I’ve seen it done many times over, and its now even shown in the open for “Primetime: Basic Instincts”.
How do people snuf out a candle by pinching it with their fingers?
is this painful, or is there a trick to it?
Huh? I do it all the time. yellow flame is not that hot. If you’re afraid, you can lick your fingers and then pinch it, but it’s really no big deal.
When you grab the little fire-sprite like that, they die pretty quick and don’t burn too bad.
The only trick is to do it rather briskly.
I didn’t think it would be that hard, but its the instinctual “Don’t touch fire” that creates havoc with me.
If you pinch and release it quick, it feels a little warm, but it doesn’t hurt- kinda like quickly touching the edge of a hot pan. If some of the wick or whatever sticks to your finger, it can get hot, but you flick it off quickly.
Mesquite-oh: Former (or Ex) Altar Boy
It helps to aim for the bright end of the candle.
As the others have noted, just do it quickly. I usually lick my fingers for extra insurance, so to speak.
As a bonus, you can also pass your fingers through the flame with no worse effects than a bit of soot on them, so long as you do it fairly quickly (though not necessarily so quickly as you do to snuff the flame out. Experiment a little–you’ll figure it out when your fingers start getting warm. ;))
Mine is burning at both ends
I had the wick break off and stick to my finger once, still burning. That hurt.
According to Lawrence of Arabia, the trick is not *minding * that it hurts.
Yes, that was a match. I know, I know. 
altar boy snufing candles with his fingers? oh, the horror!
didn’t you have the little bell on a stick to put them out? What is that thing called?
A candle snuffer
Here’s one with an air bulb! Deluxe!
They seem to call the whole contraption a candlelighter since the lighting wick is combined with the snuffer.
no cool latinesque name for it?
Candelarum fungum demens?
Johanna the Obscure here, never took a class in Latin but trying to teach myself…
Fillus alterius withus smokus
Pinching the wick does a better job of not producing so much smoke, and it’s faster… and it looks cool to the junior altarservers. (You need all the help you can get looking cool in the alterboy robes). 
snuffleupagus candleum
hijack: In searching for the possible Latin name for the snuffleupagus, I came across the Catholic Montessori Miniature Mass Kit. Frankly, I’m not sure how I feel about this.
And now I suddenly get the reference in Jingo. Thank you.