OddThinking

Here’s a little anatomy practical you can try at home.

Relax your face, and then calmly say the words “Double-you Tee Eff” out aloud. Note which muscles are used.

Now, repeat the experiment, but this time say the words “What the fuck?” out aloud, with just a little bit of passion thrown in there. Can you feel the difference? Go on, try it.

There are some muscles at the top of your cheeks that tense up, as you try to make sense of the situation. It is almost a half-squint; it doesn’t actually affect your eye-sight, like a full squint does, but many of the same muscles are invoked. It is almost as though by semi-squinting you might actually be able to make out what the fuck is going on.

Those muscles are known to anatomists as your ‘upper picasas’. They are given this name from the fatigued feeling you get in these muscles after using Google Picasa for half-an-hour.