# Ear lobe pierced hole **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020 "2026-10-21T00:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/21 "2026-10-21T13:35:11Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Because I’m a teenager and that’s how we roll? I guess it’s safer than Oh Long Johnsoning. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/22 "2026-10-21T13:55:44Z")
I forget who it was, but once another Doper told a similar story. Although IIRC they did it to themselves. Kids! ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/23 "2026-10-21T15:16:14Z")
I can still see where I stabbed one into my thumb… more than 50 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/24 "2026-10-21T15:33:21Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Good point. I still have the spot from the time in grade 5 Pamela Carter jabbed me in the forearm with her pencil. No doubt I deserved it, though I do not remember why. But she left her mark. Was that you? I had drinks with Pamela the other night and she still gets a kick out of telling that story. (Didn’t happen. I made that up.) 🤭 * * * * * * I have a piercing high in my right earlobe for a small diamond stud (my late husband’s first Christmas gift to me-- a classy guy … 💞) and on the very rare occasion that I take it out, sometimes it takes me a while to get the post to go all the way through and come out the back. I put it in through the clearly visible hole in front and then I have to feel around to find the exit. If I put a pencil lead in there it could easily break off and just stay inside my earlobe. I would never take that chance, but then I’m not a curious teen. I’m curious, but not about that kind of thing. I have a feeling we’re not going to see @jasminebooo again, which is too bad, because clearly there is some mild interest in their motivation and backstory. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/25 "2026-10-21T15:55:56Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > There exists the possibility that you could accidentally jab yourself with the lead and maybe get a little stuck under the skin, which may result in an infection. A friend in junior school stabbed himself in the hand with a pencil; and the end broke off. His hand massively swelled up and eventually his mother (the school nurse, as it happens) drained out **half a cup** of pus. I think the average junior schooler’s pencil hygene regimen is probably a little more dangerous than a pencil lead isolated from the world inside the pencil barrel until forced into an ear. But I’d not place any bets on that. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/26 "2026-10-21T16:15:58Z")
Me neither. And the I’d bet on some wood of the pencil having been stuck in there, not just the graphite. This really is a puzzling OP. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/27 "2026-10-21T16:32:23Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > I’m a native English speaker, and while my dialect does recognise, but not endorse, the “aint nobody” double negative, the rest of the phrase is… uh, odd. If you want to point out that most of us older people find it easier to read multi-sentence posts with capitals and punctuation in them, you can say that. But there is nothing fundamentally unclear about what the OP wrote in > [@](#): > > first of all aint nobody ask you to say that I’m looking for an answer not a smart (rude) response which pretty self-evidently parses out as equivalent to > [@](#): > > First of all, ain’t nobody ask you to say that. I’m looking for an answer, not a smart (rude) response. or, if you’re going really grammar prescriptivist, > [@](#): > > First of all, nobody asked you to say that. I’m looking for an answer, not a smart (rude) response. If the “youth of today” can easily figure out the semantics of such writing from cadence and phrasing even without punctuation, while their elders get all confused trying to interpret it in an incorrect way because they need the punctuation for guidance, I think that’s actually one up to the young colloquialists. However, I agree that it can be helpful to use punctuation when you’re writing for a general audience. I also agree that it’s likely to be quite difficult to get a pencil lead into the piercing hole in an earlobe, but if the piercing is fully healed and you don’t break the skin, it’s unlikely to be medically hazardous (though, caveat, I am not a doctor). ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/28 "2026-10-21T16:36:32Z")
I read it as: “First of all, nobody asked you to say that I am looking for an answer…” which is a non-sequitor. No one was suggesting anything of the sort, and also doesn’t make sense in context. Grammar precriptivism does exist for good reason. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/29 "2026-10-21T16:43:36Z")
Oh, personally I love grammar prescriptivism as a recreational activity, and I think it almost always makes formal writing better and clearer. I just think it’s kind of pointless to apply it to informal written communication. Informal writing very rapidly evolves its own (constantly changing) conventions, and it’s usually more constructive to be aware of those trends than to try to convert their practitioners to using the formal conventions. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/30 "2026-10-21T16:49:51Z")
> [@](#): > > first of all aint nobody ask you to say that I’m looking for an answer not a smart (rude) response “first of all aint nobody ask[ed] you [. I mean] to say that I’m looking for an answer not a smart (rude) response” ---
**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:** [October 21, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/31 "2026-10-21T17:30:37Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > I’ve only ever seen 0.5 and 0.7mm lead, but both of these sizes are thinner that the 0.8 to 1mm in typical earing shaft diameter. I think 0.05 is significantly less than a typical thin surgical needle (0.16mm / 34 guage). I assume a typo? Yes, a typo (reminder to self, wear your glasses while typing), and thanks for the correction! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/32 "2026-10-21T18:28:16Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > And the I’d bet on some wood of the pencil having been stuck in there, not just the graphite. Mechanical pencil lead never had wood on it. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/33 "2026-10-21T18:39:53Z")
Same here; 54 years to be exact. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/34 "2026-10-21T18:47:20Z")
You know this about @scudsucker ’s junior school’s friend pencil stab with part of the pencil broken off inside that turned into a huge abscess how? The story didn’t sound like a mechanical pencil to me but I could be misunderstanding and maybe you were there? Or is there some other misunderstanding going on? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/35 "2026-10-21T18:58:33Z")
> [@jasminebooo](#): > > What happens if I put mechanical pencil led in my ear hole piercing Well, if you lay that side of your head down on a sheet of paper and practice diligently, you can learn how to write that way. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/36 "2026-10-21T19:01:00Z")
I’ve heard of playing music by ear, but never writing by ear! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/37 "2026-10-21T19:29:38Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Or is there some other misunderstanding going on? Yes, I thought you were talking about the OP question, which specifically said mechanical pencil. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/38 "2026-10-21T19:30:56Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Well, if you lay that side of your head down on a sheet of paper and practice diligently, you can learn how to write that way. 🙂 An epileptic could save buying a Spirograph! ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/39 "2026-10-21T19:46:27Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > An epileptic could save buying a Spirograph! That’s crass! LOL ---
**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:** [October 21, 2026, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/40 "2026-10-21T22:18:45Z")
What an Art skill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020.md?page=3)