Six Odd Things, #6: Snap!

#6: I can't snap my fingers

I consider myself relatively adroit, but there are some physical things I've simply never been able to do and this is one of them. I know how snapping one's fingers should work, I've seen it demonstrated, I've practiced, and at the end of the day I'm still left rubbing my fingers quietly against each other.

Years ago, however, I discovered a substitute: By placing my the nail of my pointer or middle finger under my thumbnail and then releasing it sharply, I can get pretty much the same auditory effect. Of course, my nails need to be relatively long for this to work; ever since I last trimmed them, I've been unable to do it.

To my surprise, there's actually a name for this movement. It's called a fillip (perhaps onomatopoetic, perhaps related to flip), which the OED defines as:

A movement made by bending the last joint of a finger against the thumb and suddenly releasing it (so as to propel some small object, or merely as a gesture); a smart stroke or tap given by this means.

Try it sometime!

Six Odd Things, #7: Towelling off

#7: I use different sides of my bathtowel to dry off the upper and lower halves of my body

Another unusual habit I picked up in Germany. I ended up staying overnight at the house of Hessian friend. The next morning, we were chatting in the main room as he uninhibitedly towelled off after his shower and I remarked on the fact that he had two towels. "Eins für oben, eins für unten," he shot back gravely, just as his mother had taught him. "Look, I'm not going to dry my face with the same towel I use to dry my ass, am I?" How could I not laugh?

This was before I learned to be careful what you mock, lest you end up adopting it.

Sometime later, his words came back to haunt me. I began using one side of the towel to dry off my face and most of the upper torso before flipping it over to do my armpits, ass, genitals, and legs. How did I keep track? By looking for the tag in corner. It's always on the "backside" of the bathtowel.

Some time after that, I began doing the same thing with washcloths. What's next? Two bars of soap?

Six Odd Things: The Twist

Those of you who are still paying attention at this point (which disqualifies most of you) and can count (which takes care of the mathematicians) may have noticed that I just posted #7 in a series of Six Odd Things. Nonetheless, I am in full compliance with the memetic instructions: I only listed six odd things about myself. One of those posted may be true of someone else, but not me. The associated post is a complete fabrication, with nothing more than an accidental germ of truth to it. But which one? Here are your choices:

1. My brother saved my life
2. I eat like a European
3. I count steps in foreign languages
4. I only sleep on my left side
5. My second toes are my longest toes
6. I don't snap, I fillip
7. I use both sides of a bathtowel