Stick it out and say, Ahhhhhh!

If the face of Helen of Troy was responsible for launching a thousand ships according to playwright Christopher Marlowe, and the eyes were the mirror of the soul to novelist Paulo Coelho De Souza, and the ears were accredited as the last feature to age by visionary Malcolm de Channel, and loose lips could sink ships, and the nose knows well then, what about the tongue, that very curious pinkish impish body part inside our skulls?

Perhaps not as physically attractive as other features, the tongue is certainly an important part of the human anatomy. Dr. Sam Webster, senior lecturer in anatomy and embryology, Swansea University Medical School in the United Kingdom, explains in his Muscles of the Tongue Anatomy presentation that the tongue is comprised of eight muscles.

The eight muscles are categorized into two groups, intrinsic and extrinsic. The four intrinsic muscles, the superior longitudinal muscle, the inferior longitudinal muscle, the vertical muscle, and the transverse muscle, alter the shape of the tongue, running along the length not attached to bone. The four extrinsic muscles, the genioglossus, hyoglossus, styloglossus, and palatoglossus, change the position of the tongue and are anchored to bone.

The tongue performs continuously like the heart. Even when sleeping, the tongue pushes saliva down the throat. We know that the tongue plays an important role in tasting and breaking down food, swallowing and speech. Thanks to the tongue containing inguinal tonsils, germs are filtered out of the body. The medical community describes the tongue as a mass of interlacing skeletal muscle connective tissue with some mucous and serous glands, and pockets of adipose tissue, covered in oral mucosa. Like a fingerprint and snowflakes, each individuals tongue print is unique.

Writer Josh Dulaney in his article Why your tongue isnt as necessary as you might have thought explains that Cal State University has been involved in research concerning humans born with a very rare condition called isolated congenital aglossia, meaning without a tongue. Cal States Betty McMicken, associate professor in the department of Speech-Language Pathology, and Long Wang, assistant professor in the department of Family and Consumer Sciences, worked with Kelly Rogers, a Saddleback College student who was born without a tongue but is still able to speak and detect basic tastes. Rogers muscles on the floor of her mouth have compensated for her loss of a tongue without medical intervention. Wang refers to it as the natural condition, the natural progression. Such discoveries give hope to those who have no tongues or who have had partial removals.

The adult mans average tongue length is 3.3 inches and the average womens length is 3.1 inches. The Guinness World Records reports the title of the Worlds Longest Tongue belonging to Nick Stoeberl, measuring in at 3.97 inches. Some competition has curled up with a young woman, Adrianne Lewis, claiming a 4-incher that can reach her eye!

While were talking tongue, there is no denying the popularity of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones very famous and familiar Tongue and Lip Design logo, which came to be referred to as the Stones Tongue, created by British art designer John Pasche. The notorious image depicts cartoon-like parted lips, white top teeth, and a tongue protruding in a downward position. Studying at the Royal College of Art, Pasche started working with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones while he was still a student in 1969. Rolling Stone reports Pasche explaining, The design concept for the Tongue was to represent the bands anti-authoritarian attitude, Micks mouth and the obvious sexual connotations. (The coronavirus has put a damper on some of the 50-year anniversary events acknowledging the famous logo.)

According to Best Classic Bands website (bestclassicbands.com): Pasche who had previously designed posters for several British films and Jagger met, and the artist was shown a piece of artwork depicting the Indian goddess Kali, whose tongue was sticking out in the painting. Pasche went to work and came up with the tongue and lips design, now so ubiquitous (the bright red was added later by an Atlantic Records executive).

Revolutionary for its time, the Stones tongue image worked well with the rock group with its lead singer gyrating on the stage, singing nasty lyrics about unmentionables, and seemingly implying some form of oral sex. Simple and kind of crude, the design has lived on through the years. Because the logo debuted in the Stones Sticky Fingers album package, many people incorrectly believed that cover designer Andy Warhol came up with it. (Warhols cover design featured a picture of the bulging crotch of Joe Dallesandro, an artist in tight jeans with a prominent zipper!) Craig Braun, designer, actor, and all-around Chicago born entrepreneur is often considered as a co-designer of the tongue image as he played a major role in the Sticky Fingers packaging and design.

Branded forever, the Stones tongue design was voted in August 2008 as the greatest band logo of all time in a poll conducted by Gigwise, a British online music news site that features music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, and concert tickets. The logo which Pasche said took him a week to finish earned him a total of approximately 250 pounds of sterling (today about $312).

And the beat goes on with the popular American band Maroon 5 immortalizing the Stones Tongue in their 2010 hit song Moves Like Jagger:

Take me by the tongue and Ill know you/Kiss me till youre drunk and Ill show you/Got them moves like Jagger/I got the moves like Jagger, I got the mooooooooves like Jagger

Until we meet again, as James of Scotland would say, Keep well thy tongue.

See more here:
Off The Beaten Path: Lickity Split - Journal & Topics Newspapers Online