hiccough

Ever been mid-sentence and suddenly gone hic? That is a hiccough, more commonly spelled hiccup. It is a sudden spasm of your diaphragm, the muscle that helps you breathe. The spasm pulls air in quickly, and then your vocal cords close at once, making that familiar sound.

Hiccoughs are usually not serious and often go away on their own. They can start after eating too fast, drinking fizzy drinks, or even feeling sudden excitement. They are common, even if they are annoying. People often try to stop them by holding their breath, drinking water in odd ways, or getting a surprise, though these fixes do not always work. In everyday English, people usually say someone "has the hiccups."

A hiccough is a brief, involuntary spasm of the diaphragm, the broad muscle below your lungs that helps control breathing. The older spelling is hiccough, while hiccup is now much more common. During a hiccough, air rushes in suddenly, but the quick closing of the vocal cords cuts the breath short and creates the familiar "hic" sound.

Most hiccoughs are harmless and pass quickly. They are often triggered by eating too much, eating too fast, swallowing air, sudden temperature changes, fizzy drinks, or emotional stress. In rare cases, if they last a long time, they can point to a medical problem, but for most people they are just a short-lived annoyance.

The word has an interesting history. It is onomatopoeic, meaning it was shaped by the sound it names. The spelling hiccough appeared because people wrongly linked the word to cough, even though the two are not actually related in meaning or in how the body produces them.

The word is also used in a figurative way. If a plan, system, or project has a small delay or a minor unexpected problem, people often call it a hiccup. So the word can describe both a physical event in the body and a brief interruption in something that was otherwise going smoothly.