Any country use Tickling as a method of death penalty?

[Greenfeather]

agree with dvnc

Supposedly the ancient Romans often used a similar method on prostitutes. The prostitutes' barefeet would be covered with a mix of salt and water and goats would lick it off. Whenever the goats finished, a new coat of salt would be added. Eventually the prostitutes' laughter would turn into horrified shrieks, as the skin of their feet was eventually sanded away by the raspy tongues of the goats.

 

[Sunriseticklee]

I've Been BAD!

REEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLLLYYYYYYYYY BAAAAADDDDD!

The judge sentenced me to tickling for life without parole

Heeheehee What ever shall I DO? Shackle me up and be gentle. LOL

Love, Laugh, and TICKLE
Sunriseticklee

 

[tummyticklish01]

I heard that in Ancient China, militrary officers would tickle the bare feet of women or children who they thought were holding important information

 

[U.N.Owen]

I've seen that thing about Rome and goats, but never seen it attributed to a reliable source. And, it's always talked about as an execution for men -- women were rarely executed.

Also, on the Salem trials thing several people mentioned, that did NOT HAPPEN. UH UH, NOPE, MYTH, ERROR. All the convicted witches at Salem were hanged, and one who refused to enter a plea was pressed to death. No tickling. Ever. Not at all.

In China, tickling does seem to have been used occasionally, but again, probably mainly on men, and rarely at that.

Basically, a lot of ticklephiles have researched this as far as it can go (particulatly Kujman, who does thorough research, whatever else one says about him -- and I'm NOT trying to start another thread about him here), and barely anything has ever turned up. Vague references in China, and a few myths with no source.

There is basically no evidence that tickling has EVER been used as a punishment anywhere, except maybe in China, rarely. Now, it is probable that people put in stocks were sometimes tickled, informally as it were. But remember -- the great majority of them would, again, have been men.

 

[tummyticklish01]

Gee thanks for ruining our dreams

 

[Greenfeather]

Think of it this way...

TummyTicklish,

Though its indeterminate where tickling has been used as punishment, it has also been used for beneficial effects. The ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut would often have her barefeet tickled with peacock feathers by her servants while preparing to meet her lovers. (In a way, the foot tickling was meant to give her erotic stimulation, or some feeling of sexual readiness. Catherine the Great of Russia would also employ servants as full time foot ticklers (to punish servants and to cause erotic stimulation. There are also pictures of foot tickling (from a variety of cultures) at the famous Louvre museum in France.

 

[extremities8]

I know!

Back then in China, tickling the soles was a form of corporal punishment. Some even for the fun of it. The chinese found a torture that could cause the person to submit without causing any damage. Tickling gave that very result. The chinese discovered this torture early and began using it immediately. So they built a sturdy wooden stock and began putting criminals (especially women)in them. From what I remember, they bound the ankles together and tied off the big toes and fed the soles to the worst amounts of tickling. Some used fingers, some used children, some used quills and feathers. They wouldn't neccessarily tickle them to death. They tickle them to the point where they couldn't take anymore and THEN let them rest. This would ensure that the tickling could continue again, and again, and again.

 

[TicklingIsLife]

Re: agree with dvnc

Supposedly the ancient Romans often used a similar method on prostitutes. The prostitutes' barefeet would be covered with a mix of salt and water and goats would lick it off. Whenever the goats finished, a new coat of salt would be added. Eventually the prostitutes' laughter would turn into horrified shrieks, as the skin of their feet was eventually sanded away by the raspy tongues of the goats.

I would give anything for that to happen to me!

 

[pope11]

Tickler Killed In The Act

Not sure if one can be tickled to death....but I did read a recent news item from UPI (United Press International) about a tickler that was killed. According to police, a Laotian woman was chopping up some firewood. Her husband sneaked up behind her and tickled her ribs. His wife reacted by turning around, swinging the axe. The husband, unfortunately, was decapitated on the spot. The wife was charged with murder. Tickling CAN Kill...

 

[Madman]

Two responses...

First, to the thread topic: Can tickling kill? In and of itself, I do not believe so. It seems unlikely, given the fact that it has emerged as a somewhat agreeable practice in what are among the most evolutionarily "fit", dominant/cognitively developed creatures on Earth (according to scientists with a natural bias toward humans) those being homo sapiens sapiens and our dear genetic relatives, chimpanzees. Given the percentage of signing chimps who want to be tickled, I think current numbers of human tickle fetishists are egregiously underestimated, simply because of a generally conservative climate around all things sexual. Most people can hardly talk about the most mundane forms of sex without feeling a bit self-conscious. Deviations from the generally accepted and rarely talked about norms of sexual behaviour are pretty much a taboo, and repressed in public and even within the self. It was only through serious introspection that I realized I enjoyed tickling women as an extension to my exceptionally quiet sex life. (I'd put a sad little face there in jest, but the smilies option seems to be malfunctioning for me!)
If tickling were a trait capable of killing (in and of itself), it probably would have been pretty much eliminated over the millenia -- particularly noting the ratio of lers to lees. All the lees would have been dead long ago, and no one would pass on the genes for tickling enjoyment. This clearly, has not happened. More likely, tickling "deaths" are a phenomena of converging variables -- one of which happens to be tickling. Tickling can naturally be dangerous to epileptics, asthmatics and those with heart disease. It could, conceivably be used as a "capital" punishment -- but likely the cause of death would be more directly attributable to the effects of anxiety and stress, exhaustion, and neglect (starvation, dehydration, injury). After all, who is going to worry about giving proper medical care, food and water to someone they're aiming to kill anyway?

Madman

(Mod edit: The second part of this post is now in the new thread in General Discussion, see below)

 

[Haltickling]

Yes, Madman, Stuart, shark. I split off the posts on death penalty in general and moved them to a separate thread in General Discussions:
http://www.ticklingforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11487

Hope that's okay for you...

 

[areenactor]

can a person be tickled to death?

yes they can. as far back as can be remembered the chinese used it as a method of torture, that at times led to death.
in the middle ages the germans used it as a form of execution. they would put a tight leather corset on the victim, and then have a goat, or dog, or people tickle them till they died. this took only a short while actualy. also during ww2, the germans used it again in the camps, and political prisons.
the actual cause of death is heart attack, respiratory arrest, or nervous system overload. but thats like saying you die of lead poisoning when you're shot.
steve

 

[Madman]

Hal: No prob.

A tight leather corset? Okay, then without such implementation it would have only resulted in... ...what? What we all know and love? Then the corset would be a converging variable involved in the death, and likely necessary for its expedience. Any circumstances resulting in death without such asphyxia-inducing elements? For me, the important question is, can a healthy person, free of heart disease or related heart condition, free of asthma, free of epilepsy, etc. etc., and given all necessary conditions to continue life (adequate food, water, medical care), could they die? The likely problem will be, that once all those are met, there is one condition that, by virtue of tickle-torture, cannot -- adequate rest. It is, as I understand it, possible to die of sleep deprivation. Tickle torture and sleep being mutually exclusive... well, that pretty much nails it.
I understand your premise of "if shot, death by lead poisoning" in my analogy, but think it's overreaching. Some Native Americans had developed a practice of dealing with a captive enemy by sewing him into an animal hide, dipping it in water, and letting it dry in the desert heat. The heat would cause it to shrink, and result in a crushing asphyxia. Remove the animal skin, and you've just got a guy in the desert -- and not one dying of asphyxia. In your example, remove the corset, and you've just got someone being tickled, or vice-versa... Neither seems to immediately reach the requirements for death in and of itself, and I think that's what we're looking for... To avoid sleep deprivation and related effects as a converging variable, let's limit the torture length to, say 24-48 hours... Is it possible to kill someone healthy with tickling alone, making sure all needs are met, save rest, and with no other bells and whistles (or corsets) attached?

