Have you ever been sitting in class and the kid who sits next to you all of the sudden starts hiccuping? There is nothing you can do about it except for try to drown out the constant noises, and there is nothing they can do about it either. But what if I told you there IS something that can cure the awful case of the hiccups?

 According to Webster’s Dictionary, hiccups are an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm and respiratory organs, with a sudden closure of the glottis and a characteristic sound like that of a cough. Basically, when they come, the only thing you can do about it is make them as quiet as possible. There are always different types of hiccuppers: the ones who sound like a little mouse, the ones who sound like they keep burping, and the ones that when the sound leaves their mouth it sounds like their voice dropped five octaves and they have been smoking cigarettes since they were six.

 Besides making them quiet, there are lots of things you can do to make your hiccups pass as quickly as possible. The first way is to hold your breath, which can affect how your diaphragm contracts, stopping the hiccups. Another way is to scare someone, and by scare, I mean catch them off guard and really give them a spook. Theoretically, this can cause the hiccups to stop as well. There are also rumors of swallowing three times, forcing yourself to hiccup at a certain time, or even do crazy things such as doing a handstand while drinking water. The craziest things that have been said to work are eating peanut butter, ice cream, hot sauce and sugar. Chewing peanut butter slowly will interrupt your breathing pattern, causing the hiccups to stop. Ice cream and sugar work in the same way as they stop spasms, and hot sauce basically distracts your body to the hot taste on your tongue.  Junior Morrigan Potter said, “I usually hold my breath and drink lots of water when I try to get rid of my hiccups.”

 Hiccups can also be caused by over 100 medical conditions, but it is common to happen in our everyday lives. Although they come in and take over at any time, it is also normal for hiccups to occur after eating or drinking too fast, which distresses the stomach. So next time you are sitting in class and you hear the evenly spaced noises coming from the person beside you, throw one of these remedies their way!