- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
| PHOTO 1 | PHOTO 2 | PHOTO 3 | PHOTO 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A glass of water: the first line of defence in nearly every French household. | Sugar and water—the gentler end of the hiccup-remedy spectrum. | The French sugar cube, ready for another assignment beyond coffee. | A carafe d’eau at the café may suddenly become emergency equipment. |
French hiccup remedies, folklore, paper bags, sugar cubes—and proof that frightening someone is practically historic medicine.
The Smallest Medical Emergency at the Table
There are bodily functions one can disguise with dignity.
A hiccup is not one of them.
It arrives during dinner, interrupts the middle of a perfectly respectable French sentence and then waits just long enough for everyone to believe it has gone.
“Je pense que—HIC!—le problème avec mon dossier—HIC!”
Suddenly, nobody cares about the dossier. The entire table has become a medical committee.
“Bois de l’eau!”
“Retiens ta respiration!”
“Il faut lui faire peur!”
Someone may reach for a sugar cube. Someone else may suggest vinegar. A third person will calmly insist that the water must be drunk rapidly, slowly, upside down or from the wrong side of the glass.
I had wondered whether France possessed its own special collection of hiccup remedies. Perhaps there would be an herb from Provence, a tiny spoonful of pastis or an official government form requiring three passport photographs.
What I discovered was more endearing.
The remedies are largely familiar—but France has been documenting some of them for centuries.
First, the French Word: Le Hoquet
Hiccups are le hoquet in French.
Despite the repeated hic, hic, hic, French normally uses the singular:
J’ai le hoquet.
I have the hiccups.
The word has an h aspiré, so it remains le hoquet, not l’hoquet. There is also no liaison before it.
The word itself comes from an old onomatopoeic sound, hok-, suggesting a blow, bump or sudden interruption. That seems remarkably accurate. A hiccup is essentially the body inserting a tiny speed bump into the conversation. The word appeared in French centuries ago and once also described an interrupted style of medieval music. (Dictionnaire de l'Académie française)
Useful expressions include:
avoir le hoquet — to have the hiccups
faire passer le hoquet — to make the hiccups go away
une crise de hoquet — an attack of hiccups
hoqueter — to hiccup
Ça ne passe pas. — It isn’t going away.
Tu m’as fait peur! — You frightened me!
And yes, hoqueter has one of those small French spelling traps waiting politely in the shrubbery:
Je hoquette, but nous hoquetons.
Is Scaring Someone a French Remedy?
Absolutely—and France has historical receipts.
The 1718 edition of the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française included the remarkably direct sentence:
“La peur fait passer le hoquet.”
In other words: Fright makes hiccups go away.
The same idea appeared again in the dictionary’s 1740 edition. French families were apparently launching surprise attacks on hiccup sufferers long before paper bags became fashionable. (Dictionnaire de l'Académie française)
The theory is that surprise interrupts the hiccup reflex by abruptly changing breathing or redirecting attention. Modern French health guidance still mentions frightening—or making someone laugh—as one of the traditional tricks people may try, while making clear that none of these household methods has been scientifically proven to work reliably. (Ameli)
This places the would-be scarer in a delicate social position.
A gentle “Bouh!” may be ineffective.
A full-scale ambush might cure the hiccups while creating several entirely new conditions.
The French Household Arsenal
1. The Glass of Cold Water
Water is the universal opening bid.
French advice commonly involves drinking a glass of cold water quickly and without breathing. Other family versions specify tiny sips, a precise number of swallows or drinking while leaning forward.
The details vary because hiccup remedies appear to operate under the same rules as family recipes: everyone agrees on the main ingredient and disputes everything else.
French instructions one might hear:
Bois un verre d’eau froide.
Bois sans respirer.
Prends de toutes petites gorgées.
Penche-toi en avant.
France’s national health-insurance website, ameli.fr, lists cold water among the tricks people may test, while noting that an ordinary bout of hiccups usually disappears on its own. (Ameli)
2. Holding the Breath
Retiens ta respiration.
Holding one’s breath briefly is another standard response. So is taking several deep breaths, pulling the knees toward the chest or leaning forward.
Many traditional techniques seem designed either to alter the breathing pattern or to distract the nervous system.
They also create an entertaining tableau in which the patient is folded over, holding a glass of water and being shouted at by concerned relatives.
3. The Sugar Cube
France already has sugar cubes conveniently stationed beside almost every espresso, so it would be wasteful not to assign them medical duties.
