While backpacking through Europe with my wife, I discovered an excellent strategy for not killing one another. Whenever she would get hungry and irritable, I’d retreat to a safe distance, perhaps behind a low hedge or cobblestone wall, and lob packets of chips in her general direction, only emerging when the munching sounds had ceased. I actually carried a small supply of travelling rations in our pack for this purpose.
Because, although my wife is smarter, funnier and more brilliant than me in every possible way, she suffers from the terrible affliction known as ‘hanger’ (a catchy portmanteau of ‘hunger’ and ‘anger’). When she doesn’t eat, she gets hangry. Symptoms may include grumpiness, irritability, a shorter-than-average fuse, and chasing your partner down the street with a baguette.
Scientists have been…
