Random answers to random questions
Anything goes! In this issue of Search + Discover, we give you answers to your off-the-wall questions, such as:
Explore further reading and related links.
What is the origin and meaning of the word “huh”?
The word “huh” is common in informal spoken English. Since nobody has dug up any tape recordings from the early years of English, we don’t know when “huh” originated. But records of written English that go back 400 years indicate that “huh” was used in some similar ways as it is today, so we know that the word is not a recent innovation. Speaker age and other social characteristics may determine when and how frequently it is used, and it may be pronounced slightly differently in different regions.
Since “huh” has not gone out of fashion in hundreds of years for millions of English speakers, it is likely to continue to have staying power and usefulness.
“Huh” has a few different functions, meanings, and pronunciations, depending on how it is being used, in what kinds of sentences, and whether it is serious or playful. Spelling variations, e.g., “hunh,” capture some of the variety of its pronunciations and meanings. Alternative pronunciations might be spelled “hanh” or “haenh.”
In the first example below, depending on differences in pronunciation, “huh” could be used to express surprise (“wow” or “no kidding”), puzzlement or disbelief, indignation (“well how about that!”), even mild disgust or cynicism (“well, wha-da-ya-know”):
Example 1
Mary: “Gas has gone up to 4 dollars a gallon.”
John: “Huh.”
When “huh” occurs at the beginning of a statement, it can be an exclamation of mild surprise, similar to “oh”:
Example 2
Mary: “Huh, look at this, gas is 4 dollars a gallon now.”
It can be used at the end of a statement to create a tag question:
Example 3
“So you’re not going to the party, huh?” (“are you?” or “right?”)
“Drive safely, huh?” (“will you?”; “okay?”)
As a one-word sentence, it can be used to ask a question, express disbelief, and/or be playful:
Example 4
Mary: “Gas is 4 dollars a gallon.”
John: “Huh?” (“really?”; no kidding”; or, “what did you say?”)
Some people use “huh” at the end of a question to ask for a response, to prod, or to get the listener’s attention:
Example 5a
Mary: “What did you think of that test, huh?”
Mary: “Are you listening to what I’m saying?”
John: [no answer]
Mary: “… Huh?”
Or it can be used to put a humorous spin on the question or tease:
Example 5b
Mary to John (teasingly): “You have a crush on Debbie, don’t cha … hunh? …HUNH?”
“Huh” can also be said with the mouth closed and still be understood, because of its particular acoustical properties. See what meanings you can give “huh” when you say it and vary your pronunciation or the melody. Listen for when “huh” occurs in your own conversations to see how and when you and others are using this versatile word.
—Amy Sheldon, professor, Department of Communication Studies and Program in Linguistics; Affiliate, Center for Cognitive Sciences
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In the days of the guillotine, would the severed head of the executed remain briefly conscious?
Good question, but who wants to be the one to answer it?
“It would be hard to design an experiment, even with an execution victim. The only ways to signal consciousness would be movement of eyes or facial muscles, and reflex movements can’t be ruled out,” says Brent Clark, professor of laboratory medicine and pathology and director of the division of neuropathology.
That hasn’t stopped scientific types from trying to find out. After all, the guillotine was introduced into France for two reasons: to handle the shortage of executioners during the revolution (the peak time for that sort of thing) and to have a quick, humane method of dispatching people. It’s not easy cutting through a human neck cleanly with one blow; it takes both strength and skill, not to mention a certain emotional steadiness.
There was at least one attempt to answer the question by prearranging a test with a victim, who was instructed to move his eyes on command after his head had fallen. He may have done so, but again, reflexes can’t be ruled out. A severed head can’t speak because no air can be directed up the trachea.
Clues, however, exist. Nerve cells may remain alive for minutes, says Clark, but that’s different from functioning and maintaining consciousness, which can be lost quickly.
“Even just by standing up, some people’s blood flow to the brain drops so much they lose consciousness,” Clark points out. “In terms of what happens to the brain after the loss of oxygen, there could be a few seconds of consciousness.”
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Why are some people left-handed—nature, nurture, neither?
Well, why are so many people are right-handed? About 85 percent of people are; that is, they show predominant use of the right hand. Handedness exists, however, on a continuum, with some people being ambidextrous to a degree.
“There’s evidence to say it’s biologically based,” says Monica Luciana, professor of psychology. “It’s thought there’s a genetic component because left-handedness runs in families. And it’s thought that handedness patterns are somewhat influenced by how the brain develops prenatally. We know that because children who are born prematurely or have neurological problems at birth have higher rates of left-handedness than the general population.”
Which hand people use is correlated with which cerebral hemisphere is dominant in the control of language-related functions. If a person is right handed, it is very likely he or she would be left-cerebral-dominant. But in left-handed people, the pattern of cerebral dominance is less clear.
Luciana, who is left-handed, says she thinks the former practice of trying to train left-handed children to become right-handed goes back to the old idea that the left side is associated with demonic influences. But she doesn’t mind her own left-handedness.
“I actually feel I’ve coped with it,” she explains. “Some of the tools out there for left-handed people aren’t that comfortable [to me] because I’m so used to doing things the other way.”
