# How Many People Do You Know Who Routinely Wink? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813 "2011-03-07T18:32:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/1 "2011-03-07T18:32:25Z")
I can think of two who do, to signify tongue in cheek, or Bob’s-your-uncle, or whatever. Not many more than that. In the case of one guy, I think it has almost become an involuntary tic (though obviously it did not start as one because it does correlate with his making a point, being sarcastic, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/2 "2011-03-07T18:49:52Z")
None, thank goodness. It’s creepy. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/3 "2011-03-07T18:52:58Z")
Just [this](http://jaydeanhcr.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/wink.gif) guy, thankyouverymuch. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/4 "2011-03-07T19:00:39Z")
I once temped in an office where the manager (late-20s woman) winked when she teased someone, and I found it really cute. (FWIW, I was a 19-y-o girl at the time.) It seems like winking has fallen out of fashion, and it’s a shame. It’s charming when done by someone you like. When it’s done by a strange old man…well, I would rather be winked at than whistled at. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/5 "2011-03-07T19:06:46Z")
😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/6 "2011-03-07T19:21:18Z")
I was going to say “None” (thank goodness), but I realized that a woman I work with is a winker. It kind of goes with her (loud, outgoing) personality, but I can live without anyone winking at me. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/7 "2011-03-07T19:25:14Z")
I work with someone who does this and we all want to strangle him. It’s incredibly condescending, like he’s got some special knowledge that we all lack, when in reality he’s an utter moron. And if he’s winking at me to let me know how cute I am, I think I’ll go kill myself. The fact that he even knows I’m a woman makes me want to throw up. Maybe it’s not the winking, I’m thinking. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/8 "2011-03-07T22:00:24Z")
Only a guy I know who has Tourette’s. Which is fine with me - I kind of don’t know what to do when someone winks, unless they’re close enough to elbow and old enough to have watched Monty Python. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/9 "2011-03-08T00:03:28Z")
Me. I got it from my dad. Once a week, I’d wager. Not at everything or everyone. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alpine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpine/32/17813_2.png) [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/10 "2011-03-08T02:25:17Z")
One. I don’t mind. He’s a joker of a Polack. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/11 "2011-03-08T14:09:24Z")
My wife and I wink at each other, and and occasionally at The Littlest Briston (who really, really tries to wink back, but instead does this weird/adorable smoosh-up-half-her-face thing). That’s it – no one else is deserving of our winks! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/12 "2011-03-08T16:48:36Z")
You mean 😉 isn’t an exaggeration? Some people actually use that in real conversation? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/13 "2011-03-08T16:55:54Z")
Just one, a woman in my former office. Somehow it fits her. She’s a bit of a flirt. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/14 "2011-03-09T11:57:51Z")
Winks seem so cool when done properly, so rogue-ish. That said, I don’t know anyone in real life who can do it without seeming like a creepazoid. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/15 "2011-03-09T13:07:19Z")
I know one guy at work who does it, and it is absolutely perfect. No trace of creepiness–it’s more like it’s conspiratorial, a secret between you and him. He’s so good that it took me a full day with him before I even realized what he was doing, and how I can’t imagine it working with anyone else. Mmmmm! ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/16 "2011-03-09T13:13:15Z")
There’s one woman in the office where I work who does it ALL THE TIME. At first it was kind of cute, but after an hour of conversing with her the winking just got plain annoying. I kept wanting to ask her if she had something in her eye, or perhaps if she had some sort of facial spasm or tick that I wasn’t aware of. Fortunately I don’t have to work with her any more. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/17 "2011-03-09T13:47:21Z")
Almost everybody I meet, it seems. Oh – sorry – wInks, is it? Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/18 "2011-03-10T06:40:40Z")
We now interrupt this thread… From _the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show_ (radio) > [@](#): > > Gracie) It’s true, I tell you, we went to the beach and all the girls wanted George > > Blanche) George? > > Gracie) Everytime some girl saw him in his trunks they gave him the ol’ double wink > > Blanche) Double wink? > > Gracie) Yeah they closed both eyes …And now back to your regularly scheduled thread ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/19 "2011-03-10T11:18:12Z")
There is a non verbal greeting used among older men in my village. It is a rather complicated combination of a wink, a smirk and a sharp sweep of the head. (sort of a horizontal nod). It seems to be used when passing at some distance where conversation is not likely to ensue. I think I might have seen it from Maine to Newfoundland but I’m not sure. I associate it with fisherfolk. ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813/20 "2011-03-10T14:02:44Z")
Okay, now I’m wondering if I should stop. I wink the odd time to indicate my comment should be taken light-heartedly. I use it the way we use emoticons here. Uh, I don’t think I do it _that_ often - perhaps I’ll poll my staff. It never occurred to me that it might be creepy, weird, or annoying. Huh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-do-you-know-who-routinely-wink/573813.md?page=2)