# Raising one eyebrow--practised skill or natural talent? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 10, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361 "2005-02-10T05:52:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Thirty-Nine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Thirty-Nine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirty-Nine)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/41 "2005-02-12T22:15:49Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > I can do both. All the males on my father’s side can. Can you guys wiggle the ears too? Yup, I can naturally wiggle my ears and raise my eyebrows. I didn’t even realise that the eyebrow thing was special until a girl went into hysterics about it a few years ago. I must have picked up the standard use of it (generally a visual and sarcastic “uh-huh”) from TV, but it feels so damn right that I’m tempted to say the useage is natural too. I’ve even managed to come up with a facial expression that uses my wiggling ears, namely raising them when I can’t hear somebody. Anyway, the mind-blowing part: I find it easier to wiggle my **left** ear independently, and easier to raise my **right** eyebrow. Curious and curiouser… ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/42 "2005-02-12T23:19:46Z")
I’d always wanted to be able to raise one eyebrow, so I finally taught myself how to do it a couple of years ago. It took a lot of practice, but it was well worth the effort. (Right eyebrow, by the way. Still can’t do the left, but I figure one is really all I need.) ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/43 "2005-02-13T04:23:46Z")
…if ya smell what The Rock is cookin’. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/44 "2005-02-21T21:24:53Z")
> [@look!ninjas](#): > > I’d always wanted to be able to raise one eyebrow, so I finally taught myself how to do it a couple of years ago. It took a lot of practice, but it was well worth the effort. (Right eyebrow, by the way. Still can’t do the left, but I figure one is really all I need.) I can vouch that she’s damn good at it. I’m still haunted by the image, and I mean _haunted_ in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/45 "2005-02-21T21:29:32Z")
I can do the right one easily with no movement from the left. I can sort of raise the left one as well, but the right one twitches when I do it. I think I used to be better at raising the left one, so maybe there’s an element of practise in it as well. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/46 "2005-02-22T01:36:41Z")
> [@Thirty-Nine](#): > > Yup, I can naturally wiggle my ears and raise my eyebrows. Same here; been doing the eyebrow bit since fifth grade, the independent ears a few years later. Someone once told me that babies have a range of motion in their muscles that gets lost as the rest of the body develops, and that those of us still able to do these crazy muscular control excercises somehow held on to that. I’ve found that it bolsters not the resume in any way. 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361.md?page=2)