# is there a name for the "nose lines"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2010, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127 "2010-04-06T09:29:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/1 "2010-04-06T09:29:29Z")
I’ve always had a fascination for the “nose lines”, the lines that connect the lower part of the nose to the corners of the mouth. I simply find them attractive. Not all people have them, but for some they are quite apparent. [Leonard Cohen](http://whatwouldhenryrollinsdo.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/leonardcohen1969.jpg) [Jeff Goldblum](http://blogs.babble.com/famecrawler/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/jeff_goldblum-is-dead.jpg) Do they have a name? Perhaps something in latin? ---
**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:** [April 6, 2010, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/2 "2010-04-06T09:51:22Z")
[Nasolabial fold](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasolabial_fold)/[laugh lines](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=facial+laugh+lines&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi&start=0)/[smile lines](http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=smile+lines&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&start=0). 😃 > [@](#): > > The nasolabial folds are facial features, the two skin folds that run from each side of the nose to the corners of the mouth. They separate the cheeks from the upper lip. the term derives from Latin _nasus_ for “nose” and _labium_ for “lip”. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/3 "2010-04-06T14:10:59Z")
I’ve always heard of the trough between the lines referred to as the Philtrum. [Here we are.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philtrum) ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/4 "2010-04-06T15:49:56Z")
I think you’re talking about the good ole jowls. Prominent on such people like [John McCain](http://www.johnmccain.com/about-john/), [Tricky Dick Nixon](http://usera.imagecave.com/karachiking/Richard_Nixon27s_Head.jpg), [Joe](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Joe_Lieberman_official_portrait.jpg)[Lieberman](http://cindratee.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/jowls.jpg), etc ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/5 "2010-04-06T16:33:59Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I’ve always heard of the trough between the lines referred to as the Philtrum. > > [Here we are.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philtrum) Not the same lines the OP is talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/6 "2010-04-06T17:53:11Z")
When I lived in Ocala, Florida, in the mid-eighties, there was a local TV quiz show done live. Just a guy behind a desk asking questions and people calling in with answers. If they started to curse or say something inappropriate, he’d just hang up fast. I remember one night he got fed up with all the jokers and went on a rant, telling people they needed to behave and cut the crap, or else! Madder than I’d ever seen him. Then he returned to the question, which was (of course): What is the name for the lines which go from the nose to the corners of the mouth? The phone rang, he picked it up, and the voice of a little kid quavered, “Booger valleys?” That’s what I’ve called them ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/7 "2010-04-06T20:25:34Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Not the same lines the OP is talking about. Ah, I see what he means now. ---
**Author:** ![Bogeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@Bogeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogeyman)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/8 "2010-04-07T10:31:25Z")
In their seminal work [_The Meaning of Liff_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Meaning_of_Liff) Douglas Adams and John Lloyd (whose authority no one dares to question) call them “Des Moines”. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/9 "2010-04-07T14:41:55Z")
I’ve heard the term “frown lines.” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/10 "2010-04-07T15:41:26Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I’ve heard the term “frown lines.” How do _you_ frown? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/11 "2010-04-07T18:41:08Z")
I’ve heard them referred to as ‘brackets’ ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/12 "2010-04-07T18:48:31Z")
> [@Bogeyman](#): > > In their seminal work [_The Meaning of Liff_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Meaning_of_Liff) Douglas Adams and John Lloyd (whose authority no one dares to question) call them “Des Moines”. No, des moines are the parallell lines from the septum to the top of the lip. I’m as certain of that as I can be without my copy of _The Deeper Meaning of Liff_ at hand. (I can’t find it at the moment. Hope I haven’t lent it to someone, cause I haven’t a clue who that could be.) ETA: Didn’t notice the thread had drifted to also consider des moines, but it’s still important to note that they’re not the lines in th OP. ---
**Author:** ![Bogeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@Bogeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogeyman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/13 "2010-04-08T11:27:55Z")
> [@naita](#): > > No, des moines are the parallell lines from the septum to the top of the lip. I’m as certain of that as I can be without my copy of _The Deeper Meaning of Liff_ at hand. (I can’t find it at the moment. Hope I haven’t lent it to someone, cause I haven’t a clue who that could be.) > > ETA: Didn’t notice the thread had drifted to also consider des moines, but it’s still important to note that they’re not the lines in th OP. I stand corrected. That will teach me to rely on my memory. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/14 "2010-04-08T11:30:06Z")
Nasolabial folds. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-nose-lines/535127/15 "2010-04-12T08:00:24Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it would seem that nasolabial folds, even if correct, is a very clinical term. When I google it, it’s mostly in the context of plastic surgery. Seemingly, some older people choose to fill their nasolabial folds with botox to appear younger. Which brings me to another point. For some these folds do get more apparent with old age, like with crow’s feet. But then, you have people like Leonard Cohen, for whom they are apparent not only in young age, but also all the time, not only when he’s smiling or laughing. I don’t know. I find it interesting.