Madman

 

[shark]

Fine by me Hal...should have done it myself.

 

[JoBelle]

I just have to say that I find it INTRIGUING that there are over TWO THOUSAND views to this thread!!!! We're a bunch of sick puppies!!! LOL

Joby

 

[Powertickle]

JoBelle, we all already knew that, didn't we?

We're just sick sick puppies

Areenactor, I never heard of it being used in WW2....

 

[areenactor]

tickling in ww2

saddly yes it was used a number of times, but not greatly, and as it wasn't an offical form of execution, it was not photographed as much.
the gestopo, and ss used it in the different concentration camps, and as a torture on suspected resistance members.
steve

 

[Strelnikov]

Steve, that sounds like one of those "tickling legends" that Kujman debunked some months back. I can believe that some camp guards would tickle inmates, though how ticklish someone would be if she is starving to death is anyone's guess. But as an official method? I doubt it. I'm from Kansas - show me.

Strelnikov

 

[Oddjob0226]

According to our Italian friened Marco, tickling via "the goats' tounge" was used in Italy, but he never gave me any details.....

The Roman tickling thing I've read about in the book The Straigh Dope by Cecil Adams, and I think he attributes the story to a Dr. Joost Merloo....

This just in - Last Saturday I met a woman from China mainland China - she's from Shang-Hi, I belive...) And she mentioned that indeed tickling to death was used.... her English is not great, but she meantione dhtat it was long long ago (ie "ancient times") and it was done by a "powerful king of China" I assume that she means the last Han king/emperer, since he is the one who united China into one giant country instead of several provinces, but he was very brutal in doing it......just an assumption, though. Anyway, she said it was usually always men, they were hung upside down and tickled by hand and it lasted for a LONG time, until the victim died of basically a stroke. It was done in front of the king, as he enjoyed watching.... why he did it she couldn't tell me, but apparently it was reserved for people who had displeased the king, apparently having to do with a personal grudge or some such thing. "It's very mean" she says, and mentioned that it is depicted in some Chinese movies. She also told me that women who might be tempted into adultery might have had their feet tickled by their husbands....I'll try to find more. I'll tickle it out of her.....

 

[areenactor]

read again

i said it WAS NOT an official method! and i don't care one iota what that person (kujman) says. why not find some old german soldiers and talk to them about it, as i have done! there are a series of books writen by a dane, named sven hassel. he was conscripted into the german army by fource. his are not fiction, and are sold and stocked in libraries in the non-fiction depts., he mentions about the germans use of tickling several times. incase i didn't put it in, marcO was right, animals were used as the primary ticklers for this.
steve

 

[Haltickling]

Well, this calls for a comment from a German. Concentration camp inmates reported that the guard officers sometimes chose attractive female prisoners as sex slaves (rarely Jews, that would have been contradicting Nazi race ideology), and they were kept clean and well fed in separate quarters. So there may have been isolated incidents involving tickling, depending on the officer's taste. I wouldn't rule that out completely. Some had strong sadistic streaks anyway.

Most of the WW2 officers are dead, and those who are still alive keep mum about their past. So asking them is not a viable solution. And rarely would former camp inmates talk about the awful sexual humiliations they experienced (quite understandable). They talk about beatings, chemical experiments, and torture in general. Only a few admitted they were raped. None had mentioned tickling, as far as I know.

Amnesty International has no reports at all on tickle torture. That doesn't necessarily mean it's non-existent, but there is no proof, no eyewitness. The same goes for historic sources. It's usually nothing but hearsay and rumors. Medieval and ancient historians are highly unreliable, they were often paid by rulers or their enemies. If there is more than one single source on each side reporting the same data, they start to become credible. Believe them or not, as you please.

Not everything you read in books (or what someone tells you) is necessarily true. Books reflect the author's subjective truth, and if they mix exaggerations and allegations with enough other verifiable data, the whole story suddenly becomes credible. I've learnt to evaluate the source very carefully before I trust the information itself…