>>23729849
>ANUS
>sardonic+smile+tetanus
>>sardonic+smile+tetanus
A "sardonic smile" is a smile of bitter, contemptuous, or mocking derision. The term originates from ancient times, when a deadly plant native to Sardinia was said to cause facial muscle spasms resembling a painful grin or "laughter" before death, as described by Homer. The medical term risus sardonicus refers to the involuntary, grinning facial expression caused by tetanus or strychnine poisoning.
Common and medical uses
Contemptuous and mocking: In a figurative sense, it describes a cynical, humorless, and scornful expression, like the kind associated with characters like the Joker.
Medical condition: In medicine, risus sardonicus is a specific sign of certain poisoning or diseases. It is a facial dystonia, or spasm, that causes a fixed, grin-like expression.
Cause: Typically caused by the toxins from tetanus (lockjaw).
Appearance: Characterized by a highly involuntary and sustained spasm of facial muscles that appears as a grin.
Origin of the term
The ancient Greeks and Romans associated this kind of grimace with a plant from the island of Sardinia.
This plant, likely a type of water hemlock or crowfoot, was believed to be poisonous and to induce spasms that pulled the mouth into a fixed, painful smile.
Discover Magazine notes this may have been part of death rituals.
The name risus sardonicus ("laughter of Sardinia") was coined because the effect was said to look like a grimacing laugh.
>>23729896
>A "sardonic smile" is a smile of bitter, contemptuous, or mocking derision. The term originates from ancient times, when a deadly plant native to Sardinia was said to cause facial muscle spasms resembling a painful grin or "laughter" before death, as described by Homer. The medical term risus sardonicus refers to the involuntary, grinning facial expression caused by tetanus or strychnine poisoning.