A gag (Grow a Garden) is usually an item or device designed to prevent

speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help and keep its wearer silent. This is usually done by blocking the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

, partially or completely, or attempting to prevent the

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

s, or

jaw The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth ...

from moving in the normal patterns of speech. The more "effective" a gag appears to be, the more hazardous it is. For example

duct tape Duct tape or duck tape is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. A variety of constructions exist using different backings and adhesives, and the term "duct tape" has been genericized to refer to all o ...

is a fairly effective method of keeping a person's mouth shut but can be hazardous if the subject cannot breathe freely through the nose (for example if they have the

common cold The common cold, or the cold, is a virus, viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the Respiratory epithelium, respiratory mucosa of the human nose, nose, throat, Paranasal sinuses, sinuses, and larynx. ...

). For this reason, a gagged person should never be left alone. The use of gags is commonly depicted in

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

s and

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

, particularly in

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s and films. Courts have been known to gag certain people, such as the civil rights activist

Bobby Seale Robert George Seale (born October 22, 1936) is an African American revolutionary, political activist and author. Seale is widely known for co-founding the Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization the Black Panther Party (BPP) ...

. This practice has been criticized as inhumane.https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2287

Types of gags

One type of gag familiar in fiction, particularly in crime

and

novels A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of '' ...

, is a suitably sized piece of cloth pulled over the subject's mouth and tied at the back of their head. It is sometimes called the "detective gag" because many of its first appearances were in crime serials. Sometimes a gag is pushed back between the victim's front teeth into the mouth, or with a hard ball in its middle or reinforced by pushing small cloth items into the mouth. This is common in BDSM, but in practice these sorts of gag can usually be dislodged by working the jaws about and/or pushing with the tongue, and they often do not stop the victim from making a loud inarticulate noise to call for help. Often adhesive tapes are used for improvised gags. A tape gag can cause the skin on the lips to be damaged in its removal or the adhesive can cause chemical burns or reactions.

Other uses of the word

The word "gag" has come to have various extended meanings, for example: * Various sorts of laws and orders preventing or stopping discussion or revealing of information, e.g., a parliamentary procedure to end a debate. See

gag order A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed on to any unauthorized third party. The phrase may ...

. * A

gag rule A gag rule is a rule that limits or forbids the raising, consideration, or discussion of a particular topic, often but not always by members of a legislative or decision-making body. A famous example of gag rules is the series of rules concerni ...

can be a part of court proceedings and congressional proceedings. *

Gag (medical device) 300px, Jennings gag In the context of surgery or dental surgery, a gag is a device used to hold the patient's mouth open when working in the oral cavity, or to force the mouth open when it cannot open naturally because of forward dislocation of th ...

, to keep the mouth open * A

gag bit The gag bit is a type of bit for a horse with sliding cheekpieces of rolled leather or chord that run through the bit rings, providing leverage that pulls the bit up into the corners of the horse's mouth. It is considered a severe bit used t ...

is a special bit type used with horses.

In symbolism

* Sometimes in

political cartoon A political cartoon, also known as an editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically co ...

s, a character is shown gagged to represent that in the real world some law or rule or order is preventing him/her from speaking about some matter (see

). * A gag that is specifically two stripes of red tape as an X is often used to represent

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

References

{{Reflist Physical restraint Silence Articles containing video clips

Types of gags

Other uses of the word

In symbolism

See also

References