So just how old do you have to be before you finally stop accidentally biting your tongue while eating?

To answer my own rhetorical question, I suppose you have to reach an age where your teeth have fallen out. At which point the danger becomes gumming your tastebuds to death.

Seriously, I administered a wicked bite on the back of my tongue at lunch today, and it hurt like a bitch for the rest of the afternoon and evening. The pain has only now subsided. I suppose that sensation is good protection against another misfire — for a few months, anyway.