28. Blowing Smoke Up the… Rear End
Nowadays, when somebody scoffs at another that “you’re just blowing smoke up my a**“, it is a figure of speech, intended to convey that the smoke blower is insincerely complementing the scoffer, telling him what he thinks he wants to hear. However, centuries ago, blowing smoke up one’s fanny was meant literally. It described a medical procedure in which a tube or rubber hose was inserted in a person’s rectum, up which tobacco smoke would be blown.
In the 1700s, doctors routinely used tobacco smoke enemas, in the mistaken belief that they had healing properties. Blowing smoke up the behind was thought to be particularly useful in reviving drowning victims. The nicotine in the tobacco was thought to make the heart beat faster, thus stimulating respiration, while smoke from the burning tobacco was thought to warm the drowning victim from the inside. It made intuitive sense: the drowned person was full of water, so blowing air, in the form of tobacco smoke which was full of healing properties, would both expel the water and heal the victim.
Also Read: Absurd Medical History Moments in History.
