken seriously as an encyclopedia, it needs to be able to treat even a smelly subject like flatulence with a certain degree of seriousness. JFW | T@lk 07:25, 22 May 2005 (UTC)

On a similar note, I see our inexhaustible lists of euphemisms and dysphemisms are back. To me, it seems that if these belong anywhere, they belong in Wiktionary. (...oh, I said that already. Never mind.) -- JTN 12:17, 2005 May 22 (UTC)

Dear JFW, I don't think you should judge funny what you read about Dante at least. The Divine Comedy is a pillar of Italia literature and compulsory in Italian high schools. La bocca sollevò dal fiero pasto, he raised his mouth from the fierce meals, referring to a man punished to starvation along his children is just a few line far from the line I put in the article. I think we should add aspects referring to the article that are part of our culture, i mean, Rabealis is not south park, is the heritage of a time that is in us, even if us don't know nothing about it. I you are diserting about the importance of flatulence in linguistic you cannot, you cannot skip the Literature

I hope you would restore the tiny article related to history, I think an Enciclopaedia must be complete.

P.S. why don't you erase the line the refers to the number of flatulence we perform, everyone does them and you dno't need some expensive calculator to count them!--Chicco 17:48, 22 May 2005 (UTC)

I wish you hadn't titled your response "Arrogance", because this indicates you have utterly missed the point. I am not saying that literary references are out of the question, but there needs to be a firm guarantee that only the best known references end up in this article, before South Park and The Simpsons enter through the side door.

Please provide some form of evidence that the Dante and Rabelais quotes are indeed the best known references in literature to flatulence. If they are, then I will personally reinsert them without reservations.

Do me a favour, and don't take things personally, Chicco. This attitude is the death of the wiki. JFW | T@lk 19:12, 22 May 2005 (UTC)

Well, maybe I was to rough, but the authors I quoted are the pillars of italian and French literature, somewhat a Shakespeare for someone who doesn't know them!. I wish more people will add referencies to GREAT authors who were able to talk of such disgusting activity. I think you should put back the stuff about Queen Elizabeth, notionism is the base of a wide open mind, after all I don't like and probably won't understand completely Einstein's theories. have a nice day --Chicco 20:52, 22 May 2005 (UTC)

Please make a WikiQuote page for any other literary farts you may like to quote. JFW | T@lk 14:20, 23 May 2005 (UTC)

This page is awfully inaccessible. A kid who wants to learn about farts is bombarded with a bunch of terminology ("aersolized feces"??) rather than just the basic important stuff about them, and the interesting stuff -- like "beans beans..." Can we just call this page "Farts" and get it over with? Flatulence is a rarely used, mostly medical term. -69.110.10.32 05:12, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

"Linguistics" and the superglue troll

User:Zanuga put back the list of words. As Misplaced Pages is not a thesaurus, I contest the need for such as list. No other article about a non-taboo subject needs a list of euphemisms, dysphemisms etc. I do not claim to be a linguistics expert, but I am trying to keep this article free from adolescent rubbish.

As for the superglue joke: the page you quote is about using superglue as a way to heal lacerations. Your trolling is inexcusable. JFW | T@lk 16:31, 26 May 2005 (UTC)

The linguistics section highlights the fact that euphemisms and dysphemisms are an integral part of how people refer to the subject. It is therefore helpful for the fuller understanding of the subject if the many and varied expressions used are identified for the purposes of research and education. Other people can be expected to add to the list and so improve the understanding of worldwide readers. Many euphemisms and dysphemisms will be more local in expression but can provide a reference for those encountering them. The intent is not to provide a thesaurus but to illumninate. The linguistics has no other statemnent other than "euphemism and dysphemism". Either employ it as a meaningful section or remove it altogether.

User:Zanuga |  00:04, 27 May 2005

They do not illuminate, they clutter. They also attract vandals and trolls (see the edit history). If you are that sure about the merits of this section, perhaps we should take this to requests for comment. JFW | T@lk 20:07, 26 May 2005 (UTC)

I am very happy you removed the linguistics section. It was indeed attracting vandals and trolls. JFW | T@lk 13:37, 27 May 2005 (UTC)

Use of the word "fart"

