the.com/stomach
a muscular acid pit that digests itself if it ever stops paying attention
means The hollow, muscular organ between the esophagus and intestines where food is churned and broken down by acid, and by extension the appetite or nerve to tolerate something ('couldn't stomach it').
from From Greek 'stomachos,' which first meant a throat or gullet — literally the 'mouth' of a part, from 'stoma,' mouth — and only later slid down the body to name the stomach itself. It traveled through Latin 'stomachus' (which also carried a sense of pride, taste, and irritation — hence to 'stomach' an insult) and into English via Old French. That older emotional cargo is why we still 'have no stomach' for things we can't bear.
- acid strength
- strong enough to dissolve metal, contained by mucus
- new lining
- completely replaced every three to four days
- second brain
- gut holds 100 million neurons, talks to head
- hunger growls
- borborygmi, intestines moving gas and fluid
- not for food
- true absorption mostly happens in the intestines
gastric bypass surgery — weight loss procedure where surgeons create a small pouch from the stomach, performed over 200,000 times annually in the us
peptic ulcers — open sores in stomach lining affecting 4 million people yearly, often caused by helicobacter pylori bacteria
barrel stomach — distended stomach appearance in malnourished children, particularly documented in kwashiorkor cases in sub-saharan africa