the.com/salivary gland
The body's bribe system — pays you in spit so you'll bother chewing.
means Any of the glands in and around the mouth that produce saliva to moisten food, start digestion, and keep your mouth from turning into a desert.
from From Latin 'salivarius,' from 'saliva' itself — a word Latin had ready-made for spit, origin otherwise lost to time. 'Gland' traces to Latin 'glans,' meaning 'acorn,' because early anatomists thought these knobby little organs resembled them — so your mouth is technically studded with tiny etymological acorns, quietly leaking bribes.
- daily output
- about 1 to 1.5 liters of saliva
- main trio
- parotid, submandibular, sublingual glands
- starts digestion
- enzymes break down starch before swallowing
- stress tell
- fear dries them out, hence dry mouth