# what does "smoking like a girl" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434 "2010-08-25T19:10:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/21 "2010-08-26T01:32:25Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I always thought women tend to hold thier cigarettes higher and farther away from thier bodies as if they were trying to avoid the smoke coming off the cig. My theory being, they are more concious of whether they reek of smoke than men and try to avoid coming in contact with the smoke beyond what the act of smoking actually requires. If you look at the Bogart picture that I posted it’s exactly the opposite. When you hold a cigarette like that it makes your hand absolutely stink of old stale smoke. I always felt that part of the reason that holding it that way was “macho” was because it gave the impression that you really don’t care that you smell like smoke and if that bothers someone else, it’s their problem. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/22 "2010-08-26T05:44:41Z")
Never heard of the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/23 "2010-08-26T05:48:29Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > The image that comes to my mind is taking a puff, then holding the cigarette hand off to the side, with the palm forward and the cig pointing back. **Knead to Know’s** three masculine examples held the cigarette forward of the face. I’d call that “The Bette Davis.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/24 "2010-08-26T06:00:31Z")
I think it means [this (maybe NSFW)](http://kaleidoscopic-dreams.blogspot.com/2008/03/vaginal-smoking.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/25 "2010-08-26T06:10:27Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > If you look at the Bogart picture that I posted it’s exactly the opposite. When you hold a cigarette like that it makes your hand absolutely stink of old stale smoke. I always felt that part of the reason that holding it that way was “macho” was because it gave the impression that you really don’t care that you smell like smoke and if that bothers someone else, it’s their problem. I always thought the point of smoking like that was to protect the ciggy from the rain or wind with your palm. So, not macho per se, but it implies you’re out in the mean streets all day, as opposed to desk jockeys. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/26 "2010-08-26T06:28:49Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > > [@Joey\_P](#): > > > > If you look at the Bogart picture that I posted it’s exactly the opposite. When you hold a cigarette like that it makes your hand absolutely stink of old stale smoke. I always felt that part of the reason that holding it that way was “macho” was because it gave the impression that you really don’t care that you smell like smoke and if that bothers someone else, it’s their problem. > > I always thought the point of smoking like that was to protect the ciggy from the rain or wind with your palm. So, not macho per se, but it implies you’re out in the mean streets all day, as opposed to desk jockeys. In Norway, if you held your hand like that, but kept the cigarette in toward the palm and tilted the head slightly downwards, it would be thought of as soldier smoking. (The idea being that if you’re patrolling at night, holding the cigarette in plain view in front of your face is basically providing hostile snipers a bullseye.) I always thought lady-smoking was when you pinched the cigarette between your thumb and index finger, but kept the other three fingers curled in towards the palm. ---
**Author:** ![qpw3141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6bbea6/32.png) [@qpw3141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpw3141)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/27 "2010-08-26T07:56:23Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > There’s a “super-macho” way to hold a cigarette; wish I could find a photo. The hand is in what I’d call a semi-fist, with the thumb and index finger making somewhat of a circle, and the other fingertips lined up with the index finger. The cigarette is held between the side of the thumb, right next to the nail, and the tips of the index and middle fingers, sometimes including the ring finger. I wouldn’t call it macho - it just makes it look as if the person look shifty, as if trying to smoke surreptitiously. It always makes me think of someone smoking in prison - presumably because I must have seen a film at some point where prisoners smoked a lot that way. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/28 "2010-08-26T08:20:05Z")
The “European” way, for me, was the way [del]Keys[/del] Kevin Spacey holds it [at the very end](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbqkL2pZR6c) of _The Usual Suspects_. Between the thumb and index finger, filter on the palm side ([sorta like this](http://www.shadowsanctum.net/screen/screen_1994/Margo_Lane-Cobalt_Club3.jpg)). Similar to the way you’d hold a joint, but palm up not down (and the way you’d hold a joint to give a “shotgun”, not that I’d know actually anything about that ;)). Handy period film cigarette holding style chart; “Bogey style” partial cupping/full cupping is straight from being a combat infantryman. Taking a drag on your cig lights up your face and makes you sniper bait (and only two on a match!). “European style” means you’re a German officer, High Command staff officer who’s never been on the front line most likely. Switching styles means either you’ve just blown or are intentionally blowing your cover as a infiltrator/spy. (That’s why the style shift occurs in _The Usual Suspects_, it’s the final part of the Kint to Söze transformation. 