# Long fingernails...REEEALLY long **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 30, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111 "2007-01-30T15:28:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/1 "2007-01-30T15:28:09Z")
I work with a woman who has long fingernails. Long. Really long. Verrrrrry long. I’d say with conviction they are at least 5 inches long. No, really. Maybe 6 inches. I swear. Long enough that they curl under on the ends. She types with her knuckles (I’ve seen her). She dials the phone with her knuckles or a pencil. I have no idea how she completes other functions of a more personal nature, but believe me, the thought has crossed my mind once or twice. The problem is - being around her makes me cringe. It’s almost nausea-inducing. I don’t know how to describe the feeling. It’s just repellent to me. I can barely look at her when in conversation because I feel compelled to stare at her hands (like they’re an accident on the side of the road). I have no idea about her job performance; she doesn’t report to me. Is it just me, or are nails or other body ornamentation of such a nature that they cause stares or comments (and not just from me - you should _see_ how visitors to the office react) absolutely not professional in any way, shape or form? Nothing in our employee handbook about this; we’re too busy making sure women don’t wear skirts any shorter than two inches below their fingertips when arms are at their sides. I know I have to get past this, but it’s really, really repulsive. VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/2 "2007-01-30T15:37:18Z")
I keep my fingernails relatively short because I use a keyboard all day and I find beyond a certain length it gets uncomfortable and just doesn’t feel right when using said keyboard. I see people around the office who I know use a keyboard as much as I do, and they have artificial nails around 3-4" long. I have no idea how they cope with them, and I don’t even want to start thinking how they get around doing other, more personal, things. No, that’s enough to put me off my tea. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/3 "2007-01-30T15:42:26Z")
[QUOTE=ScareyFaerie] I keep my fingernails relatively short because I use a keyboard all day and I find beyond a certain length it gets uncomfortable and just doesn’t feel right when using said keyboard. I see people around the office who I know use a keyboard as much as I do, and they have artificial nails around 3-4" long. I have no idea how they cope with them, and I don’t even want to start thinking how they get around doing other, more personal, things. No, that’s enough to put me off my tea. [/QUOTE] I should have added to my original post that her nails are _real_. They look like that old Chinese guy in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum brochures. VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/4 "2007-01-30T15:45:11Z")
Real nails of that length are even worse - I know beyond about an inch mine look really horrible and they’re difficult to keep looking neat. Any more than that and I’m reaching for the scissors. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/5 "2007-01-30T15:45:31Z")
Yech. I…I…how does she…I don’t wanna know. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/6 "2007-01-30T15:45:47Z")
[You think those are long fingernails?](http://www.neatorama.com/images/2006-08/longest-fingernails-world.jpg) From a male’s perspective, I’ve never seen the attraction in really long fingernails. They really don’t serve any added purpose when they get beyond a certain length (say, a couple of inches tops) – heck, they don’t really serve any added purpose when they get beyond your fingertips, frankly (unless you are the sort that likes to keep a coke finger handy) but esthetically I suppose there’s some value in slightly longer nails. Beyond that certain length though you start diving headlong into that Uncanny Valley where it just starts getting freakishly quasi-human. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/7 "2007-01-30T15:46:17Z")
At one of my pharmacy sites, there is a woman who has ridiculously long fingernails - but only on one hand. I guess she wants to be able to dial a phone and wipe her butt, or something. She can’t put latex gloves on that hand - how can she perform her work duties? Don’t want to know. Hers are also creepy long and curly. And she gets them done every week. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/8 "2007-01-30T15:46:35Z")
I like my nails to be rather long, and by that I mean 1/2" of growth. Anything more than that is kinda creepy. I don’t know how she’d function with them. I guess if her job performance is up to par there’s nothing to say to her. Does she deal with the public often? ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/9 "2007-01-30T15:50:32Z")
Perhaps she’s aiming for a Guinness Book record? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/10 "2007-01-30T15:55:31Z")
Ugh. I find excessively long fingernails on a woman, either real or fake, to be completely disgusting. Any more than about 1/2 inch is too much, and I much prefer them much shorter than that, even. Like **Mindfield** , I entirely fail to see the attraction. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/11 "2007-01-30T16:08:58Z")
