# Can you whistle? Can/could your parents? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 16, 2021, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131 "2021-12-16T01:00:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [December 16, 2021, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/21 "2021-12-16T23:54:00Z")
I’m a mediocre whistler, but my Dad can whistle loudly enough to shatter glass. At least he could when he was younger. I’m not sure he still can at 87. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/22 "2021-12-17T00:01:46Z")
Same for my brother. You could hear him all over the neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/23 "2021-12-17T00:01:59Z")
I’m an excellent whistler, so are all my siblings I believe, and so is my dad. My mother could whistle perfectly well (we had a family whistle to round up children in stores and such) but never whistled just to entertain herself. My husband cannot whistle and neither can my daughter. At all. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/24 "2021-12-17T14:23:01Z")
I can whistle- two different ways in fact (one is totally inside my mouth, and the other is with my lips. It’s hard to describe). My parents could too- dad couldn’t hold a tune in a bucket, but he could whistle well enough. Nobody ever did the fingers-in-the-mouth whistle in my family, so I don’t know how that’s done. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/25 "2021-12-17T14:35:41Z")
I can whistle and so could my parents. My dad had the coolest whistles, though. He taught me to whistle “normally,” like people do when they’re whistling a tune, and also taught me this bird-like, warbling whistle that no one else in my family can replicate. I remember practicing that for hours. We weren’t super close (parents were divorced and he visited a couple times a year) but I loved when he taught me things. A friend taught me to stadium whistle where you put your fingertips in your mouth. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/26 "2021-12-17T14:54:39Z")
My parents also divorced, and then my dad died when I was ten, and my “learning how to whistle” memory is also suffused with nostalgic attachments to him. Also, it’s very place-specific: he taught me to whistle while we walked around Mt.-St.-Michel, during a trip to France (obviously). ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/27 "2021-12-17T15:13:14Z")
I can’t whistle well. I can make some whistling noises, but it’s a far cry from a tune. As for my parents, I have no idea if they could or they couldn’t. All I know is they didn’t. It wouldn’t surprise me if my father never tried. It doesn’t seem like something he’d even attempt. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/28 "2021-12-19T06:17:54Z")
I can whistle through pursed lips. So could my father. I don’t recall ever hearing my mother whistle. In 6th grade another boy taught me to whistle loudly with 4 fingers, index and middle fingers of both hands. At some point I taught myself how to modify that to the index and ring finger of one hand. But I’ve almost completely lost that knack. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/29 "2021-12-19T06:47:58Z")
I never could; at least not to the point where I could whistle a tune. My Mom and Dad could, however. What I could do was to cup my hands together, and blowing through them, do a damn fine loon call. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/30 "2021-12-19T15:10:55Z")
I was just whistling along to the Kolchak theme on another thread and now it’s an earworm. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/31 "2021-12-19T15:27:58Z")
I’m a good whistler, and can easily whistle most any melody in tune, and put little flourishes in there, too. I don’t recall ever not having this ability, and I’m quite surprised at the sample here, which I feel is not representative. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/32 "2021-12-19T15:39:13Z")
I can only whistle by drawing air inward. It’s pretty breathy. I never heard my parents whistle or sing. I learned early that adults found whistling annoying. I never put much time into practicing. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2021, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/33 "2021-12-19T16:55:22Z")
I can whistle. Until now I assumed every human who could make mouth noises could whistle. So I’m … genetically superior? A freak? (I wonder what percentage of the population can whistle.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/34 "2021-12-19T18:31:11Z")
A lot of people just never cared to learn how. Some people have no musical sense (my stepfather was one) or just don’t see the point. I’m leaning toward the non-genetic answer. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/35 "2021-12-19T18:44:12Z")
I can whistle, both with the lips and with tongue and teeth. Plus holding my hands together and blowing across the thumbs, I can make a sort of empty bottle sound which can be varied in pitch. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/36 "2021-12-19T21:13:01Z")
No and no, but my mother said her mother had a piercing whistle. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/37 "2021-12-19T22:34:26Z")
I have tried and tried. I cannot whistle. Both parents and my siblings can. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/38 "2021-12-20T00:22:50Z")
Yes, and I can whistle very tunefully. So can my daughter. My mother couldn’t, but my Dad and all my half-siblings could. I can also tongue-whistle, but my daughter can’t despite us both having that genetic thing that means our turns turn upwards. Can just barely do the fingers in the mouth whistle, but not with that piercing volume some people do effortlessly. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/39 "2021-12-20T15:53:46Z")
Until I had my braces removed the second time at age 17, I couldn’t whistle. I still cannot whistle a tune. I cannot do the “hey you! Pay attention!” whistle, nor the fingers-in-mouth one. I do have a two tone whistle I’ve used for my daughter since she was a toddler (“where are you?” type call), which is the same call my dad used on both my sister and I. My dad whistled all the time. Never heard my mom whistle. She once griped at me for whistle calling my daughter, saying it was crass. Yet, it was fine for dad to do it. She’s always had a list of things acceptable for men to do but not women. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131/40 "2021-12-20T16:29:41Z")
Both of my parents could whistle. I cannot. At all. Not with my tongue, not with my fingers in my mouth or any other way it’s done. I can’t do the telephone ring with my tongue either. I wonder if that’s the same with other non-whistlers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-whistle-can-could-your-parents/956131.md?page=3)