If you're incredibly pleased with a turn of events, it's common to say, "I'm tickled to death."It's an interesting phrase which stems from the ancient Chinese practice of tickling a person as a form of torture. One example of tickle torture was dipping a person's feet in a salt solution then having a goat lick off the solution. What would initially create laughter would gradually become extreme pain.There's also documentation the Nazis used tickle torture in a concentration camp during World War II where a naked prisoner was chained and his feet, armpits, and other areas were tickled with a feather.People, on occasion, have asked me how I'd choose to die if somehow given the option and I've always shunned the popular wish to die peacefully in my sleep.