Getting the hiccups
Bohemians took hiccups as a sign that someone was thinking of you, and in Kokand a friend would cheekily accuse you of stealing from them. Above all, hiccups make people laugh, and that may be their best use.
This page only describes folk beliefs. If the sensation keeps coming back or worries you, please see a doctor.
What it may mean
Few things undo a serious moment faster than a hiccup. You are halfway through an important sentence, and your body adds a squeak of its own that you did not plan and cannot stop. Old customs leaned into the comedy. In Kokand, in Central Asia, a friend who heard you hiccup would accuse you of stealing from them, and that cheeky accusation was supposed to win good fortune for you both; in Bohemia, more tenderly, hiccups were a sign that someone dear was thinking of you. There is something freeing about a body that will not take orders. It shows the people around you that you are not always composed, and most listeners warm to that. Being seen a little less polished costs far less than it seems to in the moment.
Depending on how you saw it
Hiccups in the middle of a speech or a call
There is no dignified way to hiccup through a presentation. Pausing and smiling is about all anyone can do, and listeners usually smile back. When something interrupts you in public, can you let it be funny instead of fighting it?
Hiccups that will not stop
A long fit of hiccups turns into a group project: everyone at the table has a suggestion, a story or a joke about it. The fuss is a small show of care. Who around you would gladly help with something if you let them fuss a little?
Hiccups after laughing hard
A fit of laughter can turn into hiccups, and the hiccups set off more laughter, until everyone at the table is helpless. Some of the best nights end that way. When did you last laugh so hard that your body joined in?
A child with hiccups
Children often find their own hiccups hilarious and announce each one. They have not learned to be embarrassed yet. How much more would you enjoy if you stopped worrying about how it looked?
Why it happens in nature
Hiccups are a familiar reflex that almost everyone has from time to time, sometimes after eating or drinking quickly, laughing hard or getting excited.
What folk beliefs say
Albania
An Albanian with the hiccups took them as a sign that a friend was speaking of him.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 369. View the page
Kokand (Central Asia)
In Kokand, a friend who saw you hiccup would exclaim, "You have stolen something from me!", and after that rude remark you were both supposed to have good fortune.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 369. View the page
Bohemia (Czech lands)
In Bohemia, hiccups were commonly taken as a sign that someone dear was thinking of you. The person hiccuping would ask, "Who thinks of me?", and friends would often ask later, "We thought of you on a certain occasion; did you not hiccough?"
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 369. View the page
To reflect on
Where have you been holding yourself so stiffly that a little silliness would help?