Pandiculation: Tired, Bored, or Orgasmic?
What a strange new word to me. First sighting of pandiculate 
was on my Page-A-Day Trivia Calendar, December 22, 2006. The answer to What are you doing when you pandiculate? was stretching and yawning, as this kitty is demonstrating. Being ever-curious about the never-significant, I had to do a bit of confirming research prior to thrusting my new font of knowledge on you, my gentle readers.
Wikipedia describes a yawn as: a reflex of deep inhalation and exhalation 
associated with being tired, with a need to sleep, or from lack of stimulation. Pandiculation is the term for the act of stretching and yawning. Yawning is a powerful non-verbal message with several possible meanings, depending on the circumstances. It is also claimed to help increase the state of alertness of a person. The exact causes of yawning are still unknown. (Emphasis added.)
Numerous interesting facts, trivia, and superstitions are listed in the Wikipedia article. One of the more curious ones is that certain 
species of penguins employ yawning as part of their courtship ritual. Penguin couples face off and the males engage in what is described as an “ecstatic display,” their beaks open wide and their faces pointed skyward. (Readers are cautioned about trying this at home or in dating situations. — Winston)
But the most interesting thing I have learned in my quest is that in about 5% of patients, Clomipramine can cause inadvertent orgasms when yawning. Which begs the questions (1) where does one obtain this stuff, and (2) how does one know if they are in the 5% or the 95%? The next time you see someone enjoying a big yawn in public, smile to yourself and ponder, is it real or is it drugs?
13 Comments so far
Winston said “thrust.” Heh heh heh.
You know . . . here’s yet another Mixed Signal: Pandiculation while telling one’s partner, “Not now, love, I’m really sleepy.”
I fought it and fought it as long as I could,
But I ended up yawning;
I knew that I would.
*Wondering if I could talk my cousin the “legal drug pusher, aka phramacist” into slipping me some of that Clomipramine*
Clomipramine is an antidepressant, right? Well if I’m in the magical 5%, having an orgasm every time I yawn, I think that might cure my depression!
I don’t think seeing a man yawning while with me would make me believe he was enthralled with what I was saying or me…
I thought yawning was a way of getting more oxygen into your body - to wake you up.
Interesting fact 2: the largest living thing in the world is a fungus.
Winston,
You made me yawn.
Now I have to go off to bed.
A couple of women have made me pandiculate I confess.
Come again?
Well, you learn something new everyday. wow.
Winston,
In view of your love of trivia, I thought I’d send you this, “100 Things We Didn’t Know Last Year,” on the off chance you don’t know about it. It makes for fun reading.
Winston, at the risk of seasonal pandiculation, here’s wishing you a very Happy New Year. You are my Suth’n touchstone. My daily reminder of grits and collard greens. You are, sir, in fact, a liberal-thinking Southern man, which is the most appealing XY-type in the world. (Not to worry, Winston’s Better Half, I have no designs on him!) So a big New Year’s greeting from New York!
(And be sure to check out John B’s “100 Thing . . . ” Biggest news of the year was that, yes, indeed, the egg came before the chicken. Why didn’t that make headline news?)
Happy New Year.
What a fun word. It will be hard to keep a straight face the next time I see someone yawn.