# Can you encircle your wrist with your thumb and pinky? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439 "2011-03-04T02:09:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/41 "2011-03-04T09:26:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That’s nothing. Can you touch the back of your hand with the middle finger of the same hand? > > I can. :eek: How…how on earth is that possible? ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/42 "2011-03-04T09:40:04Z")
I can’t do it - there’s like less than a cm of space between. My wrists are skinny but my hands are small as well. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/43 "2011-03-04T09:55:14Z")
Yes. I have a smallish frame but also quite short fingers. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/44 "2011-03-04T10:08:29Z")
Nope, and I don’t think it’s a fat thing, as I can feel bone on all sides. My middle finger can’t even make it. I’ve also always been told that, if you can’t do it with your middle finger, you are “big boned.” ---
**Author:** ![Waldelfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@Waldelfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waldelfe)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/45 "2011-03-04T10:38:32Z")
I can’t but I got really close (1mm). My wrist are thin but my fingers are just too short. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/46 "2011-03-04T12:36:52Z")
Ectomorphs, represent! ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/47 "2011-03-04T13:02:46Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > Yep, but more easily for my right hand around my left wrist than vice-versa. > > With my right hand, my thumb reaches the base of my pinky fingernail. With my left hand, my thumb is just touching the pink of the nail at the top. Whoa. This, _exactly._ ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/48 "2011-03-04T13:20:39Z")
I can’t do it using just my fingers, but my fingernails overlap. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/49 "2011-03-04T13:43:24Z")
Nope. On my left wrist, there’s a 1cm gap; on the right it’s 1.5cm. Which is odd, since I always thought I had big hands and small wrists (for a guy). My right hand stretches to 24cm, thumb tip to pinky tip. Based on this, maybe that’s normal. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/50 "2011-03-04T14:12:42Z")
I can almost do it. I am not slender but my wrists are very slim and my fingers long…not quite enough, though. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/51 "2011-03-04T15:43:49Z")
Around my left wrist, just barely. Around my right (my dominant hand), nope. I’m missing by a couple millimeters because the thumb and pinky don’t line up. However, when I let them offset properly (so they’re not even close), they cross the same line with room to spare. So they do circle my right wrist entirely, they just can’t meet up. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/52 "2011-03-04T15:48:14Z")
Not even close. I can _barely_ do it with my thumb/middle finger. But I do not have big hands. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/53 "2011-03-04T15:48:23Z")
Small little hands but also very frail wrists. (They are not built Ford tough 😃 and at age 30 are already giving me serious problems. Not carpal tunnel, just cartilage damage from digging, gardening, scooping cat shit, etc. End of wrist-related complaints.) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/54 "2011-03-04T15:55:42Z")
I can’t touch any finger to my thumb around either wrist, much less my pinkey. I’ve got thick wrists though. > [@Miller](#): > > That’s nothing. Can you touch the back of your hand with the middle finger of the same hand? > > I can. You mean bend it straight back? I can’t even get to 270 degrees, much less 360. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/55 "2011-03-04T16:00:48Z")
Not even close. I’m a short stocky German with short stubby fingers, so maybe that’s why. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/56 "2011-03-04T19:33:46Z")
I can easily do thumb and ring finger (both hands), but an about a half inch short of pinky. Oddly enough I am officially obese (BMI = 30.25 at this mornings weigh-in) but have relatively thin arms and legs—and long fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/57 "2011-03-04T20:37:25Z")
Short by about a quarter inch on the left and a half inch on the right. Left thumb is shorter due to being slammed in a car door at a young age. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/58 "2011-03-04T22:05:10Z")
Not even close. Big wrists, short fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/59 "2011-03-04T22:26:06Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Mine overlap, just like image **b** there. But if you can’t manage the other trick, you probably don’t have Marfan’s either (the end of my thumb doesn’t even reach the edge of my palm when I fold it across and my fingers down like image **a** ). > > One symptom of Marfan’s is unusually long thin limbs and digits, BTW. Another is hypermobility. I have crazy long fingers, yes, but not arms, legs, or toes. And was stiff as a board before I started doing so much yoga. Hmmm. What is this Marfan’s? Anything to worry about? Because I can do both of those things, easily. And I have pretty long arms, and legs, and toes, and fingers. I don’t know about hypermobility. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439/60 "2011-03-04T22:27:39Z")
I have fairly narrow wrists (and ankles), and long fingers, but I can just barely do it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-encircle-your-wrist-with-your-thumb-and-pinky/573439.md?page=4)