The opening of the article mentions the word fart (as it should), then stating that it might be offensive. It then goes on to use it in the very next sentence (outside the context of the word itself), and then sporadically throughout the article. Huh? If we acknowledge a word to be offensive, do we really need to be using it indiscriminately throughout the article when we don't need to? Moreover, would any encyclopedia that takes itself seriously do so? Don't get me wrong, I have no qualms with the word itself, and I say far worse every day, but it isn't exactly encyclopedic in tone. - furrykef (Talk at me) 03:25, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You're right. What verb, apart from "passing wind", would describe flatulence in a non-offensive tone? JFW | T@lk 09:46, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I agree and have been bold and removed the following from the article ", but some people find the word fart offensive and will use a euphemism as an alternative"--Clawed 11:02, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Oh, come on now. It's true, isn't it? You don't need to cut it out just to lazily justify using a potentially (if only mildly) offensive term. - furrykef (Talk at me) 30 June 2005 22:27 (UTC)

One verb that can be used instead of "fart" is "expel," for instance, "expel gas," or "expel flatus." I think this would sound more encyclopedic. -JD

or cutting the cheese :)

The section on containing the fart was damn funny

ROFLMAO. that section of the mechanical remedies was the first time i heard a remedy for farting this way. the If done incorrectly, however, this may result in a characteristic high-pitched squeal. line was double funny since there was a pig nearby my house that squealed at the same time when i read that line. :) --Idleguy 04:48, July 24, 2005 (UTC)

Flatulence remedy error?

The article about flatulence contains this: Mechanical

In social situations where the sound of flatulence would be particularly inappropriate a temporary remedy can be obtained by placing a piece of cotton wool or paper tissue about 4 cm in diameter onto the anus...

Four centimeters is one and one-half inches!

• That's correct. A smaller diameter is held less securely by the sphincter, and is less efficient at allowing gas through. 70.189.120.44 23:23, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Patents

Patents to do with farts are not very notable, or are they? I can sorta imagine the medical use of fart collector bags (to check for the composition of the contents), but the rocket... JFW | T@lk 21:20, 24 August 2005 (UTC)

Having had to spend three weeks looking through thousands of patents filed in the UK over a five year period as part of the research for a TV show some years back, I can confirm that patents of this type are very rare and therefore, in the context of a general discussion on flatulence, arguably significantly notable. As an aside, it was intriguing to note in the course of that job just how few 'lone inventors' patent ideas compared to the many from corporations. I don't have stats to quantify this but vivid recollection is that, when British individuals did seek a patent, the most popular design concepts they wanted to protect were either golf gadgets or devices for catching dog poop (I kid you not). There was also a patent for an anal masturbation device (again I kid you not). For me this underlines some kind of anal fixation amongst inventors and is yet another reason for noting fart-related patents ... that said I leave it to the community to decide and invite anyone better at wiki layout than me to tidy up the presentation of that section if the patents are to stay in User:infilms

common term

As I understand it, Misplaced Pages is supposed to use the common term for something. For this, the common term would be "fart". The seldom-used term "flatulence" can be a redirect to the common term. 24.170.177.130 04:34, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

Agreed -- lets call them farts. When was the last time you were in a group and smelled a nutty odor and said "who amontgeth thee hath let loose yonder foul flatulence??" -69.110.10.32 05:15, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

No, fart is slang. JFW | T@lk 05:16, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

The page was moved by cut & paste action. This is not the correct way of handling this. Moves can be requested at RFPM. Thank you. JFW | T@lk 05:25, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

I undid the move of fart to delete me please and the attempt to turn that article into the new flatulence article. This is not the way page moves are effectuated. I am fully aware of naming conventions, and this is the policy that voters will keep in mind when voting on the move. But don't do manual moves: this destroys the edit history. JFW | T@lk 05:42, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

requested move begun (below). JFW, as you are knowledgeable about page moves, you might consider getting the ball rolling on the vote next time rather than reverting. -Justforasecond 05:45, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Requested move

Proposed move to Fart, per Misplaced Pages naming conventions we should use the common name Misplaced Pages:Naming conventions (common names)

From the policy -- When choosing a name for a page ask yourself: What word would the average user of the Misplaced Pages put into the search engine?.

Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one sentence explanation, then sign your vote with ~~~~

• Support Justforasecond 05:44, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose - "fart" is slang; also, this article is not about individual flatus but about the phenomenon. JFW | T@lk 05:45, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Don't obscure the issue please. Fart is the word everyone knows. Justforasecond 05:48, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Will you please just respect everyone's opinion and not try to argue with every point? JFW | T@lk

• Oppose as per Jfdwolff. — Knowledge Seeker দ 05:51, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Both JFW and Knowledge Seeker are in the medical professiosn, and may be predisposed towards medical terminology rather than common names. Justforasecond 05:55, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Circumstantial Ad Hominem. Stick to the discussion of the topic, not the other Wikipedians. --Sketchee 20:00, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

• Oppose as per above. —Locke Cole 06:38, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose while most people would type in fart into the search box, I assume they expect that the article would be located at flatulence not at fart. --Clawed 06:54, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose as per above. --Muchness 07:19, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose as per Jfdwolff - Jds10912 14:05, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose. The slang term is welcome to be mentioned in the article or have it's own article if appropriate, but no reason to move this--Sketchee 20:00, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose. as per JFW --Bob 20:57, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Another predictable vote from someone in the medical field. Wiki policy requests the commony used terminology, whether or not your POV is that "fart" is a bad word. -155.91.28.231 23:56, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Or maybe this user is voting against the move because they think 'fart' is a slang term and not appropriate as a title. You can't assume that just because someone has a medical background this is their reason for voting. In a debate, it's always much more convincing to argue the point rather than the person. Ziggurat 00:03, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

• Oppose. Good grief. --PHenry 00:32, 30 November 2005 (UTC)
• OPPOSE fart is an event (or an object), farting is an action. The article concerns more that just that. So... why fart, why not "pass gas", "break wind", "cut the cheese", they are all fairly common names for the event. Nominator does not make case that fart is most common. 132.205.45.148 18:24, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

Fart is far more common then any of those. It gets over 5M hits, each of those get less than 100,000. If yall think it should be broken into a separate article, so be it, but right now fart redirects to here. Flatulence, according to most other sources, is a name for the gassy condition. Flatus is a name for the actual gas. Someone proposed "Flatulate" as the name for the farting act, but appears to be a neologism. -155.91.28.231 05:03, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

• Oppose. The most common popular usage is just one of many concerns that need to be taken into account when choosing an article title. - Haukur Þorgeirsson 00:15, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

The policy couldn't be much more clear. What would an average user type in the search box? -155.91.28.231 05:03, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

• Oppose. The article describes the condition, not just an action, and flatulence is the best and most commonly used word to describe the condition. No Account 23:31, 1 December 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose, fart as a noun refers to a particular passing of gas, flatulence as a noun refers to the general phenomenon. -lethe 00:59, 3 December 2005 (UTC)
• Oppose Flatulence is the polite term. If you were to explain the problem to your doctor, would you say, "I suffer from flatulence," or would you say, "I can't stop farting?" There is already a redirect from fart. A Google search on the word fart brings you to this article. --malber 01:31, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages is not about politeness. The standard is not "what would you say when you go to the doctor", it is "what would the user put in the search box" .... as stated many times already. Anyway, the vote is closed and there's enough complaints that a fart is different from flatulence that we probably need two articles. One for the condition of having excess intestinal gas ("flatulence") and one for the sound and plume of gas that is emitted with it ("fart"). Maybe even one for the gas while its inside you ("flatus") -Justforasecond 02:14, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

This is now the second time you start arguing with people in this vote. Will you please stop this? It's mighty annoying. JFW | T@lk 04:19, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Actually, it's not only the second time. The contributions by User:155.91.28.231 are from User:Justforasecond as well. — Knowledge Seeker দ 04:53, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

• Support Maybe I live in a low brow community, but I've NEVER in my life heard anyone call a fart "flatulence" except maybe as a joke once or twice. JayKeaton 08:38, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

It was requested that this article be renamed but there was no consensus for it be moved. Dragons flight 05:37, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

Discussion

Add any additional comments

It's a tricky call - while many dictionaries state that 'fart' is coarse slang, the word itself is actually older than 'flatulence' (the former coming from Anglo-Saxon "feortan" and the latter only appearing in 1711, derived from Latin via Middle French), so the obvious division is between 'lower class' vs. 'upper class' terms (the same reason that most swear words in English are derived from Anglo-Saxon roots, whereas the polite form comes from Latin). Additionally, I notice that Wiki uses Vomiting instead of emesis, and Burping (yeah, I wrote that article, sorry!) instead of eructation.

That said, 'flatulence' is a much more common term than emesis or eructation, and it's certainly common enough to be an acceptable title for the article. Much of the article is dedicated to a medical/physiological discussion of farting, in which case this title is more commonly used, and it will probably draw fewer attempts at vandalism as well. 'Flatulence' is used more in an academic context (compare Google definition of flatulence vs. Google definition of fart).

