Credit:
Anders Hagen Jarmund et al., 2026
Cases of tundra tongue peaked in the 1950s, and there were several cases that resulted from children reading a story about getting one’s tongue stuck and deciding to put this to the test—no doubt on a “triple dog dare,” just like Flick in A Christmas Story. Nearly all the cases involved children between the ages of 1 and 16 years—60 percent of them boys—and nearly all occurred outside except for two instances: one involving an indoor refrigeration system and another where kids were served ice cream that had been stored on dry ice that subsequently caused lacerations on their tongues. (The authors wryly described the latter as a “mass casualty event.”)
One of the most memorable cases was a young child whose tongue got stuck to a metal railway line; fortunately the approaching train was able to switch to another track in time and the boy eventually came unstuck. This incident was reminiscent of an urban myth that circulated around 1927 about a man whose tongue got stuck to a rail line in Indiana and who was decapitated by an oncoming train.
Most of the remedies deployed in these cases involved the application of water (usually warmed), but people also resorted to glycerol, coffee, whiskey, a penknife, a car cigarette lighter, and hot denatured alcohol, as well as frequently calling the police or fire department. In general, victims suffered mild bleeding and some pain, but there were more serious cases that required hospital care, resulting in sutures, risk of infection, face scarring, and even potential tongue amputation.
A sticky situation
When Jarmund reviewed the medical literature, however, he found very little experimental research on the actual dangers of tundra tongue. It’s known that a tongue sticks to a cold metal surface because the saliva and moisture on the tongue freezes, forming an “ice bridge” between the two surfaces. But how much force is required to detach a tongue? Is there an optimal temperature at which the risks of tundra tongue are greatest?
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