3 Answers

There are a couple of explanations for this one:One explanation says it originated in medieval times when physicians thought that the secretions of a frog could help heal a sore throat. A live frog head was put into the patient's mouth, and the frog was believed to draw out the infection into its own body when it inhaled.

Another explanation is that years ago, people drank directly from ponds and streams, meaning there was always the fear that one could ingest an actual frog or frogspawn. It is believed that once the eggs hatched, one would experience a choking feeling when the young froglets were ready to come out. In the olden days, a travelling medicine merchant (i.e. quack) might have an assistant with a terrible cough (frog in the throat). As he administered a particular medicine supposed to cure all ills, the assistant would pretend to cough up a live frog, and then be pronounced cured.

The movie, and classical book, "The princess and the frog"!

Probably because you croak when you try to talk............