Is Burping a Necessary Bodily Function?

[Jupiter60]

I've also thought that people are required to burp. It's like passing gas. However I had a teacher who would tell the class that people don't actually have to burp and that it was a disgusting thing to do.

 

[rootone]

Seems odd that it should be thought of as disgusting, unless perhaps it's being associated with being excessively drunk.
It's just a natural release of gas pressure which can occur for many reasons, mostly as a direct result of your body digesting food.
Some food combinations and the overall state of health of a person can affect whether it happens or not.
I have heard that in some cultures, burping after being served a meal is actually taken as a compliment indicating that the food was enjoyable.
It is possible to consciously hold the gas in, so burping is not 'required', although doing so might be uncomfortable.

 

[Jupiter60]

It thought it was ridiculous. However I once had this teacher who whenever someone in the class would burp and then say "escuse me". She'd say don't burp, that's digusting. They'd be like "I said excuse me". And she would say "just don't do it".

 

[jim mcnamara]

Based solely on your description: That is biologically insane. Bacteria in the gut produce gas, based on the GI flora. And on the molecular content of liquids and foods. Plus, people can swallow small amounts of air during drinking. Holding it in simply defers a burp, or in some folks it may result in a series of small burps that others do not see.

My take on it:
I suspect that the teacher did not like loud disruptive burps. You can swallow air deliberately, and then use the "burp" noise to emulate what your larynx does to make "speech". Or you can make a resonant burp. If this was a high school class I can see that the class clown would do something like this. And the teacher had to deal with enough hormonally generated disruptive behavior without adding "stupid-a$$" burp noises to the mix.

I worked for years with a guy who fully mastered burping. Fortunately he only played around with his "skill" outside. I heard him burp 100 yards away.

 

[gjonesy]

This teacher sounds a bit unreasonable and her assumption that releasing gas in the form of a belch or burp is not necessary is absurd. In extreme cases if a student were to have a stomach virus and tried to "hold it back" could result in projectile vomiting, and hopefully it would be all over this teacher. That may teach her a thing or to about tolerance and using sound judgment.

 

[Chestermiller]

Are people required to burp? Only if they don't want to insult their host in certain countries!

 

[Jupiter60]

It was a middle school class. One of the kids said to the teacher, I thought we had to burp. She said "no, you don't, do you ever hear me burp? Burping is rude and disgusting. Polite people never burp.".

 

[russ_watters]

Maybe she just means audible burps. You can burp with your mouth closed so nobody hears it.

 

[DaveC426913]

She is almost certainly referring to burping aloud.
Close your mouth for a polite way of burping.

 

[Rx7man]

It's going to come out of one end or the other

I think it's completely possible to release the pressure without bringing attention to it.

 

[SteamKing]

They got remedies for this stuff now. If you have a problem with gas, take Gas-X or Beano.

 

[jim mcnamara]

This thread is losing scientific content --- really fast.

 

[SteamKing]

This thread is losing scientific content --- really fast.

I'm not sure it had all that much to start with.

 

[berkeman]

Thread is done (after some cleanup).