vibrissa
noun

- any of the stiff hairs that are located on the face and especially about the snout of many mammals and typically serve as tactile organs

- a similar stiff tactile hair growing elsewhere on some mammals (as in a small tuft at the wrist)

- any of the coarse hairs growing within the nostrils of humans that serve to impede the inhalation of particulate matter

- one of the bristly feathers near the mouth of many and especially insectivorous birds that may help to prevent the escape of insects

Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

The etymology of "vibrissa" can be traced back to the Latin word vibrare, meaning "to vibrate" or "to move rapidly back and forth”. This origin reflects the function of these specialized hairs, which serve as tactile sensors that allow animals to detect subtle movement and changes in their environment.

Anatomically, vibrissae are actually modified hairs that are deeply rooted in the animal's skin, often with a dense nerve supply that transmits sensory information to the brain. These sensitive whiskers are found on the muzzle, around the eyes, and on other parts of the body, depending on the species.

Some of the better-known examples of vibrissae include:

- The long, prominent whiskers of cats, seals, and walruses
- The sensitive "facial bristles" of rodents like mice and rats
- The specialized sensory hairs around the snout of many mammals, including deer, pigs, and shrews

The term "vibrissa" was first adopted in the scientific community in the 18th century, as naturalists and anatomists sought to distinguish these specialized hairs from the more common, non-sensory types of hair found on animals.

The Latin root vibrare captures the dynamic, rapidly moving function of these remarkable biological structures.

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SIP, DON’T DRIP!

Victorian England had special teacups and spoons for men with mustaches.

Mustaches were a fashionable choice during Britain’s Victorian era, but life with a bushy upper lip wasn’t without its challenges, especially when it came to enjoying a hot cup of tea. Englishmen often used mustache wax to style their facial hair, which melted straight off their upper lip into the warm drink. In response to this predicament, an inventor named Harvey Adams developed an ingenious workaround in the 1870s: the “mustache cup.”

The cup featured a traditional shape, with an added built-in ceramic ledge for men to rest their mustaches against, as well as a tiny hole for liquid to pass through. The mustache cups came in a wide variety of sizes, including larger “farmers’ cups” for pints of tea and tiny porcelain cups embossed with the owner’s name. These teacups were popular not just in the U.K., but also in the U.S., where they were sold at stores such as Sears and Marshall Field’s.

Believe it or not, the mustache cup wasn’t the only 19th-century kitchen invention inspired by facial hair. In 1868, a New York engineer named Solon Farrer created the mustache spoon, which was essentially a spoon with a lid that lifted up. In 1873, inventor Ellen B. A. Mitcheson tweaked Farrer’s idea and submitted a patent of her own. Mitcheson’s version added a piece of holed-out metal to the side of the spoon that rested against the lip, thus keeping the mustache from coming into direct contact while slurping down soup. The concept was largely similar in design to the mustache cup, allowing hot liquids to travel through a tiny hole in the spoon while maintaining those perfectly waxed whiskers.

Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

- for “mustache”

Abe Lincoln, beaver, bristle batons, bristles, bristly/bushy badge (of manhood, of masculinity), bristly battle standard, brush, brush above the grin, burnsides, bush above the beak, carpeting the countenance, caterpillar (on the lip), chinny chin-chin curtain, cookie duster, crumb catcher, crustache, dirt squirrel, face foliage (forest, fur, lace, furniture), facial follicular finery, facial fringe (fuzz, hair), fanny duster, flavour saver, gentleman's whiskers, grass grin, handlebars, hairy hillock, hairy horseshoe (lip), hirsute handlebar (headgear), honourable hairs, lady tickler, lip blanket (bristle, broom, cap, caterpillar, coverage, doily, foliage, fur, hair, landscaping, liner, luggage, mantle, rug, tickler, warmer, whiskers, wig), lower face fuzz, manly mane (moss), mouser, mouth brow (curtain, duster, mane, moss, topiary), mr. tickler, MUSTACHE, mustachio, mustachioed magnificence (majesty), muzzy, nasal/nose neighbour (tickler), proud protruding plumage, razor dodger, snazzy snout supplement, snout shrubbery, soup scoop (strainer), tea strainer, swaggering snout shrubs (strands), tickler, tickling tendrils (of testosterone), top lip fringe, tufted lip tribute (trophy), vandyke, walrus whiskers, whisker wreath, whiskered wonder

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Since learning about VIBRISSA, I’ve been looking at whiskers in a whole new light!”

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