Personally, I'd be inclined towards 'flatulence' for tone reasons, but I can understand the opposite point of view too. Ziggurat 10:29, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

It it not slang -- it is the common name. Wiki is not a medical dictionary. -71.129.2.122 23:24, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

"fart (färt) Vulgar Slang." American Heritage® Dictionary. I suppose if we are to argue that this isn't a medical dictionary (even though the term "intestinal gas" is more of a medical term), we can also argue that Misplaced Pages isn't a slang dictionary either and go no where.

Odd that definition doesn't describe farts as flatulence. An oversight I'm sure. The naming guide is pretty clear that the common term should be used. Flatulence is not the common term, it is medical language. -69.110.44.70 04:19, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

As for your comment on my talk page, there is nothing "uncivil" about pointing out a fallacious argument. --Sketchee 00:36, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

I understand the desire to have tone -- every other encyclopedia was written with tone (for prudish reasons, I imagine). Do the non-doctors here actually say things like "who flatulated"? or "someone flatulated", or think to themselves "I gotta flatulate but there are too many people around"....I have never heard anyone refer to passing gas as flatulence in a non-medical context. The test wiki proposes is pretty simple -- if someone wanted to learn about farts they would google for farts, they'd type 'fart' in the search box. -71.129.2.122 23:24, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Neither vomitting or burping are vulgar words like fart is. --Bob 20:57, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for the observation, Bob. The wiki policy says nothing whatsoever about "vulgarity". -155.91.28.231 05:03, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

• Support gottabe

Would those proposing Flatulence be moved to Fart also support moving Sexual intercourse to Fucking? Fucking is obviously a more common search term. --malber 04:06, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Furthermore, if we're going to be using "common" terms, why the ICD-9 template? If flatulence has to be renamed, then it would mean that an article like Myocardial infarction would have to be renamed Heart attack. --malber 04:11, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

This article is about the medical symptom of flatulence. Per the ICD-9, it is a term adopted by the World Health Organization and the AMA, so it thus represents what is accepted in the international medical community. For these reasons, it should not be moved to Fart. An article about the colloquial word fart, examining its social impact and connotations would be an excellent piece. It's patent nonsense at this point to argue otherwise. --malber 14:36, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Flatulate/flatulation

Google shows the terms "flatulate" and "flatulation" are in fairly common usage (12,000 and 11,100 hits respectively), but I can find no reference to them at OneLook. Is there a reference to confirm that these are grammatically correct terms? --Muchness 07:37, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Fart is a lot more common -- about 5,870,000 -69.110.0.154 07:47, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

With respect, the comparative frequency of "fart" is not relevant to my question. I'm trying to establish whether "flatulate" and "flatulation" are legitimate terms or erroneous terms in common usage. --Muchness 17:30, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

"dick" gets a lot more hits than "penis", but I wouldn't expect that to be moved. sjorford (talk) 14:08, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, but "dick" has more meanings than "penis" so it would get more hits. 64.192.107.242 22:10, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

There's a specific policy against "dick". CDThieme 18:33, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

Tagged for cleanup

I tagged the article for cleanup mainly for the text under "Mechanical." For example: For acute situations, it is recommended to spread the buttocks, so as to stretch open the sphincter while the gas is passed. This is best accomplished by sitting on one buttock, shifting body weight laterally, then putting the body weight on the other buttock. The opening will not snap shut and the passage will be silent. If done incorrectly, however, this may result in a characteristic high-pitched squeal. While this is funny, I don't know if it's the sort of information that belongs in an encyclopedia article. --Bri 00:08, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

This is not the use of cleanup. Cleanup is when the whole article is poorly phrased, lacks wikilinks or references etc etc. As for the bizarre passage you cite, just change it to something more appropriate. Be bold, don't wait for someone else to clean up. JFW | T@lk 23:05, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

I've commented this section out; I agree that it needs to be revised or replaced with something more encyclopedic.--Muchness 12:57, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

aerosolized particles of feces

"Flatulence is a mixture of gases ..., and aerosolized particles of feces, ...." "Aerosolized particles of feces are also present in flatus, though in minuscule amounts." Why were these phrases deleted? Isn't that true? 210.229.77.61 17:01, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

I didn't delete them, but the most likely reason is that it's unsourced and someone thought that it needed a reference. Ziggurat 02:01, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Sex difference

Can anyone explain why men's farts are, on average, noisier than women's farts? Is there a physiological explanation? Thes entinel 03:35, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Have you actually checked the difference in decibels? The physiological explanation would be a difference in pelvic anatomy, shape of rear end etc. But I suspect men are just rude pigs who let off irrespective of the circumstances, while women find a more private place to do so. JFW | T@lk 12:39, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

JFW, I know you're a doctor, but trust me, women can be just as bad as men when it comes to flatulence ettiquite. --D-Day 12:40, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I know, D-Day, I know. Most of my response was tongue in cheek. JFW | T@lk 14:39, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Aren't invertabrates animals?

