the.com/choking
the body's panic button, where dinner becomes the deadliest thing in the room
means The act of being unable to breathe or speak because something is blocking the throat or windpipe — or, by extension, failing badly under pressure when it matters most.
from From Old English ácocian or ācwacian, to suffocate or strangle, tangled up with the word “cheek” and the throat region it sits beside. The root sense is constriction at the neck. The metaphorical “choking” of an athlete who falters at the crucial moment is a much later, 20th-century twist, the body's literal panic transplanted into the mind's.
- Heimlich origin
- Invented in 1974 by surgeon Henry Heimlich
- Self-doubt
- Inventor only used it himself at age 96
- Silent killer
- True choking makes no sound at all
- Top culprit
- Hot dogs choke more kids than any food
- Mental choke
- Pressure literally hijacks practiced motor skills
herbert hoover 1912 — u.s. president choked on food at a white house dinner, causing brief panic among staff
daley thompson 1984 olympics — british decathlete nearly choked during competition in los angeles, recovered to win gold