# Can You Pull Off a Wink? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 18, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094 "2020-02-18T00:03:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/1 "2020-02-18T00:03:57Z")
I cannot pull off a wink. If I try to wink, people think I’m having a stroke and start dialing 911. What’s a wink good for anyway? I always think it strange whenever anyone winks at me. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/2 "2020-02-18T00:06:39Z")
I honestly can’t think of a time I ever tried. I winked just now and the motion feels unnatural. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/3 "2020-02-18T00:12:57Z")
Without a problem. Either eye, one at a time, alternating, can even do them both at once. However, I can only raise (independently) my left eyebrow. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/4 "2020-02-18T00:26:42Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Without a problem. Either eye, one at a time, alternating, can even do them both at once. > > However, I can only raise (independently) my left eyebrow. Oh, I would love to do that! Just tried winking. No problem, other than it felt weird… don’t know if I’ve ever done it before. I think anyone who does it looks creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/5 "2020-02-18T00:27:13Z")
I wink at little kids in grocery carts. Not too many have started screaming. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/6 "2020-02-18T00:29:18Z")
I am like the OP. In order to close one eye, I have to push that side of my face up with my cheek. It’s not pretty. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/7 "2020-02-18T00:39:33Z")
Yes, but only my right eye. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/8 "2020-02-18T00:55:26Z")
This made me laugh because for the longest time, my daughter couldn’t wink. She would make a very big exaggeration of it while trying. She can do it now, no problem. I guess practice helps. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/9 "2020-02-18T01:49:13Z")
Huh, I would have thought that everyone could wink. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/10 "2020-02-18T02:17:00Z")
I can only really do it with my left eye. With my right eye, my left eye goes with it, so it’s a half wink in my left eye and full wink with my right. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/11 "2020-02-18T02:22:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I can only really do it with my left eye. With my right eye, my left eye goes with it, so it’s a half wink in my left eye and full wink with my right. Likewise! Though I’ve never really practiced it; give me an hour or two in front of the mirror…! ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/12 "2020-02-18T02:22:49Z")
Blinking is no problem. I can do the “fascinating eyebrow”, but only on my right side. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/13 "2020-02-18T02:27:36Z")
Some people never blink. Steve Forbes rarerly did, and there is a Russian singer who never blinks. https://www.youtube.com/embed/FevA9n_5ZRE?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLA34046A4B9425E66&start=0 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/14 "2020-02-18T03:13:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I can only really do it with my left eye. With my right eye, my left eye goes with it, so it’s a half wink in my left eye and full wink with my right. > [@Ignotus](#): > > Likewise! Though I’ve never really practiced it; give me an hour or two in front of the mirror…! Are you left or right handed? If you’re both right-handed (I’m left-handed) I wonder why it’d be easier with the non-dominant eye. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/15 "2020-02-18T03:18:36Z")
I’ve always found winking very easy, even as a child. To make up for it though, I cannot roll my tongue or whistle. It seems like a fair trade. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/16 "2020-02-18T03:47:45Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I’ve always found winking very easy, even as a child. To make up for it though, I cannot roll my tongue or whistle. It seems like a fair trade. Well, the rolling tongue thing is genetic, so don’t beat yourself up over that. Wait, [goddamit](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/genetic-myth-textbooks-get-wrong) is this another thing my science teachers have taught me that isn’t true? I guess this belongs in that other thread about lies you believed for far too long. When did this happen? Whistling is a tough one. It’s just one of those things you just accidentally discover you can do. It seems to be impossible to teach. I can whistle both with my lips and (very loudly) with my fingers. Took a bunch of free time as a 12-year-old or so to learn that one, and that can be somewhat taught, but still involves a lot of trial and error. One of my friends was able to achieve the same kind of ear-splitting volume without using fingers, though. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/17 "2020-02-18T03:52:29Z")
I can close my left eye and keep my right eye open, but I can’t do the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/18 "2020-02-18T04:02:38Z")
I can do it with either eye. Useful when using an Amsler Grid. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/19 "2020-02-18T04:02:43Z")
I can wink with either eye, and for a special trick, I can wink both at once! 🙂 What is winking good for? It can mean “I’m just kidding your auntie when I say, 'Yes, that’s right, I got you an empty box for your birthday!” or “I got your joke, even if everyone else is talking over it.” or “Yep, Paul just said that silly thing you and I laughed about him always doing.” > [@jtur88](#): > > Some people never blink. Steve Forbes rarerly did, and there is a Russian singer who never blinks. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FevA9n\_5ZRE&list=PLA34046A4B9425E66&index=34&t=0s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FevA9n_5ZRE&list=PLA34046A4B9425E66&index=34&t=0s) The current world record is 40 minutes, so everyone blinks. Without blinking, the cornea loses moisture, and blindness would eventually occur. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094/20 "2020-02-18T04:14:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Huh, I would have thought that everyone could wink. This. I thought it was just a natural thing that anyone could do. Even my cat can wink. And I can roll my tongue. These are nothing, compared to what my husband can do. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pull-off-a-wink/848094.md?page=2)