Posted by Xristina on March 01, 2001 at 01:32:37:
In Reply to: Greek pinky nail thread -- the real deal posted by Domenic on February 25, 2001 at 17:11:47:
Hi Domenic!
As you can see, this is a difficult question. I really can't understand why people like Hellas jumps at us for asking simple questions.
It's a fact that a lot of young men in the southern part of Europe have this long fingernail. And it's really the same for me why they have it, but I just wanted to find out why, to understand.
Neither of us have ever said that the greeks not are hard working people. I have been a lot in Greece, and I know they are. But I guess the long fingernail used to be a status-symbol.
I don't know why they react like this when we ask, or why they try to put other meanings to out questions...
Keep asking the questions, and comment on things you know! There are always some people out there that knows ewe don't try to put the greeks down!
: I was reading this board yesterday and came across an earlier thread where someone got flamed violently for asking a simple question about a custom she had observed.
: Long pinky nails on men are quite common in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Turkey. The length varies -- usually between 1 and 5 centimetres (1/4 - 2 inches) beyond the edge of the finger. The italians in the middle-to-lower section of Italy have gone way overboard with this custom. Some of them have grown and maintained pinky nails up to 12 cm long.
: In Greece, I've seen them as long as 5 cm. The custom is meant to show that the wearer does not engage in manual labor, which would break the nails otherwise. From what I've been told, it used to be that all the nails were grown, but because that's too inconvenient, the nail that posed the least problem (the pinky) was grown by itself instead. Sometimes the thumbnails are also grown long as well, or the ring finger nails. Nowadays, it's more of a "macho/cool" thing. These guys will go to great lengths to preserve these nails as they take months to grow them out. I'm sure there are other people who have seen this custom too.
: Don't flame me now ...
: Domenic.