Knowing the etymological origin of the term crunch is something really complicated, since there are many and varied theories that exist in this regard. These are, for example, those that determine that it derives from Dutch, specifically from the word “kraken” and that it could have been used in the 16th century to refer to the noise made by Dutch wooden ships.
However, another of the most accepted theories in this regard, perhaps the most common, indicates that it is a word that derives from Latin. Specifically, it would come from the Latin verb “cruscire”, which appeared in the 8th century and which was synonymous with “crackle”.
The verb creak refers to the noise made by certain objects when breaking, moving or rubbing against others. When something creaks, therefore, it makes a characteristic sound.
For example: “As soon as it started to move across the bridge, the wood began to creak,” “When I heard my knee creak, I got scared,” “Since the train stopped passing through the town, the creaking of the tracks has been missed.” .
The act and result of creaking is called crunching . Sometimes the creaking of an element is considered normal : if a person sits up in bed, they are likely to hear the mattress springs creaking. This noise is not a symptom of an abnormal situation. However, creaking may indicate a problem or serve as a warning of possible imminent damage. Suppose an old man trips and falls with all his body weight on his left hand. At the moment of impact, you hear one or more bones crack. In this case, the cracking sound may have been caused by a fracture.
The term creak can also be used symbolically . An analyst can affirm that a country's economic model is beginning to creak: this means that the model in question is showing symptoms of an imminent collapse, just as happens when wood that is about to break creaks. A company can creak, on the other hand, if its sales fall, it registers losses on its balance sheet and it has to face debts that it is not in a position to pay.
In the same way, colloquially we speak of “gnashing your teeth.” This expression is intended to refer to that noise that many people make when they sleep and that comes from grinding their teeth. Scientifically, this action is called bruxism and consists of rubbing the teeth back and forth against each other.
Different causes can cause a person to grind their teeth. However, among the most common are stress, having teeth not aligned correctly, being very nervous... All of this can mean that that individual, as a result of what he does with his teeth, has to endure consequences such as headaches. head, dental sensitivity to hot or cold foods, problems falling asleep, earaches, notable muscle sensitivity...