'Mericans don’t hold their cigs that way, 'Uropeans do.) CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/29 "2010-08-26T09:00:12Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Never heard of the phrase. Me neither, but after Googling, it appears to be a song. [http://www.metrolyrics.com/smoke-like-a-girl-lyrics-swingin-utters.html](http://www.metrolyrics.com/smoke-like-a-girl-lyrics-swingin-utters.html) Never heard of it before, and it doesn’t seem to be on Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![qpw3141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6bbea6/32.png) [@qpw3141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpw3141)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/30 "2010-08-26T09:01:49Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > 'Mericans don’t hold their cigs that way, 'Uropeans do.) Sorry, this is complete BS. On both continents (and the rest) lots of people do it in lots of different ways. (Although, nowadays I rarely ever see anyone smoking.) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/31 "2010-08-26T09:19:53Z")
> [@qpw3141](#): > > I wouldn’t call it macho - it just makes it look as if the person look shifty, as if trying to smoke surreptitiously. It always makes me think of someone smoking in prison - presumably because I must have seen a film at some point where prisoners smoked a lot that way. At least here in France, many people smoke that way to conceal the fact that it’s not a regular cigarette they’re smoking. Of course, the peculiar pose makes them even \*more \*conspicuous… but that may be intentional 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/32 "2010-08-26T09:22:10Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > > [@AskNott](#): > > > > The image that comes to my mind is taking a puff, then holding the cigarette hand off to the side, with the palm forward and the cig pointing back. **Knead to Know’s** three masculine examples held the cigarette forward of the face. > > I think more of holding towards the end of the fingers rather than the more masculine past the first knuckle. Also straight or even curved back fingers instead of curled. > > Combine all three of those and it’s definitely feminine. This is the image that popped into my head when I saw the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/33 "2010-08-26T09:24:43Z")
> [@qpw3141](#): > > Sorry, this is complete BS. … I largely agree, but it is (from what I’ve seen) a movie/TV trope that’s indicative of “Europeanness”. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/34 "2010-08-26T10:40:49Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > > [@Joey\_P](#): > > > > Could FS have meant “Holding it between their index and _ring_ finger” > > This I have never seen. Michelle Houellebecq smokes [like that](http://ekronshage.eu/wp-content/2010-kommt-michel-houellebecqs-neuer-roman.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/35 "2010-08-26T10:42:00Z")
I always just figured most guys held it between their thumb and index finger. Though maybe I’m thinking of marijuana joints… ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/36 "2010-08-26T12:04:34Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Here’s one example – [http://whattamisaid.blogspot.com/2009/09/sexism-makes-me-hate-betty-draper.html](http://whattamisaid.blogspot.com/2009/09/sexism-makes-me-hate-betty-draper.html) It’s the wrist thing, as pointed out earlier. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/37 "2010-08-26T12:10:31Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > > [@DCnDC](#): > > > > > [@Joey\_P](#): > > > > > > Could FS have meant “Holding it between their **index and _ring_ finger** ” > > > > This I have never seen. > > Michelle Houellebecq smokes [like that](http://ekronshage.eu/wp-content/2010-kommt-michel-houellebecqs-neuer-roman.jpg). That’s not his index finger. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/38 "2010-08-26T12:13:33Z")
When I was a sorority pledge, we were taught that a lady never has a cigarette in her mouth without her fingers touching it. Just sticking a cigarette in one’s mouth is unladylike. Also, a lady never walks with a lit cigarette. If she is seated and wishes to walk across the room, she places the cigarette in an ashtray and carries the ashtray to where she wants to go before she resumes smoking. I don’t know the rules of basketball but I don’t think there is any correlation between this and the dribbling proscription. I have never smoked a cigarette. Stinky, dangerous, and too many rules. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/39 "2010-08-26T12:59:50Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > > [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > > > Michelle Houellebecq smokes [like that](http://ekronshage.eu/wp-content/2010-kommt-michel-houellebecqs-neuer-roman.jpg). > > That’s not his index finger. Right, I misread. But how would holding the cigarette between index and ring finger even work? You’d probably be better of trying to smoke using chopsticks… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434/40 "2010-08-26T13:23:52Z")
My image jibes with what a lot of others have said-- hand flat orcurved backwards, fingertips against the mouth but the wrist pointing away from the body – on exhale, elbow of smoking hand cupped in palm of other hand with cigarette far from the face but at the same level – in moving from one position to the other, the upper arm makes a broad curving sweep but the elbow stays in place Also I think of a woman taking pains to maintain eyecontact while trying exhale the smoke in a different direction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-smoking-like-a-girl-mean/551434.md?page=3)