I’ve noticed that a lot of men I talk to in my line of work (defense attorney) have trimmed nails, except their pinky fingernails are long. I usually notice it in African-American men, although I’ve noticed it in white and Hispanic men as well.
What’s up with that?
My first thought was that it was a makeshift coke spoon. Seriously. It’s even the right demographic, middle-upper class professionals.
Coke nails. Judges and juries will notice, too.
This is the first thing I thought of. But dang that is so 70’s these guys must be really out of touch.
I had one, I didn’t know what it was for. I just wanted to see how long I could grow a nail without it cracking and all the other nails crack on me really quick. But the pinkie nail grew fairly long without cracking
People would say “What’s up with the coke nail?” And I’d say “So I can do coke”
Men still do that? I thought it went the way of the pleather jacket, gabardine hip huggers, and bad sideburns. 
LOL.
Coke use,
-or-
they are nose pickers.
:eek:
My mom always teased me about that. I would let my nails grow and the pinky ones were always the last to break. I always wondered if that was a real thing.
I am almost sure that 20+ years ago, Cecil devoted an entire Straight Dope column to this very same subject…
As I recall, his conclusion: Coke spoon
Holy shit. I just saw this on a random TV show the other day (not a recent show, it was on Hulu) and I wondered the same thing.
So I Googled it and the first hit was the Straight Dope, with answers from the SDMB 
Just adding to the chorus, my first thought was “coke spoon, duh.”
I have a young co-worker, Iranian-American (more American than Iranian I think), one of the sweetest and nicest people I know, and he lets his pinky nails grow long. I am as certain as I can be that he doesn’t do drugs of any kind - I don’t think he even drinks. Could it be a cultural thing in his case?
He also has those things in his earlobes that make big holes; not huge, in his case, for which I’m glad, but I still find them jarring.
I’ve often wanted to ask him about why he does these things, but it’s really none of my business and we aren’t that close. Darn it.
Roddy
My first conclusion is always coke spoon. My second one is “gross.”
It’s a Chinese thing but you have the wrong demographic for that.
[bandwagon]
It’s a coke spoon!
[/bandwagon]
Yeah, it makes you look elegant in some cultures. I had a student who had one, and I’m certain he didn’t do drugs. I did some research and found out that certain Asian cultures consider it fashionable.
But my first thought is always ‘coke spoon’.
Way off topic, but I’ve always wanted to put a padlock in those people’s ears. Not that I ever would, and I’m sure that it would be illegal (assault, maybe?), but it’s a secret desire of mine.
Probably doesn’t apply to these fellows but I know a number of south asians who grow the nail but don’t do coke. They use it for scratching and picking various orifices.
One of my college teachers had both pinky fingernails long. He used them to pick his ears.
I grow my thumbnail to use as a teaspoon (I’m English though).