# nba - nailbiters anonymous **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015 "2002-08-02T13:50:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/1 "2002-08-02T13:50:48Z")
Hi, I’m Jeff and I’m a nailbiter. ::pauses while the other members of nba say “Hi, Jeff!”:: I can’t remember a time when I didn’t bite my fingernails, with the exception of two weeks when I tried switching to bubblegum instead. The other morning while I lay in bed, I decided it was finally time to see if I could quit compeletely. Wish me luck! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/2 "2002-08-02T13:51:59Z")
Heh. Forgot to disable smilies. ---
**Author:** ![Jorel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jorel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorel)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/3 "2002-08-02T15:13:10Z")
Good Luck Jeff~! Scrape some junk from under your nails and look at it under a microscope. I’m betting you will lose the urge to bite them. Just a thought… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/4 "2002-08-02T15:18:36Z")
That might work, now that I have some nails long enough to collect junk underneath. ---
**Author:** ![d12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71c47a/32.png) [@d12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d12)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/5 "2002-08-02T15:59:48Z")
I found a whole bunch of ancient roman coins under my nails. They’re unpolished and available on ebay for $20 😛 I’ve been biting since I can remember. Too much time and effort to use those clippers. Heck I even bite my toenails. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2002, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/6 "2002-08-02T21:06:13Z")
I’m a nailbiter, too, for as long as I’ve had teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/7 "2002-08-03T01:55:01Z")
My occasional trip back home to Aust. has proven that my nail biting habit is due to stress. I don’t bite my nails any more when I’m over there, but as soon as I’m back on Japanese soil I start again, without even realising it most of the time. Good luck, **Jeff**! ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/8 "2002-08-03T02:26:47Z")
If I can go a good couple of weeks without biting my nails, I lose the urge and have actually had talons of up to an inch. But something always happens - I slam my fingers in a car door or some other mishap, and of course, if I lose one nail, I have to bite the rest of them off. They have to match, for Pete’s sake! Then I get back into the habit and forget to NOT bite my nails. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve had them long and every once in a while I look at my stubby hands and go, “Hey! I’m gonna grow these suckers out!” Then I find myself absorbed in a thought, gnawing away at my fingers in my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![ems](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@ems](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ems)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/9 "2002-08-03T02:34:34Z")
I am a long term intermittent nail biter. The state of my nails generally reflects how my life is. At university around exam time good god they were short. I was actually told as a kid it was a sign of emotional disturbance oops! Long nails = Happy **ems** Short bitten nails = miserable **ems** Current state is … :takes a quick look:… in between as actually had to trim them down at the weekend as they were starting to snap. So **Jeff** if you ever need any sort of emotional support I am your girl well at the moment anyway ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/10 "2002-08-03T09:56:27Z")
Nails? What nails? 😛 I’m usually offended if I see any white at the tips at all. Every couple of years, though, I decide to let them grow out. It’s actually rather easy for me - I just have to completely ignore them and keep an emory board handy. When I **do** ignore them and let them grow they look like acrylics - incredibly long and strong. And annoying as all hell. By the time that first one breaks I’ve been ready to bite 'em off for a month. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/11 "2002-08-03T10:37:48Z")
I don’t bite them, but I pick at them with my other nails, so mine are very short. It’s gotten so when they do reach the end of my fingers, they bother me a lot. Sucks not being able to open soda cans and beer cans, and other things, but I get by. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/12 "2002-08-06T14:32:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Big Cheese \* > **It’s gotten so when they do reach the end of my fingers, they bother me a lot.** That’s sort of what I’m going through now. This is the first time I’ve had any nails since Christmas 2000 and it feels weird. My parents don’t like me biting my nails so I try to have a few whenever I see them. When I know I’ll see Mom & Dad in the near future, I only bite my pinkie nails. It’s been a week and I haven’t been able to quit biting those yet. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/13 "2002-08-06T15:08:20Z")
I’ve been biting for as long as I can remember, and the longest I’ve gone without was three months. Up until this last weekend I’d gone a month, but then three – I have crappy nails – of them broke off, and I didn’t have access to any clippers or files, so I HAD to bite the rest of them to about the same length. I did manage to leave a little bit of white at the ends, though. The next day I got my hands on a file and smoothed them out. I may have no nails, but at least they look semi-groomed. I’m one of those people whose nails have to be the same length. I can’t just bite my pinkies, like **Jeff Olson** , if I bite one, I bite 'em all. And I know it’s stress related. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-nailbiters-anonymous/122015/14 "2002-08-06T15:14:34Z")
I had a clipper a few years ago that was lost in a move. Now my choppers are my clippers.