The article says,

All animals flatulate, including most invertebrates.

That's pretty weird. That's like saying all humans flatulate, including most women. I'd change it, but I don't know exactly what it should say. NickelShoe 06:35, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree, it doesn't make any sense. PizzaMargherita 13:43, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

So I decided to actually read the link...the link only talks about fish, and actually says they don't fart (in the technical sense of the term). So I took it out. If we have another reference to support the stuff about invertebrates and whatnot, then we can put it back in later. NickelShoe 17:23, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Listing of colloquialisms

There have been some editors attempting to add colloquialisms for farting to the article. I don't totally object, but an extensive list would be a bit much. Does anyone else have any opinions about it? --malber 14:33, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

The list has been a target for what I'd call 'frat info' - and I think the best way to ensure that the article remains encyclopedic is to only include colloquialisms that have attention in verifiable literature (slang dictionaries and the like). That way, if someone wants to add legitimate colloquialisms they can, and reference them as such, but anyone who just wants to throw in their own neologism or rarely-used quip will have to prove it's valuable information. Ziggurat 20:04, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

I've removed the sentence from the end of the intro "and other, more colourful terms" because it adds nothing to the intro and is probably the root of why so many people seem to add their own colloquialisms (real or not) there. Ziggurat 00:22, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

We've had a long list of terms in the past. This was trollbait and was deleted. History should not repeat itself. JFW | T@lk 00:33, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

It seems to me that so long as these terms are common knowledfe (eg pass gas) or can be cited in a widely known slang dictionary they should be allowed to stay. This is relevant info as people often call flatulence by these euphemisms...as long as we stick to this guideline, the silliness shouldnt get too out of hand. Interestingstuffadder

The silliness always gets out of hand. Misplaced Pages is not actually a thesaurus. We do not need to list all known synonyms, euphemisms and dysfemisms for all sorts of terms. Please do not reinsert the section. JFW | T@lk 00:58, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

It seems apparent that a brief list of terms for a function that is rarely referred to in conversation as "flatulence" would be at least moderately useful. Clearly this page is closely monitored by several editors -- this should be enough to prevent such a list from getting out of hand. Isn't this sort of constant improvement by concerned users the essence of what makes Misplaced Pages work? As for thesaurus point -- numerous entries list a few widely used synonyms. Finally, it is not clear to me what, in an environment like Misplaced Pages that claims to be a democratic, cooperative endeavor, qualifies you to tell me what I can not do -- what I take away from the above posts is that there is in fact no clear consensus on this issue. Interestingstuffadder

Reverting nonsense is not my idea of useful Misplaced Pages work. You are free to disagree with me, and of course nothing qualifies me to tell you what you shouldn't do bar a little more Misplaced Pages experience and a string of disappointments with "lists of slang" on this and other pages. Your attempts at creating redirects for every known slang term in the world seem to indicate you are serious about this, but I suggest you await other responses before making further attempts to recreate the section under discussion. JFW | T@lk 01:14, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

What about the idea of a spin-off page for slang terms? I'm also not convinced that information should be censored, so to speak, because it's trollbait. The reason for keeping information out ought to be that it's not encyclopedic. Meh, I don't know. NickelShoe 01:21, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Since when are slang terms encyclopedic? JFW | T@lk 01:24, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Doctor -- I just read back over this discussion section and found that when you removed this list in the past the discussion was mainly between you and one other person -- hardly a consensus. Moreover, in this very discussion a much more "experienced" user has made essentialy the same proposal that I have made -- a closely watched list of relevant slang terms. Thus, at this stage I count 3-1 in favor of my point of view. Is that sufficient "other responses" or do you await a level of discussion regarding this topic that is unprecedented in its previous incarnations? How many votes from other Wikipedians are necessary to overcome your objections? Moreover, I am more experienced than these edits indicate. I admit to having multiple accounts (which per guidelines can be legitimate). As a health provider (particuarly in a socialized health care system where you must encounter all kinds), you should know that not everyone is familiar with the "correct" term for these taboo subjects. In recognition of this ignorance of said "correct" terms by many who lack our level of education, I do think it is worthwhile to include these redirects and lists of limited numbers of synonyms. However, acknowledging that some other editors find this silly or trollish, I care not to cause problems for the reputation of my primary Misplaced Pages identity by undertaking this project under that username. Thanks... Interestingstuffadder

