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A
Straight Dope Classic from Cecil's storehouse of human knowledge19-Jun-1987
Dear Cecil:
We were all sitting around lunch the other day and the question of what sweetbreads are
came up. I voted for the thymus gland, but I was tremendously outnumbered by votes for the
pancreas. Other suggestions included the brain, salivary gland, and even some sort of
reproductive organ. I won't comment on the mental status of the person giving the latter
suggestion, but you may feel free to do so. --M.K., Baltimore
Dear M.:
Boy, nothing like a little light conversation to improve the digestion. As it happens, you
and the pancreas bloc are both right. There are two kinds of sweetbreads: stomach
sweetbreads (also known as heart or belly sweetbreads), which are an animal's pancreas,
and neck (AKA throat or gullet) sweetbreads, an animal's thymus gland. (The animal in
question can be a hog or calf or just about any other large mammal, I gather.) They're
called sweetbreads for the obvious reason that if you called them thymus glands or
whatever you couldn't give the damn things away. The art of euphemism goes back a long
way.
--CECIL ADAMS
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