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What Happened To Duracell PowerCheck?
(hackaday.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
My dad used to just put them on his tongue for a power check. Not entirely sure how that worked. Personally I just use a multimeter.
You can do that with the 9 volt batteries and feel how much "tingle" they have, but never heard of it working with aa batteries. Wouldn't he have to stick the whole thing in his mouth to complete the circuit?
Even if you did (don't eat batteries), the voltage range is much lower and you probably wouldn't feel anything.