Why is "tickle" so hard to say / hear?

[sweet.laughter]

In perusing some of the other posts, I noticed a number of people saying they have a very hard time using any form of the word "tickle". This is a problem that I also possess, and it confuses me. Why is it so hard to say? Even with my "vanilla" friends, I don't use the word. I'll often talk myself in circles trying to avoid it. And when someone else says it, I feel like I want to hide in a corner.

What's with that?

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I too have been confused over the apparent intrinsic shame that accompanies this fetish... I imagine shame to be at the root of the embarrassing feelings that washes over us if somebody says "tickle"... haha I remember as a child if I was to see tickling being depicted in any form I would immediately cast my eyes downward for fear that somebody would be able to "tell" I was into it.

My two cents.

 

[voided9]

No idea why. I've never been able to see it, and I hate hearing it from someone I'm not sessioning with or my husband. I will do anything to avoid saying it, except in the bedroom. I say "sensitive" instead of ticklish.

One thing I love about Zac though, is that even though he's a tickle fetishist like me, he wasn't born one like I was. So he can use the word with ease, and for some reason, his ability to say it without hesitation turns me on soooo much. He says it when he's teasing me, but he can also say it in regular conversation. I love/envy/admire/am turned on by that!

 

[smokinj]

It is strange isn't it? I never say it to anyone, only on this forum do I even type the word. I guess it's just embarrassing. If someone else says it, I try to change the subject.

 

[TicklesXXX]

I feel that not only with the word tickling, but the word feet.

 

[Edward_]

For me it has nothing to do with being into tickling that makes me hate saying the word tickle. I just hate the sound of it. Like saying the word tummy or toes. I hate those words haha. I have no idea why, but it has nothing to do with what I like or dislike about tickling.

 

[anderson1129]

I also have a hard time saying it. I've always kept my feelings for tickling inside, except for on the forum. I get the feeling when I or even someone else just says the word tickle that people can read my mind and know my true feelings. Weird I know but that's just the feeling I get.

 

[Teal]

I feel this way too, I had no idea it was this common.

 

[FeatherQuill]

I too have a hard time saying it, even when talking to people I met here. Not sure why, something about that word just makes me feel flustered and embarrassed, which is weird because I'm very open about my fetish with all my friends.

 

[guysmiley]

It's always been a struggle for me too. I remember the first voice chat I had with someone my voice would pretty much drop to a whisper whenever I said it!

I'm workin' on it 😉

 

[ticklishhaiylee]

i can see/type it, but if i try to say it i turn into a giggly mess, and if I hear it, depends on the context I can either get all giggly or...umm.. excited if you know what i mean LOL

 

[Speedbump]

I assume that many of us have gone to such great lengths to hide our fetish from the general public, that we somehow associate it with being taboo, or possibly that saying it makes us paranoid like everyone's gonna suddenly know about our love of it just from saying the word. Who knows, though, could be something deeper.

I don't find it hard to hear however, though. It gives me a weird feeling for a second, or I can get turned sometimes depending on the context and the person saying it, but it's not a problem to hear it generally.

 

[Mane'o]

Read aloud ten times.
Tickle
Ticklish
Tickle
Tickling
Tickle
Tickler
Tickle
I love tickling.

Get over it. Remember the childhood rhyme: sticks and stones will break my bones but words can never hurt me. Don't let them control you either. But do enjoy them. Tickle, tickle, tickle. Get over it.

 

[stockytickler]

I expect it goes back to bullying, dominating another person, and the feelings of anger, shame or humiliation or simple lack of control that someone else made us feel in a /very/ different context growing up. If you /say/ "tickle," someone might tickle you. If someone else says tickle it opens the possibility that someone might try to tickle you.

I was backstage at a production of some community theater thing and there was an older guy who liked to play around and tickle younger actresses (usually legal) and he would sometimes do this for extended sessions. I'd have to pretend to just be amused and then, after awhile, help the poor girls (who generally weren't fighting /that/ hard) by saying "OK, I'm not sure what's going on here, but I'm pretty sure you won." He once said "Hey, who's ticklish?" and started tickling all of us. I was really worried that I'd be identified as a ticklefreak, but he only tickled me for half a second and I didn't even laugh.

So even when it comes up in a public context, you can bluff your way through. Unless, you know, you /want/ everyone at the booth table you're trapped in to all start tickling you, in which case ... bring it up yourself! 😀

 

[milagros317]

I never say it (except at gatherings) but I love to hear it from women. 😀

 

[c7_assassin]

In class the other day we had to discuss an article written by a guy named Tickel.

That was an awkward day.

 

[brushtickler]

Hmm, as Teal said, I had no idea this was so common either! Kind of comforting in an odd way that it is though, haha. I have a hard time saying it too, the few times I have had it brought up in conversation. Also, my 2 cents would be pretty much what Speedbump said, that since I've (I'd imagine for the others too) been *trying* not to say it due to old worries that someone would "find me out" if I talked of tickling, it's now just associated with something kept quiet, and my brain reacts thusly.

 

[dudeN2guysFeet]

I suppose it's like Superman saying cryptonite...the word "tickle" represents the thing that can make us as weak and vulnerable as a baby!

 

[laughaholic89]

im glad someone brought this up i too have found it hard to say

 

[jimmy99]

It is strange how much more acceptable it is to mention something like spanking, than tickling.
Ahhh, maybe that'll change.

 

[stockytickler]

I think "spanking" has become a mainstream euphemism for the entire world of kink. It's OK on primetime tv to show up dressed as a domme and brandish a riding crop and speak of erotic pain because that means "naughty sex." Probably because running the range of fet through standards and practices every week gets tiresome, and you have to explain to the audience what "shrimping" "rimjob" "yiffing," "lers," "lees" and "watersports" are (they've mostly figured out "safeword"). 😛

 

[bigbear_92801]

I also have a hard time saying it. I've always kept my feelings for tickling inside, except for on the forum. I get the feeling when I or even someone else just says the word tickle that people can read my mind and know my true feelings. Weird I know but that's just the feeling I get.

This says it all for me.

 

[Canadian_Eh]

I too to this day will beat around the bush not to say it. I think for me though, it's just because i'm naturally shy when it comes to "stuff like that" (See?) I guess i'm still learning to accept myself when it comes to this and where I fit in.

 

[VitaminJ]

Really? Now here's something I didn't know was a problem for so many people because I'll just walk up to a girl (that I know, of course) and ask them if they're ticklish and then just tickle them (only for a couple seconds) anyway. I've seen guys in a bar wearing a T-shirt that actually said "Shut Up Stupid Bitch" and seen them leave with some hot chick, so I decided to go that way too...but you really should only do it with girls you know at first...then you can ask girls that you've just met...

 

[redheadlady]

I can't say tickle out loud either. If someone else says it in the room, I feel a little shot of adrenaline in my stomach. If I really have to say anything to do with tickling, I really have to psyche myself up to say it. I'm sometimes jealous of vanillas, who can happily say tickle words with out a second thought.