# Can you wiggle your ears? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 29, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707 "2011-07-29T05:33:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/21 "2011-07-30T01:56:29Z")
I can. I’m the only one in my family who can do it, and I was the only person in my first grade class who could do it. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/22 "2011-07-30T02:34:09Z")
I can, together or independently. My dad can and I’m pretty sure my mom can. My husband can, and he can do the tongue roll, too. He can also touch his nose with his tongue. I have never asked my children about their ear wiggling abilities. I’ll have to do that. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/23 "2011-07-31T01:58:57Z")
The tongue roll is completely outside my skill level. ---
**Author:** ![Chipacabra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Chipacabra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chipacabra)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/24 "2011-07-31T03:13:42Z")
I can wiggle my ears back and forth. Only in tandem, can’t do one at a time. I can wiggle my nose in a way I haven’t seen anyone else ever do but I can’t imagine is THAT rare. (Not Bewitched style, the tip of my nose tilts down from resting position.) Nostrils can flare. I can roll my tongue. I can control my diaphragm to immediately stop a fit of the hiccups. I haven’t hiccuped three times in a row in about 20 years. Of these, the roll tongue is the only thing that I know runs in my family, my mom and my grandfather on her side could both do it. I dunno about the rest, it never came up. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/25 "2011-07-31T04:38:24Z")
I can wiggle my ears, both at the same time or separately. I can wiggle my scalp, lift each eyebrow separately in a Spocky way, or just lift the outer part of both eyebrows at once. Roll my tongue and flip it either direction and do the clover thing. I can also do some odd things with my fingers and toes that show some independent control of the muscles that most people don’t seem to have. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/26 "2011-07-31T04:49:54Z")
I can wiggle my ears but only at the same time. I learned it by mimicking a look my cat gave me once. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/27 "2011-07-31T06:45:06Z")
I can wiggle one ear. Used to be able to do both,but had a canalplasty on the non wiggle ear as a teen, and lost the abilty. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/28 "2011-08-01T15:19:35Z")
I keep thinking about starting a thread like this - thanks for bringing it up! Yes, I can. The left ear moves more than the right. I’ve been able to do it since high school - I was sitting in class one day, concentrating on something, when I realized my glasses were moving up and down on my nose. I was wiggling my ears and didn’t realize it. To this day, I can’t quite figure out what muscles I’m using to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/29 "2011-08-02T11:52:09Z")
i can do both ears at the same time (i use similar muscles to clear my ears during a dive descent so i don’t have to pinch my nose and blow. handy if you’re carrying equipment and are short a free hand), and then just the right one when i concentrate on doing it. i think the left one will wiggle alone, too, but my left eyebrow gets involved somehow. 😃 i can do the tongue roll too, but what is the clover thing **trucelt** mentioned? ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/30 "2011-08-02T22:41:17Z")
Only on the right side. Don’t know about the rest of the family. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/31 "2011-08-02T22:45:50Z")
Can do both together or independently, and I can alternate back and forth rapidly for free beer. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/32 "2011-08-02T22:46:39Z")
I think everyone in my family can. So can I, though I can move my right ear more readily than my left. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/33 "2011-08-03T02:09:39Z")
My granddad could wiggle his ears, it cracked all of us kids up. I don’t know of anyone else in the family who can do that. I can roll my tongue and flare my nostrils, and I can wiggle one eyebrow but not the other. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/34 "2011-08-03T02:16:31Z")
Nobody in my immediate family can except for my older brother. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/35 "2011-08-03T04:25:37Z")
I can recite the alphabet backwards, from Z-A. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/36 "2011-08-03T05:27:18Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I can recite the alphabet backwards, from Z-A. If you couldn’t you were considered under the influence/intoxicated and would’ve been arrested of DUI… though I think they abolished that test a little while ago. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/37 "2011-08-04T22:22:13Z")
My siblings and I use ear wiggling combined with eyebrow raising to communicate with each other in places like loud bars. Or weddings and funerals. “Ready to blow this joint?” = left eyebrow raised + two bilateral ear wiggles. ---
**Author:** ![wei\_ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/38 "2011-08-05T00:54:18Z")
Deja Vu. My young cousins (female) once demanded to know if I could curl my tongue lengthwise like a taco shell, while sticking it partway out of my mouth. Their studies had shown that some in our family could, some could not (yes, I can). They claimed it was “scientifically proven” that this was due to genetics (but, see debate on wine swirling direction on the “questions” board). I can wiggle my right ear quite vigorously, but not my left. Probably I inherit this trait from one grandparent. ---
**Author:** ![festiva76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e8cbc/32.png) [@festiva76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/festiva76)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/39 "2011-08-05T15:46:33Z")
I can roll my tongue, but not wiggle ears. Although, I can control my uvula, as in I can use my CPAP with my mouth open, and can physically move it where the air rushes out. I have asked around, and no one I have spoken with has the same strange ability. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707/40 "2011-08-05T15:58:03Z")
> [@festiva76](#): > > I can roll my tongue, but not wiggle ears. Although, I can control my uvula, as in I can use my CPAP with my mouth open, and can physically move it where the air rushes out. I have asked around, and no one I have spoken with has the same strange ability. Weird - I can do that quite easily (the CPAP). If you think about what your throat is doing when you cough: that brief “nothing” followed by the air exhaling explosively, the first bit is the closing-off that keeps air from coming out of the mouth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-wiggle-your-ears/590707.md?page=1)