# Licking Your Finger to Turn the Pages **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305 "2009-03-30T14:13:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/21 "2009-03-31T00:42:48Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > My SO does this whenever reading a magazine or newspaper. > Drives me nuts. > He has been doing it since long before I met him 28 years ago. > I have sort of given up hope he will stop doing it. > Then again, if that is the worst habit someone has, well… Maybe it’s like people who chew their nails, it’s such an unconscious habit, people don’t know they’re doing it unless something happens to make it conscious, like that bad-tasting nail polish. You could try spraying a light coat of Bitter-Bitter type stuff on the magazine or newspaper, that will get his attention when he licks his finger! I think the habit is disgusting. I have absolutely no qualms about pointing it out to people when they do it, either, because I really think they’re not realizing what they’re doing. – “You know you just licked that, and now you’re handing your saliva to me, right?” – "Oh, " – “So give me a different one you haven’t licked. Thanks!” ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/22 "2009-03-31T00:48:59Z")
I was broken of this unconscious and icky habit in my rotation in the ICU. (My mentor RN verbally assaulted me so brutally that I had no saliva anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/23 "2009-03-31T03:22:02Z")
I don’t do it, but it doesn’t bother me at all. I’m sure I touch much grosser stuff every second than a microscopic coating of someone’s dried spit on a part of a paper I never touch anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/24 "2009-03-31T03:33:47Z")
A vote for “Disgusting”. Double for gum-chewing and triple for smoking. ---
**Author:** ![nomadpat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85e7bf/32.png) [@nomadpat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nomadpat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/25 "2014-04-13T21:30:09Z")
I’m amazed at how many people are in the habit of licking their finger to turn pages. I am currently teaching in a school and not only the director but 9 out of 10 of the teachers do this. Some of these papers were then handed to me. I think this is a disgusting habilt. Do it to your own papers, but I don’t want to touch your spit ! ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/26 "2014-04-13T21:34:43Z")
I sort through thousands of pages every day at work, and when you need to flip through them fast, moistening your finger is a must. I understand it’s gross, but I do what I have to do. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/27 "2014-04-13T22:09:55Z")
use rubbers, practice safe turning. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/28 "2014-04-13T22:38:05Z")
I do it all the time. If someone objects I switch to urinating on the page. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/29 "2014-04-13T22:40:22Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > use rubbers, practice safe turning. You almost never [see them](http://www.officedepot.ca/rubber-finger-tips/rubber-finger-tips.asp) in the wild anymore. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/30 "2014-04-13T23:42:52Z")
The problem when zombies lick their fingers to turn pages is that their fingers are already disgusting due to them being, essentially, corpses. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/31 "2014-04-13T23:53:07Z")
Zombie thread or not, I’m going to reply. Totally disgusting. I have spent so much time shuffling papers that I’ve rubbed my fingerprints off. I have NEVER felt the need to lick my fingers, and it always grosses me out when I see someone else doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/32 "2014-04-14T00:56:29Z")
> [@maladroit](#): > > I used to have a little pot of pink waxy goo that was nice. Two brand names for the stuff are SortKwik and Tacky Finger. Wonderful stuff. I swear by it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/33 "2014-04-14T01:50:08Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I don’t mind with magazines, but with money??? You never know whose g-string it was tucked into. That’s why they like to lick those bills. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/34 "2014-04-14T04:08:04Z")
I once went to a local burger joint for lunches until I noticed the cook licking her fingers to turn over the burgers. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/35 "2014-04-14T06:11:43Z")
I think I shouldn’t tell you about the [pennies](http://youtu.be/DO1Q7F23DxM), should I? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_York](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_York](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_York)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/36 "2014-04-14T11:48:41Z")
I was in the doctors waiting room last week and there was this woman licking her fingers while reading a magazine I was interested in. When she was called and placed the magazine back in the pile, I was very tempted to ask her if she was suffering from anything infectious, but my wife glared at me. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/37 "2014-04-14T19:10:34Z")
Meh. This one hardly registers on my social faux pas radar. Of course, when I played organized sports back in the day we would have one water cooler and one cup for the team. Coach said “We’re a team, if one dies of some rare disease then we all die.” ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/38 "2014-04-14T20:05:12Z")
Those fingers and the paper have a gajillion bacteria on them whether licked or not. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/39 "2014-04-14T20:13:47Z")
It always strikes me as an affected gesture–something a person does simply because they’ve seen other people do it, but not because it has any utility. That said, I don’t find it that disgusting, though I wouldn’t do it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305/40 "2014-04-14T20:24:20Z")
I’m in the “What’s the big deal?” department. If you handle a lot of papers or your hands are dry, then sometimes you can’t get a good grip on the paper as if it’s slippery. What I don’t get is why so many people seem to look at this as a toggle switch. Generally speaking I’m able to separate papers easy enough; but in the event I can’t then I touch my finger to my tongue. While we’re on the subject, I’ll sometimes do that if I throw a baseball too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/licking-your-finger-to-turn-the-pages/491305.md?page=3)