# Asymmetric Smile **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2002, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926 "2002-04-05T04:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/1 "2002-04-05T04:36:13Z")
I’ve noticed that when I grin, the right side of my mouth comes up far more than the left side (my right, my left, not the viewer’s). Of course, I CAN smile normally, it’s just that it’s easier for me to smile on one side. Also when I’m making a speech, or acting, or whatnot, I do that grin. The right corner of my mouth comes up involuntarily. The same for lying–my mother and my best friends, once they know my secret, always know if I’m fibbing because of my grin. What is this? Why do I do it? (And am I alone?) ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/2 "2002-04-05T06:51:42Z")
I don’t know if you are alone, but I’m alone. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/3 "2002-04-05T15:16:57Z")
All I have to add is that Dick Cheney has one of the most lopsided faces - grin included - that I have ever seen. (I work for the federal gov’t. We have pix of W and Dick we are all required to genuflect before every morning.) ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/4 "2002-04-05T15:53:41Z")
Gretta Van Sustren (now on Fox News) : lopsided. ---
**Author:** ![FriendRob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@FriendRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriendRob)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/5 "2002-04-05T16:22:55Z")
Ellen Barkin has a great lopsided grin - **waaay** sexy! ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/6 "2002-04-05T20:20:42Z")
Katie Holmes did it in Wonder Boys perfectly. Knocked me out. ---
**Author:** ![notsocreativegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a698b9/32.png) [@notsocreativegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notsocreativegirl)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/7 "2002-04-06T03:31:14Z")
It’s okay, some people just do that! Besides, sometimes it can be really cute! If it’s how you usually smile, make a full smile something special. For example, when you really like someone, then you can put forth a conscious effort to smile fully. It will make a big difference to that person. 😃 Say cheese! ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/8 "2002-04-06T04:13:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kniz \* > \*\*I don’t know if you are alone, but I’m alone. \*\* MWAHAHAHAAHAHAHA Ok, I don’t know, that struck me as terribly amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/9 "2002-04-06T13:44:15Z")
Allyson Hanigan has a kind of a lopsided grin. Which, by the way, makes me feel like a perv- because I can’t stop staring at it and I’m 42. Okay, I guess I AM a perv. b. ---
**Author:** ![femtosecond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@femtosecond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femtosecond)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/10 "2002-04-06T18:42:37Z")
You have a mild dysfunction of the levator anguli oris, according to the House-Brackmann classification of facial function. **Disclaimer** : That was complete bullshit, I think. I copy-and-pasted it while googling around without result, because I vaguely remembered seeing on TV that there _is_ a medical term for the nerves or muscles on one side of the face being less excitable, yet fully functional. Sorry. But maybe it irritated our docs enough to make one of them visit this thread, if only to kick me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![notsocreativegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a698b9/32.png) [@notsocreativegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notsocreativegirl)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/11 "2002-04-06T20:00:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by glilly \* > \*\*Gretta Van Sustren (now on Fox News) : lopsided. \*\* Wait… Didn’t Gretta Van Sustren get a face lift? Maybe something went wrong… or did she always have that? ---
**Author:** ![femtosecond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@femtosecond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femtosecond)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asymmetric-smile/101926/12 "2002-04-06T20:44:02Z")
[http://www.focusonwomenshealth.com/script/main/art.asp?li=MNI&articlekey=360](http://www.focusonwomenshealth.com/script/main/art.asp?li=MNI&articlekey=360) > [@](#): > > What are complications of facelift surgery? > Although infrequent, the risks and complications of facelift surgery include: > […] Neurological dysfunction (loss of muscle function or sensation), which is usually temporary > […] Asymmetry (unevenness between two sides) Nothing specific about Gretta Van Sustren, though.