The Stumpers mailing list came up with a pretty decent source for the old saw about how it takes X amount of muscles to smile vs. more muscles to frown. (They cite the Science and Technology Desk Reference.)
However, I’m still skeptical. For one thing, S&TDR is citing a couple of pretty dicey sources itself. Second, there has to be some generalizing involved, since some frowns and smiles are slight and some are intense, and also since some people have mouths that naturally turn down.
I think Cecil should call some real anatomists on this one.
I don’t know the source to which you’re referring, but I’ve always been skeptical about the “more muscles to frown” thing too. Sitting here smiling and then frowning, I just cannot see how it could take more muscles to frown. But as you note, there are degrees of smiling & frowning – a slight turn-up of the corners of the mouth could be considered a smile and seems to involve few muscles, whereas a big, toothy grin involves the eyes, forehead, cheeks and neck. So yeah, let’s have some specificity!
Didn’t somebody around here have a sig that went like “It takes 37 muscles to frown, but it only takes 4 to raise my arm and whack you on the head”? LOL!
…this is another Moebius sig…b!s sn!qaoW jay+oue s! s!y+…
(adaptation of a WallyM7Sig™ a la quadell)
For business reasons, I must preserve the outward signs of sanity. - Mark Twain
I’ve noticed that a blank expression will often resemble a frown - especially if tired.
Okay, I’m sitting here making faces in a mirror. If I make a fake smile (a.k.a. big smile but without emotion), I see 4 muscles (it could be groups, but looks like 4 distinct “pulls”): one in each cheek pulling the mouth up, and one at the outside of the eyes pulling the eyebrows down, forming “laugh lines”.
Now for frowning. First, define it. “Frowning” isn’t just pointing your lip corners down in an inverted U. A real frown is more of a mean look. This is perhaps what is meant by the proposition. A real frown employs scrunching the eyebrows with what feels like 4 “pulls”. Lips remaining neutral, that works pretty well and is a convincing frown. It can be accentuated with a slight pull down at the corner of each lip, 2 more pulls.
Okay, that’s my count for a basic, non-emotive smile and frown. 4:6.
Of course someone with a human skull they can peel the skin back on and take a look could give a better answer, but I don’t really want Jeffrey Dahmer posting here.
I refuse to let this question go unanswered. I’ve heard this load of tripe about it taking more muscles to frown than smile countless times in my life and it bothered me everytime. It wasn’t bothersome enough for me to actually look up the answer, but it was bothersome enough for me to post to this thread to keep it near the top of GQ. (How’s that for dedication to the search for the truth?)
Someone who knows something please post to this thread.
Am I supposed to believe that all this rain was suspended in mid-air until moments ago?
USA Today says smiling takes 17 muscles, frowning coincidentally takes exactly twice as many, 34. They give as their reference, “Impulse Research for Oscar Mayer.” Impulse Research appears to be a public relations firm. It is certainly not a medical research firm.
A more exhaustive discussion is found at Nurse Minerva.