A
take, or visible reaction, that involves forcefully ejecting the contents of your
mouth. A spit take may involve
hot food or choking on a
fishbone, but this is more disgusting than funny. In the realm of
physical comedy,
liquids are much
funnier, especially when this physical reaction is in response to a
verbal piece of
information.
Me: What happened at work today, dear? (Taking drink of water)
My wife: I'm being transferred to Bakersfield.
Me:(Reflexively shutting the epiglottis and using the remaing air in my upper airway to clear all liquid from my mouth, while simultaneously keeping the lips close together, creating a large spray.)Wh--What!?!
Spit take practicioners distinguish several different varieties ("hot cheese spit take," "dribble spit take," "delayed spit take") based on velocity, area of spray zone, and contents of the mouth, but to date there is no standardized classification system.
Compare: double take.