Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: hoey@AIC.NRL.Navy.Mil (Dan Hoey)
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 22:42:33 GMT
Subject: Re: Licking the bars

jonat...@vort.cuc.ab.ca (Jonathan Levine) writes:

> Getting your tongue frozen to a piece of metal outdoors in the
> winter is comonly known as "licking the bars".  The origin is
> schoolchildren, as the bars referred to are those comprising the
> fence around the schoolyard.

A kid I knew in high school claimed to have done this, but I had a
hard time believing he was that stupid.  I suspected he was using it
as a cover story for lesions due to some even more embarrassing stunt
but I couldn't imagine what it could possibly be.

But it does happen, according to an article I read earlier this very
winter, probably in Harper's.  This story had a happy ending, though,
because the child's father was there, and thinking quickly, freed the
child's tongue with only minor damage by urinating on it.  The doctor
commended his quick thinking.  The kid was not available for comment.

> BTW, how widespread is knowledge of "the dogpile"?

They soothe them by licking, too.  Dog saliva is reputed to have
enormous healing powers and dogs' tongues reach places you and I can
only imagine.

Dan Hoey
Hoey@AIC.NRL.Navy.Mil