First, I don't see anything unencyclopedic about slang terms on the face of it. In fact, I think long-name-dude has a point about the fact that this is a word people usually use slang for. As long as it's kept short and cited, I think it's actually somewhat helpful. It's not exactly without precedent. NickelShoe 01:34, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Fine, have it your way then. Will you also be patrolling this page for the familiar excesses? JFW | T@lk 01:36, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

If you're talking to me, yeah...haven't I already been doing that? Yeah, it's just been on my watchlist for a day or so, but it'll stay there. NickelShoe 01:38, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

I was referring to Interestingstuffadder (is that type of snake?), but of course your help in patrolling would be appreciated. JFW | T@lk 01:42, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

I will certainly be patrolling for the "familiar excesses" ... so do i have your permission to re-add the beginnings of said list? Interestingstuffadder

The best way to make such a collection better is to 1. reference the entries - okay, so they're common slang, so they should be located in a slang dictionary or similar publication and linked to, and 2. contextualise it. Rather than simply create a list, write a couple of paragraphs on flatulence as a taboo subject, and how colloquialisms (both vulgar and mollifying) have commonly and historically appeared around this topic. Does it appear in dialects/variants of English (e.g. is there a Polari term for it) ?; what standard forms do the colloquialisms take (i.e. group them according to 'wind metaphors', 'odour metaphors', etc.)? That's encyclopedic. An unverified list is not, and is of little value compared to the alternative I describe. Ziggurat 02:19, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Featured Article?

I think that, with some work, this article can be a featured article candidate. What can be improved? --D-Day 22:08, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Certainly add some sort of pictures, diagrams, and sound files. --WAZAAAA 04:24, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm, a picture of one man farting sounds like the beginings of a Chinese proverb. -- Malber (talk · contribs) 21:47, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

1001 Arabian Nights Tales -- Is this true?

In the translated version of Penguin's "1001 Arabian Nights Tales," a story titled "The Historic Fart" tells of a man that flees his country from the sheer embarrassment of farting at his wedding

I have this as a text file on my computer and nothing comes up with "fart", or "the historic". Is it titled something else?DyslexicEditor 23:22, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it's legit: , (turn to next page) --Muchness 23:52, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

nitroglycerin?

Odors result from trace amounts of other components (often sulphur containing, see below) and nitroglycerin.

Farts contain nitroglycerin??? Wouldn't that cause some sort of an explosion or something??? --jess523s 00:07, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

It is an intended joke. Nitro is not a naturally-occurring compound. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 192.223.226.5 (talk • contribs) 10:44, 18 February 2006.

just added one word

i changed 'with a characteristic sound and...' to "often with a ..."

it seemed logical, as the sound and smell varies from organism to organism. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Joeyramoney (talk • contribs) 11:54, 4 February 2006.

Good stuff, but does such a small change need to go on the talk section? JayKeaton 08:40, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

"Carpal" references

I think this is an intended joke: the "pull my finger" stunt. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 192.223.226.5 (talk • contribs) 10:43, 18 February 2006.

Colloquial for accidental defecation needed

I think this passage should read as follows:

"Flatus is brought to the anus in the same peristalsis method as feces, causing a similar feeling of urgency and discomfort. Nerve endings in the rectum learn to distinguish between flatus and feces, although loose stool can confuse these nerves, and sometimes results in accidental defecation. The colloquial or slang term for this event is a 'shart.'" —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 166.44.39.88 (talk • contribs) 00:17, 20 February 2006.

I don't know how important the term "shart" is. I have never heard of it outside of reverting it out of this article. NickelShoe 13:07, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

Fart.com?

Yes, there is such a site, but I'm not 100% sure if it should be added. Thoughts? --D-Day 14:29, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

OMG please not. JFW | T@lk 10:32, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Does it add useful information or extend beyond the article? I'm guessing not, in which case, no. Ziggurat 21:52, 13 March 2006 (UTC)