\*\*Veuve\_ClicquotNJ \*\*–outside of the nails, what does this woman look like? Is she trying to look sophisticated? Exotic? Trashy? ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/12 "2007-01-30T16:19:13Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] \*\*Veuve\_ClicquotNJ \*\*–outside of the nails, what does this woman look like? Is she trying to look sophisticated? Exotic? Trashy? [/QUOTE] She’s fairly professional. Skirts generally, sometimes trousers. If you were to chop off the hands, she’d be pretty much at home in any office setting. These nails are a fairly close approximation to what I believe hers to be as far as length (her’s _could_ be longer). She doesn’t have them polished _quite_ as gaily as in the picture: > **[Redirect Notice](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:%2F%2Fthumb13.webshots.com%2Fs%2Fthumb1%2F5%2F20%2F65%2F182552065VtDBRp_th.jpg&imgrefurl=http:%2F%2Fcommunity.webshots.com%2Falbum%2F182542319yaHVzd&h=100&w=100&sz=4&hl=en&start=88&tbnid=9G8XJLTXqwf_uM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=82&prev=%2Fimages%3Fq%3D%2522long%2Bfingernails%2522%26start%3D80%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN)** VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/13 "2007-01-30T16:24:12Z")
[QUOTE=Veuve\_ClicquotNJ] She’s fairly professional. Skirts generally, sometimes trousers. If you were to chop off the hands, she’d be pretty much at home in any office setting. These nails are a fairly close approximation to what I believe hers to be as far as length (her’s _could_ be longer). She doesn’t have them polished _quite_ as gaily as in the picture: > **[Redirect Notice](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http:%2F%2Fthumb13.webshots.com%2Fs%2Fthumb1%2F5%2F20%2F65%2F182552065VtDBRp_th.jpg&imgrefurl=http:%2F%2Fcommunity.webshots.com%2Falbum%2F182542319yaHVzd&h=100&w=100&sz=4&hl=en&start=88&tbnid=9G8XJLTXqwf_uM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=82&prev=%2Fimages%3Fq%3D%2522long%2Bfingernails%2522%26start%3D80%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN)** VCNJ~ [/QUOTE] I can’t imagine doing anything but sitting and having my nails photographed. How does she pick a hair out of her eye? How does she brush her teeth? Wow. Really creepy. And sad… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/14 "2007-01-30T16:32:35Z")
[QUOTE=Veuve\_ClicquotNJ] These nails are a fairly close approximation to what I believe hers to be as far as length (her’s _could_ be longer). [/QUOTE] Sweet mother of Og… that’s disgusting! ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/15 "2007-01-30T16:38:00Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Sweet mother of Og… that’s disgusting! [/QUOTE] You have no idea how relieved I am to read these other posts re: disgust. I honestly thought it was just me. Having been morbidly obese, I’m pretty sensitive to how people judge appearances, but here I am - a human. lol I just cannot look at her without my stomach lurching. VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/16 "2007-01-30T16:41:19Z")
That’s pretty gross. I know it’s her choice and I really have no say in what other people do to their bodies, but unfortunately my initial unconscious reaction upon seeing nails like that is “ugh!” And I’m sure I’m not alone. There was a sprinter, a few years ago, who had nails like that, and she had a weird way of knuckling down at the starting block because they got in the way. I was pretty grossed out by her nails, too. In my personal opinion, I find that pretty unprofessional. Then again, I’m old-fashioned and think that things like facial tattoos and massive piercings have no place in a professional workplace. Any _excessive_ personal decoration whose main purpose is to get attention and stares is just plain distracting, and sometimes offensive (to some people). Don’t know if you can do anything about this woman, if it’s not in the employee rulebook. Maybe you could suggest to the bosses that a new clause about, well, claws, be added for the next edition. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/17 "2007-01-30T16:45:29Z")
Fashion sense aside, it just strikes me as intolerably unhygienic. That’s to say nothing of what must be a rather O/C personality. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/18 "2007-01-30T16:51:06Z")
Could it be a kink? ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/19 "2007-01-30T16:55:39Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Could it be a kink? [/QUOTE] Thanks for putting _that_ image in my mind - as if wondering how she goes to the loo wasn’t enough 😛 VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111/20 "2007-01-30T17:05:19Z")
Some things in life aren’t meant for me to understand, I’ve learned in my ripe old age. Nails so long that they curl on end is one of those things. It just makes no sense. Does it look good? No. Serve a functional purpose? No. Actually hinder one’s ability to perform basic but highly important tasks that absolutely should never go neglected for vanity’s sake? Yes. Collect dirt and germs and other gross material? Yes. Turn an otherwise okay looking individual into a walking freak show? Yes. I wish you would ask her why she’s growing those things and then report back to us on what she says. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-fingernails-reeeally-long/390111.md?page=2)