# Why do tough guys chew toothpicks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319 "2008-11-18T18:14:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/1 "2008-11-18T18:14:34Z")
There’s a great moment in _Hot Fuzz_ where Angel returns to town ready to kick butt. The ultimate signal of his _Bad Boys_-shit-just-got-real attitude is that he now has a toothpick sticking out of his mouth. [TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OralFixationFixation) provides some examples of tough or cool guys chewing on toothpicks in movies and TV, both serious and comedic. Their list, however, misses one of the most obvious examples – Stallone gnaws on a toothpick in _Cobra_, a character trait featured prominently in the posters. I thought maybe the toothpick thing came about when movie studios started to shy away from showing their characters smoking. But, a cursory googling suggests the device was used in 50’s era noir films, when there wasn’t much objection to showing people puffing away. So, for discussion: when and why did choming on a toothpick come to be associated with either tough guys (like Chow-Yun Fat’s characters in some John Woo movies [according to TV Tropes – I haven’t seen them]) or with cool guys (like Fonzie)? ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/2 "2008-11-18T18:20:18Z")
The toothpicks used to be tree stumps. These guys are soooo tough they’ve chewed them down to the size of a toothpick. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/3 "2008-11-18T18:39:56Z")
Back in the 50’s people smoked to Calm Their Nerves, and chewing on a toothpick is the opposite of that, together with the implication of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Makes for the representation of a \*mean \*badass. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/4 "2008-11-18T19:52:21Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > [TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OralFixationFixation) provides some examples of tough or cool guys chewing on toothpicks in movies and TV, both serious and comedic. Their list, however, misses one of the most obvious examples – Stallone gnaws on a toothpick in _Cobra_, a character trait featured prominently in the posters. Add it! TV Tropes is a Wiki, after all. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/5 "2008-11-18T19:54:58Z")
Because they are trying to break the lollipop habit. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/6 "2008-11-18T20:41:33Z")
Because they’re all out of bubblegum? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/7 "2008-11-19T00:27:38Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > Back in the 50’s people smoked to Calm Their Nerves, and chewing on a toothpick is the opposite of that, together with the implication of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Makes for the representation of a \*mean \*badass. I kind of like that explanation. He’s so cool and tough he doesn’t need no damned cigarette to calm his nerves. He likes being on edge. Maybe so. Anybody have any insight on the earliest arrival of the toothpick muncher in our cultural consciousness? Or other ideas about why he showed up? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/8 "2008-11-19T00:40:25Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Anybody have any insight on the earliest arrival of the toothpick muncher in our cultural consciousness? Toothpick Charlie was a spoof’d character in the move \*Some Like it Hot \*(1959), so I think we’ll need to look earlier than that. I wsh \*\*Eve \*\*was still posting. Maybe \*\*Stranger on a Train \*\*has the answer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/9 "2008-11-19T00:53:53Z")
Here’s a clip of toothpick-chomping Boris Karloff playing Gruesome in [Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ426aHvNmQ) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/10 "2008-11-19T02:40:08Z")
Toothpick chewing was popular in Westerns; I seem to remember John Wayne picking his teeth through _The Man Who Killed Liberty Valance_, and I doubt he was the first. In many noir films, it was a matchstick instead of a toothpick (see _Double Indemnity_). I can’t say where the meme started, but it definitely predates any kind of anti-smoking campaign in cinema. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/11 "2008-11-19T04:53:41Z")
Plenty of guys chew toothpicks in real life. Why wouldn’t they do it in the movies too? ---
**Author:** ![Influential\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Influential\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Influential_Panda)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/12 "2008-11-19T05:00:55Z")
What’s it to you, bub? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/13 "2008-11-19T05:47:46Z")
Ain’t nothing scarier than Lee Marvin on your ass, gnawing a toothpick… ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/14 "2008-11-19T05:57:33Z")
Teats and Cleats. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2008, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/15 "2008-11-19T08:39:10Z")
Only \*straight \*guys chew on toothpicks. Obviously a sublimation. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/16 "2008-11-19T10:01:05Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Only \*straight \*guys chew on toothpicks. Obviously a sublimation. I know _I_ do it to satisfy my oral fixation. In fact, anything around me is liable to be chewed on. You have been warned. Oh, and Cobra chewed on an unlit match, not a toothpick. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/17 "2008-11-19T12:40:57Z")
Because, like Lucky Luke, they’re not allowed to smoke in public any more. In the case of pre-anti-smoking-laws badasses, it’s because their tiny little Italian wife has decreed that Thou Shalt Not Smoke That Filth In MY House. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/18 "2008-11-19T13:55:32Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > Plenty of guys chew toothpicks in real life. Why wouldn’t they do it in the movies too? Sure. I chew them all the time. But I’m a weenie. In the movies, weenies don’t chew them, only badasses. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > In many noir films, it was a matchstick instead of a toothpick (see _Double Indemnity_). Did Neff chew on a matchstick? I don’t remember that. I remember him always lighting Keyes’ smokes, but I didn’t remember him chewing anything. > [@Priceguy](#): > > Oh, and Cobra chewed on an unlit match, not a toothpick. Yeah, I thought maybe it was a match in that one, but I couldn’t remember, and I couldn’t tell from the pictures I saw. [Here](http://www.slate.com/id/2177109) is an interesting article in _Slate_ giving a brief history of the toothpick. The article claims that the inventor of the mass-produced toothpick got restaurants to provide them to their customers, beginning in the 1870’s. > [@Slate](#): > > Once wooden toothpicks became readily available in restaurants, diners picked them up on their way out and used them for their intended purpose. After they were used to clean the teeth, the toothpicks had a further use. Chewing toothpicks in public soon became fashionable among well-to-do men, and after a while young women began taking up the practice…This ostentatious primary and secondary toothpick usage in the 1870s served to further the general desire for toothpicks. > > It was a common observation of the time that many of the young men standing in front of a good hotel chewing toothpicks were suggesting they had eaten in its fine dining room, when in fact they could not afford to do so. In time, chewing a toothpick anywhere became a sign of contentment and insouciance. > > Thus, the toothpick took on a life of its own, serving not only as a utilitarian object but also as a status symbol and even as an accessory. So, I can see the assocition with contentment and money being an easy fit with movie mobsters having no visible means of support, and then filtering down to tough guys in general. Maybe by the movie era, chewing on a toothpick had become sort of gauche, something which the well-to-do and classy folks no longer did, but which the tacky gangsters and their admirers still indulged in. I’m just talking out of my ass, of course. I think **The Devil’s Grandmother** has the earliest spotting so far, at 1947. Maybe something from the silent or early talkie era will turn up. ---
**Author:** ![goodie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@goodie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goodie)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/19 "2008-11-19T15:01:05Z")
My Dad is an old badass from way back and he almost always has a toothpick in his mouth. I am pretty certain it’s just to help keep his teeth clean, but it might also be a cigaratte place holder. He has this trick he does if he’s going to give a smooch to one of his grandsons where he turns the toothpick backwards in his mouth. It looks painful and kind of gross, actually. In books or movies, there’s nothing that can quite convey the exact emotion of taking something out of your mouth that you WERE concentrating on in order to more effectively kick someones butt. Whether it’s a cigarette you were smoking, a toothpick you were chewing or a girl you were kissing. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319/20 "2008-11-19T18:04:52Z")
As a prop, a tootpick can be very good, because it is small enough not to block the actor’s face but does give him a chance to slowly build a negative reaction (a good touch for a tough guy) or for that matter just give him something to react silently with. Smokes can do this, but theaters are not friends of burning things. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-tough-guys-chew-toothpicks/473319.md?page=2)