Handedness may not be confined to humans. Anne Pusey, professor of ecology, evolution and behavior, says there have been lots of studies on handedness in chimpanzees.
“Some use the right hand, some the left, some use both,” she says. Which hand they use “seems to affect the efficiency with which they fish for termites or perform other tasks.”
There is, of course, one arena where lefties are at a great advantage: baseball. The rarity of southpaw pitchers will continue to make them a sought-after commodity for the foreseeable future.
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Why do cats purr?
How they do it:
Purring is caused by air turbulence in the glottis. Laryngeal muscles close the glottis partially, increasing air pressure locally, producing the soft, buzzlike sounds due to air turbulences during inspiration and expiration.
Why do they do it:
We can only guess. The behavior appears to occur when cats enjoy social interactions while they are calm and relaxed. Terminally ill patients are known to purr when they are close to death—for example, humans suffering from final states of cancer describe a state of euphoria—possibly cats experience the same.
—Petra A. Merten, assistant professor, College of Veterinary Medicine
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Why do we yawn and why is yawning contagious?
The nature of the yawn has puzzled humans for centuries, and while it remains largely a mystery, some theories have attempted to explain the phenomenon.
Yawning has been observed in everything from birds to reptiles, fish to mammals, babies to the elderly. In the human embryo, yawning occurs as early as 12 weeks after conception.
It has been suggested that we yawn because oxygen levels in our lungs are low. Studies have shown that during normal, at-rest breathing, we don’t use anywhere near our lung capacity. It’s believed that our brain prompts the body to either sigh or take a yawn to get more air into the lungs. Nevertheless, the answer remains elusive because fetuses don’t take oxygen in through their lungs and they still yawn.
Yawning is strongly affected by dopamine, a chemical messenger that is similar to adrenaline and affects the brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and the capacity to feel pleasure and pain. So perhaps yawning is a brain reflex that aims to increase vigilance and make us more aware of our surroundings.
What is called “contagious” yawning is triggered by seeing or hearing someone else yawn, or by even thinking about yawning—it’s likely that you will have performed the act at least once by the time you’re finished reading this. Interestingly enough, contagious yawning does not occur in species that do not recognize themselves in mirrors or in infants younger than two years old.
It has been shown that viewing someone yawn evokes unique brain activity in areas that play a role in self-processing and self-awareness, which suggests that yawning may be part of a neural network involved in empathy, or the connection of self to others.
This ability to act or feel one way or another by observing others is deeply rooted in evolution. It has been said that at one time in evolutionary history, the yawn served to coordinate the social behavior of a group of animals. One member of the group yawned to signal an event, and then all the other members of the group yawned. Yawns may still be contagious these days because of a leftover response (a “vestigial” response) that is not used anymore.
An additional puzzling aspect of the yawn is that the vigor of the act may increase arousal, and it often brings pleasure to the yawner. Some male animals yawn in association with erection.
The mystery remains.
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Do mosquitoes like some people over others? If so, why are they attracted to certain people?
There is evidence that mosquitoes do prefer to bite some people compared to others. However, it is not clear whether these people are more attractive or just easier to find. Entomologists do not understand what factors are involved, although it probably is related to the chemical smells given off by the individual.
Host-seeking in mosquitoes, i.e., searching for an animal to take a blood meal from, involves a very complex set of behaviors. Mosquitoes have numerous olfactory receptors on their antennae for detecting smells. As mosquitoes fly, the detection of host odor (believed to be carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and other chemicals) stimulates their flight upwind. This puts them in the direction of a potential host, but these plumes of host odor are not continuous and mosquitoes may temporarily “lose the trail.” Mosquitoes have to maneuver to pick them back up, again using a complex set of cues. They orient toward these smells until they are close enough to use other signals. Some believe vision is partly used, to zero in specifically on potential hosts.
—Jeff Hahn, professor and assistant entomologist, University of Minnesota Extension
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Why do we need to sleep?
Sleep researchers are still trying to answer this question. We think many important restorative cellular processes occur during sleep. The easier question to address is, “What happens if we don’t sleep enough?”
The number of adults in the United States sleeping less than seven hours per night has increased from 16 to 37 percent over the past 40 years. People who are sleep deprived often do not appreciate how impaired their performance is. Sleep deprivation results in significant changes in cognitive functioning, including difficulty with short-term memory; impaired attention; alteration of mental status, which may resemble depression or anxiety; and reduced quality of life. These symptoms often disappear when normal sleep is restored.
Accidents are also largely correlated with sleep loss and are the second leading cause of car and truck accidents in the United States. Many catastrophes, including the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear power plant accidents, and the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, were partially attributed to the poor judgment of sleep-deprived workers.
Sleep loss also can lead to impaired immune function and other metabolic consequences.
So, why we sleep is still not completely understood, but what happens when we do not get enough sleep is well known. How much sleep do we need? Most people need between 6 and 10 hours. It is generally accepted that if you need an alarm clock to wake up, need to nap, or require more sleep on weekends, you are sleep deprived.
—Michael D. Alter, assistant professor of medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care
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Last modified on June 13, 2008