The Wednesday Word - sternutation

The word sternutation sounds like a serious medical procedure, but it’s really just another way of saying sneezing. However you say it, the method remains the same. When something tickles the nose lining, the nerves located there send a signal to the brain, which initiates a chain of messages to other parts of the body—chest, abdomen, face, eyelids, the mucus glands in the nose, even the sphincter—that work together to expel the irritant. When we fall asleep, those nerves are at rest, which is why we don’t sneeze while we snooze.

Here is my quote for it:

"His sternutations were so loud that several different neighbours had reported him to the national terrorist hotline."