# Do you have opposable thumbs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2010, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889 "2010-05-10T07:42:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/21 "2010-05-11T20:58:51Z")
Yeah, weird isn’t it? But still, not quite as weird as living four decades without realising my hands are configured in a fundamentally different way to nearly everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/22 "2010-05-11T21:18:49Z")
If you went deaf, I wonder if you’d sign with a lisp. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/23 "2010-05-12T01:51:56Z")
> [@El\_Nene](#): > > My hands are very similar to yours but I don’t this problem. My hands are like the OP’s too, though I’d imagine they’re smaller - from the base of my palm to the tip of my index finger isn’t _quite_ six inches… I don’t have any mobility issues of my thumbs either. Not even the right one, and doctors were worried that I might have nicked a tendon when I cut the pad of it open deeply enough to need 7 stitches. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/24 "2010-05-12T13:53:40Z")
Freak. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/25 "2010-05-12T14:28:02Z")
Carnies. Circus folk. Nomads, you know. Smell like cabbage. Small hands. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/26 "2010-05-12T14:38:16Z")
I can touch the tip of my thumb to my wrist (using my other hand to force it). How’s that for mobility? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/27 "2010-05-12T14:46:17Z")
Do you get some sorta compensation from the government? Did you make certain your deformity was not heritable prior to reproducing? Are you able to. . .you know? ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/28 "2010-05-12T15:13:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve got quite stumpy, sausagy hands > [@Mangetout](#): > > Here are some photos illustrating the problem: > > [1 - fingers extended, problem joint indicated with an arrow](http://img696.imageshack.us/i/hand1r.jpg/) Wow! You weren’t kidding! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/29 "2010-05-12T15:56:36Z")
Have you ever been hanging out at the pub, when someone knocks over their pint and says, “Whoops, I’m all thumbs today”. Then a hush falls over the place as everyone uncomfortably makes a point of not looking at your hands? :psorry. I’m done now. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/30 "2010-05-12T21:17:51Z")
I thought I was the only one! I have only about 30-40 total degrees’ worth of range of motion in these joints (sounds like a lot but it really isn’t). I can touch either thumb to the base of my little finger but it’s straining it. Touching the tips together is a piece of cake. What’s odd is most of my joints seem to have _more_ than the usual range of motion. My knees bend so much that I can’t stand up from a full stoop (they pop), I can dislocate one shoulder, touch my pinky tips to my wrists (using my other hand), and effortlessly do half-lotus yoga pose. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/31 "2010-05-12T21:27:14Z")
Wow, there is someone out there like me, except I think I have less mobility than you do. My thumbs don’t move near as far as your pictures show. I found my hands are great for hitting things, lots of trophys and awards for breaking at karate tournaments. I am only 5’6" tall but have palms about 8 inches across, when I splay my fingers and thumb it is about 11". I think I am a very tall dwarf as my inseam is only 28". ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/32 "2010-05-12T22:00:40Z")
It’s still opposable, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to pick up a hammer, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/33 "2010-05-12T22:02:38Z")
Sure, but it’s not fully opposable (against all of my other digits) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/34 "2010-05-12T22:24:29Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Sure, but it’s not fully opposable (against all of my other digits) If you can touch tip of your pinky to the tip of your thumb, it’s fully opposable. It just isn’t fully mobile. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/35 "2010-05-12T23:12:42Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I can touch the tip of my thumb to my wrist (using my other hand to force it). How’s that for mobility? Huh. I just learned I can do that, too. But only on my left hand. My right won’t quite reach. Probably could have done it twenty years ago, though. I used to be able to bend my thumb back far enough to touch the back of my forearm, but I’ve lost a lot of the limberness I used to have as a little kid. I can still bend my middle finger back far enough to touch the back of my hand, but it hurts a bit. When I was in my pre-teen years, I could do that with all four fingers without breaking a sweat. Of course, I’ve always had to use my other hand to force my fingers that far. I can, however, bend my fingers almost 90 degrees in the wrong direction without touching them with the other hand. (This, incidentally, is why I voted “four thumbs” in the poll.) Edit to add: Turns out, I can still touch the inside of my forearm with my thumb. Never tried that before. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/36 "2010-05-13T01:02:28Z")
That’s weird! Thanks for sharing, I love this stuff. I have long palms (for my size) and long thin fingers and my thumbs are fully mobile. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/37 "2010-05-13T08:49:32Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > If you can touch tip of your pinky to the tip of your thumb, it’s fully opposable. I can’t ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/38 "2010-05-13T18:41:45Z")
Forgot to add - long slender fingers here. > [@Miller](#): > > Huh. I just learned I can do that, too. But only on my left hand. Oh you lucky people!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/39 "2010-05-13T20:35:13Z")
Both my thumbs are double-jointed, so I voted for the last option ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-opposable-thumbs/538889/40 "2010-05-14T11:31:14Z")
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