A common remedy is to swallow some dry granulated sugar or allow a sugar cube to dissolve slowly in the mouth. Some French remèdes de grand-mère add a few drops of vinegar or lemon.
The contrast of sweet, sour and sudden swallowing is supposed to stimulate the throat and interrupt the reflex. It may help some people, but it is not guaranteed.
Still, un morceau de sucre avec quelques gouttes de vinaigre feels unmistakably French: slightly elegant, slightly alarming and served on a tiny spoon.
The NHS also includes granulated sugar, lemon and vinegar among commonly attempted remedies, while stressing that there is no evidence that any one method works for everybody. (nhs.uk)
4. The Paper Bag
Yes, the paper bag remedy exists in France too.
Ameli mentions breathing deeply and rapidly several times into un sac en papier. The idea is to change the breathing pattern and increase the amount of carbon dioxide being rebreathed.
The important words are paper bag.
Not plastic. Not over the head. Children should be supervised. Anyone who feels dizzy or unwell should stop rather than pursuing the cure with the determination of someone trying to complete an administrative appointment before lunchtime. Both French and British health guidance present this as an optional traditional technique, not a guaranteed treatment. (Ameli)
Personally, I would begin with water.
Water does not leave one sitting in a French kitchen breathing into a Monoprix bakery bag while everyone offers encouragement.
Does Hiccup Folklore Say Someone Is Thinking About Me?
A widespread old belief says that sudden hiccups mean someone is thinking or talking about you.
Versions of this exist in several countries and cultures, including the French-speaking world. It is not exclusively French, and there is naturally no scientific basis for it.
But it is considerably more romantic than the medical explanation.
The traditional game is to name possible people. When the hiccups stop, the final name supposedly reveals the culprit.
Quelqu’un pense à toi.
Someone is thinking about you.
This is an excellent belief because it turns an involuntary diaphragm spasm into evidence of one’s irresistible personal magnetism.
I am keeping it.
What Is Actually Happening?
A hiccup occurs when the diaphragm and other breathing muscles contract involuntarily, followed by a sudden closure of the glottis. That closure creates the familiar sound.
Common triggers can include:
Eating too quickly or too much
Swallowing air
Fizzy or alcoholic drinks
Very hot, cold or spicy foods
Laughter, excitement or stress
Sudden temperature changes while eating or drinking
Most ordinary hiccups last only a few minutes and stop without treatment. The official French guidance is essentially reassuring: for the usual brief episode, patience may be as useful as any household trick. (Ameli)
That was my small revelation.
I had expected a secret French cure. Instead, I found the familiar international collection of water, sugar, breath-holding and mild domestic terrorism—plus proof that the Académie française officially recognised frightening people as a hiccup remedy more than 300 years ago.
Sometimes moving abroad does not reveal how different we are.
It reveals that grandmothers everywhere have been conducting the same unsupervised clinical trial.
When Hiccups Are No Longer Funny
A normal attack of hiccups is usually harmless.
However, French medical guidance recommends contacting a doctor when hiccups:
Continue for more than 48 hours
Return very frequently
Interfere with eating or sleeping
Begin after taking a medication
Occur with unusual symptoms such as breathing or swallowing difficulties, vomiting, fever or chest or abdominal pain
Persistent hiccups can occasionally have an underlying medical cause and deserve proper evaluation—not stronger vinegar, a larger paper bag or someone hiding behind the bathroom door. (Ameli)
French Learner Tips
A1
J’ai le hoquet.
I have the hiccups.
Bois de l’eau.
Drink some water.
A2
Comment faire passer le hoquet?
How do you get rid of hiccups?
Retiens ta respiration quelques secondes.
Hold your breath for a few seconds.
B1
Mon hoquet ne veut pas passer.
My hiccups will not go away.
On m’a conseillé d’avaler un peu de sucre.
I was advised to swallow a little sugar.
B2
Il paraît que la peur peut interrompre le réflexe du hoquet.
Apparently, fright can interrupt the hiccup reflex.
Advanced
La peur fait passer le hoquet.
A wonderfully concise sentence from the old Académie française dictionaries—and possible historical justification for frightening one’s friends.
Use responsibly.
Sources for Further Information
Assurance Maladie: Comment faire passer le hoquet et quand consulter?
Académie française, 1718 edition: La peur fait passer le hoquet
Your Turn
What hiccup remedy did your family swear by—cold water, sugar, holding your breath, drinking upside down or having someone leap out from behind a door? Share the remedy, the country or region it came from, and whether it ever actually worked.
Comments
Post a Comment