Main question: Is holding your pinky-finger out heretic/gentic?
Like the Vulcan ‘Live long and prosper’ sign, like rolling your tongue, etc.
Source of question: When I was about 5 I was asked by a classmate: ‘Why do you do that?’ Me: ‘Do what?’ ‘Hold your pinky like that’ ‘I dunno’.
More: After than I actually noticed that I do indeed do this a lot. When eating a sandwich, when using a fork/spoon, when drinking especially if the cup has a handle, and even right now while typing my right pinky-finger is held up hardly ever touching the keyboard.
I know my mom does this too, and I asked the same question to her that my classmate did and her answer was the same: ‘I dunno.’
I don’t remember if my father does, nor do I know if any of my half-brothers do this either.
((By the way, I can do the Live long and prosper with both hands and can roll my tongue… my father can, my mom cannot and I think two of my brothers can))
eh… I knew that was probably wrong… couldn’t remember exactly what the word was that I wanted, but you still understood what it was supposed to be so I’m good.
Welcome to the Dope, where nitpickery and unnecessary corrections are what we’ve all signed up for. Your statement has never and will never fly around these parts.
I think it’s much more likely you learned the gesture from your mother. Gestures and expressions and phrases get passed from parents to children sometimes. It’s not a genetic thing. It’s because the children learn those things from their parents. That’s different from something like the tongue-rolling thing, where some people inherit the ability to do it and some don’t.
Let me put it this way: did someone teach you how to say this sentence, or did you pick up language through imitiation and lessons and do the rest yourself? You learned the gesture by watching your mother do it over and over again. She didn’t have to sit down and teach you to do it, and you didn’t have to be aware of it consciously.
Marley: (I’m not nitpicking, I promise) If I learned it by visual WHY did I learn it when my father doesn’t do it. (Nearly certain).
I watched him eating just as I watched my mom. Maybe that’s a different conversation altogether.
Aceplace: Re: pursing lips and sticking out tongue. My mom sticks out her tongue if she’s concentrating really hard on something like coloring a picture (she’s a daycare teacher). I’ve tried to do it, but I don’t like it so I don’t do it.
I have noticed that I make the same facial expression that my uncle (her brother) does when I smile. So that’s really odd. I’ve also been told that I have a same facial expression as one of my brothers who’re nearly 10 years older than I am.
I did live my uncle for a year and a half and my brother until I was about 5. So I suppose it’s possible that I learned the facial expressions.
I’m not sure you’ll ever find a reason for that. Maybe as a child you had more meals with your mother than your father. (That doesn’t seem so unlikely.) I’m sure you’ve noticed you do some things more like your mother and some more like your father.
You did inherit it in the sense of getting it from a parent, but I doubt it’s genetic.
Not so fast there Lizzyerd, you don’t get off that easy around here.
What do you mean, “you can’t exactly fix it”? You’re sitting in front of a computer, for Og’s sake! Are you familiar with the term “Google it”? :rolleyes:
It’s really easy, it works like this…
If you’ve typed a word that you’re not quite sure about, (spelling or definition) use the left button on your mouse and highlight the word.
Put the cursor (the little arrow or hand, whatever… the thing that moves) on the highlighted word and click the right button, a menu will appear, click on “search with Google”.
You’re very welcome… think nothing of it. I’m glad I could be of assistance.
If it was hereditary, that would mean that you are genetically/physically predisposed to do that. I don’t think that’s the case.
My WAG would be that it’s a trait that you unconsciously picked up.
It’s only ‘hereditary’ in the sense that Marley so eloquently put forth.
o thanks, oh so much, why ever have I not thought of doing that? Geeeeeeeeee… :rolleyes: I meant I couldn’t fix the title. Nor can/could I fix what I had written a second ago, doesn’t let you. Which IMO is slightly annoying that you can’t fix it after someone else posts. I also didn’t really notice until others started nitpicking.
“predisposed…etc” wouldn’t that be inherited then like Marley said?
Do you mean why did you learn something from your mother and not your father? I’m not sure it really matters what the source is. It could have even been a character you liked on a television program. We pick up all sorts of habits (especially language wise - e.g. picking up accents and idiolects of others) from all sorts of places. For example, I laugh exactly like my dad - but not my mum.
I too doubt you’d ever find a pinky gene. :dubious:
o thanks, oh so much, why ever have I not thought of doing that? Geeeeeeeeee… :rolleyes: I meant I couldn’t fix the title. Nor can/could I fix what I had written a second ago, doesn’t let you. Which IMO is slightly annoying that you can’t fix it after someone else posts. I also didn’t really notice until others started nitpicking.