To ask why a man may have a single long fingernail?

[parentsonthenet]

Is there a thing to do with having a single long fingernail as a man?

I just caught a glimpse and didn't want to stare but looked like all nails cut down except from nail on little finger.

It was disproportionately long compared to the cut ones too so not like it had just grown quicker than the others.

Grossed me out what is this?

It's called a DNP

Dainty Nose Picker

You can ask him now OP: “Why have you got that long fingernail? You play guitar? Oh thank god, I thought it was for coke hahaha”

If it's just the little finger and not the thumb or index finger, it's definitely not guitar.

Perhaps for picking his nose?

My first thought (which I have heard from specialist workers) is for a man to use on a woman who has undergone female genital mutilation

Electric guitar player usually, though sometimes it’s to do with taking cocaine off it usually

My non-coke snorting DS plays guitar and keeps all his right hand nails long .

So I'm going with coke

It’s for snorting coke, pinkie nail wouldn’t be used for guitar playing, I remember years ago having broken all my nails except for my pinkies and my m.d telling me to cut it off as I looked like a coke sniffer, had no idea before then.

Feeling gross just thinking about this 🤢

Guitar player

I’ve seen it many times on men from a different culture. In fact it almost seems the norm. It makes me feel quite ill.

For picking nose and ears. Often a thing in certain countries/cultures for a long time.

If he's a guitarist he'll have some serious callouses on the fingertips of his other hand ...

Coke nail

There was a midwife when I had my second child, a man with a long pinkie nail.

Luckily he only did my routine check ups.

Makes be feel ill to even think about it.

I knew a woman who had one long fingernail it was always dirty!

@parentsonthenet

Can you ask him please!

Nose picking finger!

I know a guitarist who keeps his right index fingernail long. He broke it once before a gig, had a panic and then went to a nail shop on the high street to have one fake nail put on apparently they thought it was hilarious.

If they are from China or south east Asia it’s traditional and a status thing, it says “ I don’t do manual work “.

Nose/teeth picking ?

Excellent tool for rolling a spliff!

@emmaw1405

It can be seen as a symbol of status and being upper class in some cultures - it indicates that you are not a manual worker so can grow your nails. The little finger is the least used finger so easiest to grow the nail.

This I work with foreign students and a lot of the Indian and Vietnamese students have one long finger nail for this reason.

My male nail technician has a long pinky nail, for scraping away acrylic and polish errors...

@Stellaris22

DH plays the banjo so will have a couple of nails long for a specific style of playing, does look odd. But it wouldn’t be the pinky finger so it does seem weird.

yes, this is what i was going to say. you keep only one fingernail long (sometimes two) to play clawhammer banjo

I'm sure I read a horror story about exactly this feature many years ago....