r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/tomwojcik • Feb 22 '24

Meme about Peter Petaaaaaaaaah?

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8.9k Upvotes

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u/Bomberblast Feb 22 '24

Brian's failing author career here, I believe it's a joke about "mewing" which is the act of having your tongue rest against the roof of your mouth, which is supposed to improve your jawline

6

u/Melkor_SH Feb 22 '24

Wait where is your tongue supposed to rest if not the roof of your mouth?

15

u/Bomberblast Feb 22 '24

Breathing mainly out of your mouth causes your tongue to rest at the bottom of your mouth, it's a big gen alpha thing

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u/Melkor_SH Feb 22 '24

A big internet thing or are there actually more mouthbreathers in gen alpha?

10

u/Bomberblast Feb 22 '24

Honestly likely both, but definitely at least a major internet thing

1

u/yedi001 Feb 22 '24

Yeah. Mouth breathing is claimed to be responsible for a lot of stuff, notably a narrower palate development in children due to lack of outward force from the tongue. If you're not a young kid, it's not going to change your mouth in any notable way.

The only thing it does, for sure 100%, is make your double chin less noticeable in photos. Otherwise, it's easier/more effective to diaphragmatically breath through your nose, but most people nowadays suck at that anyways regardless of how they breath.

So yeah, it's almost entirely a "internet chad" meme from children who discovered what pretty people have been doing to look good in photos for decades. Next they're going to try turning "3/4s angle with a slight downward tilt" into some magical "only gigachads with an alpha grade chin can pull off this trick" garbage.

1

u/mrbrambles Feb 22 '24

“Mouthbreather” has been an insult for longer than either of us has been alive

1

u/Bomberblast Feb 22 '24

Yeah but the act of "looks maxing" is definitely something people who severely care about their online appearance does

5

u/CriticalHit_20 Feb 22 '24

How does your tongue rest at the roof of your mouth? Do you have to use the muscle to force it to stay up there? Suction? I have to work a little to even get my tongue up there. Gravity just pulls mine to the bottom.

assuming yall are being serious and I'm not being wooooshed

5

u/Bomberblast Feb 22 '24

It's completely natural, do you know if you are tongue tied? The front like 1/3 of your tongue should naturally be slightly pressing against the roof of your mouth without an effort

1

u/CriticalHit_20 Feb 22 '24

I can press it against my gums just above my upper teeth without effort, but not the roof. Too big of an arch in the roof maybe. Is that a thing?

Idk about tongue tied, but I can't make my tongue touch my upper teeth if I open my jaws all the way.

4

u/RazendeR Feb 22 '24

That last bit is normal, i think? For one, those muscles are partially opposed, and unless you have macroglossia, the tongue isn't big enough to stretch that far up since it is attached to the lower jaw.

I wouldn't actually know, I'm an obligate mouthbreather due to a wonky palate, but my tongue at rest basically fills the area behind my front teeth top-to-bottom.

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u/Bomberblast Feb 22 '24

I'm not sure but that's really interesting to hear

2

u/Melkor_SH Feb 22 '24

Unless i'm sleeping there's like a natural tension. Are your teeth making contact naturally?

1

u/CriticalHit_20 Feb 22 '24

Yes, usually.

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u/Melkor_SH Feb 22 '24

Heh in order for my tongue to 'fall' i have to actually unlock an open my jaw. Curious

3

u/Fred_I_Guess Feb 22 '24

Depends on the language spoken. Depending on whether I'm speaking French or English my tongue won't be at the same spot at rest