Expectorate/Gob, how much of it is ejected every weekend?

[Dickiedot]

Watching the football, Liverpool/Arsenal (Liverpool just lost :-)) I see all the players spitting on the pitch, I wondered how much is expectorated every weekend on pitches across the country? How should it be measured? Pints , gallons, litres? Is it dangerous? Could a player get infected mucus in a cut/graze? Does it damage the grass/turf. Even golfers are doing it now, God forbid, what damage to the greens? Could it be put to good use, after all leather tanners used urine in times of yore. Most important of all though, it's a disgusting habit, and in many towns, boroughs, streets, illegal. So why should sports persons do it without sanction. It hardly teaches our children how to behave. Have the Olympic committee made preparations for gallons of extra mucus expectorated all over London during the games. Is Mayor Boris aware? Rant over! I find it objectionable what do others think?

[jno]

because players get dehydrated on the field and their saliva thickens. They don't really have the time to sit down, have a drink and blow their noses properly.

http://www.theanswerb...uestion1107264-3.html

[karenmac60]

So what's the excuse of all those men who do it the street?

[ummmm]

It's not just men Karen!!

[Sqad]

I just don't buy this "dehydrated theory" as mucus dries up if you are dehydrated. The first thing that footballers do when they come onto the field as a substitute is GOB.......surely they haven't become dehydrated whilst sitting on the bench doing bu99er all......no....it is habit.....done for effect.

Squash players never GOB and that is a far more energetic game than football.

No...sorry...it is just a disgusting habit as Dickie says.....copied by all the kids.

[missprim]

I think it's a disgusting habit on or off the pitch but I must say ummmm I've never seen a woman spit in the street.

[B00]

I have MissP. Classy lot round here!

[jno]

I'd never do it in the street, parlour floor was good enough for my parents and it's good enough for me.

[ChuckFickens]

Good use of the word expectorated though.

[jno]

very true, Chuck, we always used to mangle the title of Great Expectations accordingly

[ummmm]

Do squash players get to stop frequently for drinks?

[ladybirder]

My uncle always aimed at the fire but usually missed. If he didn't you could hear it sizzling. Ugh!

[cazzz1975]

you are fortunate you never witnessed keegan bradley in a golf tournament a few weeks back, on every shot he spat 3 times, apparently he said he was unaware, it made for some quite disgusting viewing especially as CBS decided we needed to see this via a continual camera close up.

[237SJ]

I don`t think football players do it because they`re dehydrated. When you`re dehydrated you just have a dry mouth. I find if I`m doing some sort of sport where I`m breathing through my mouth (usually something really fast like horse riding) the saliva thickens up just because there`s a lot of air passing over it. I resist the urge to gob it out though (and so does the horse).

[Dickiedot]

Thanks everyone for the input, incidentally Murray vs Federer live now (Murray looking sorry for himself, AGAIN) not a gob in sight

[Dickiedot]

Cazzz197 I was unfortunate enough to see Keegan Bradley gobbing and Tiger Woods some time earlier in the year/last year. I don't accept I was unaware I was doing it as and excuse, were he incontinent would he know he'd wet his pants?

[heathfield]

From the 1880s a campaign ran in the UK to stop people from spitting, since it was looked on as a major cause of the spread of tuberculosis. This campaign seemed to die away post WWII, though I can still remember signs in the street and on buses that proclaimed ''No Spitting : Penalty 20/- '' (i.e. 20 shillings). Later, spitting seemed to become the in thing amongst adolescents. As to footballers, was it ''Not the Nine O'clock News'' that featured footballers ''Gob of the Day''?!!