From your first kiss to your last meal,
your tongue has given you
the best moments of your life.
Without this oblong-shaped muscle,
you would always be at a loss for words.
But what if you had more
than you could deal with?
What if your tongue was twice as long?
From the tip of your tongue
to the base of your mouth,
the average tongue varies from
7.9 cm (3.1 in) to 8.5 cm (3.3 in) long.
So a tongue twice as long,
While some people might make
a novelty act out of this muscle,
no one outside the animal kingdom
has ever experienced
the burden of a tongue this long.
Even Gerkary Bracho Blequett,
who has one of the longest tongues
on record,
only measures up to 11.4 cm (4.48 in).
Yeah, but can she reach her elbow?
Wow, never mind.
But if your tongue were longer than hers,
The human tongue can move in all
directions to produce various sounds
and protect your body from foreign objects.
And all from its position
anchored at the base of your mouth.
But if your tongue were twice as long,
you might not be able to talk.
You couldn't move your tongue to the back
of your mouth to make the 's' sound
because your head couldn't hold
this freakishly large muscle.
You would need to develop non-verbal
communication skills,
whether you're texting
or using sign language.
And if you can't talk,
it might be harder to let someone
know you're choking to death.
That's because the nerves
located on the tip of your tongue
allow you to feel the pain of sharp objects
entering your mouth,
like small bones.
With your tongue were constantly
hanging out of your head,
you wouldn't have this defense mechanism.
But that's not the only way this muscle
protects your body.
More on that later.
With the extra space
on your extra-large muscle,
you might have more room for taste buds.
People with more than 30 taste buds
in an area the size of a hole punch
belong to an elite group
known as supertasters.
Every flavor, bitter or sweet,
might send you into sensory overload.
Of course, that's assuming you
can get actual food into your body.
Since you wouldn't be able
to close your mouth,
you wouldn't be able to chew.
Instead you would have to
have your food liquified
and syringed onto the back
of your tongue.
Or take your nutrients through an IV.
And with so many papillae on your tongue,
your mouth might become
a breeding ground for bacteria.
These raised grooves already
collect bits of food
and residue from every meal.
So each bite of protein-rich foods
like milk or cheese could live in your mouth
long past their expiration date.
Your morning breath
would last all day long.
Now if the thought of all these live bacteria
crawling around inside your mouth
doesn't keep you up at night,
maybe the sleep apnea will.
After all, this colossal muscle
will get in the way of your breathing,
causing you to snore
or wake up throughout the night.
Like your heart,
your tongue works during your sleep.
While you rest,
your tongue helps you swallow
the excess fluids building in your mouth.
If you couldn't find a way to restrain
your tongue,
you might choke on your own saliva.
The tongue stands as the last defender
against harmful substances
entering your body.
Your body has a gag reflex that triggers
when the area on the back
of your tongue contracts.
But with a tongue this huge,
you may not be able to force out
anything other than a groan.
And since your mouth
would never be closed,
you might be drooling everywhere.
Your teeth could become misaligned
and protrude outward.
And your tongue would become dry
and maybe even infected.
Your mouth cavity can't
hold a tongue this long.
And the only way you could resume
an everyday life would be through surgery.
But if you had the extra room
in your head,
maybe you could make space
for this appendage
and all those high-level ideas
floating in your mind.
So what if your brain was twice as big?
Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF.