A cool memelicious thing about you, not me

[womzilla]

I got this from my sister-un-law, trueheart:

I know little about some of the people on my friends list. Some people I know relatively well. I've read your user info, or we have something else in common. Some of you I know a little and look forward to getting to know over time.

I'd love it if every single person on my friends list would volunteer a personal nugget of information that might be evidence of a defining trait. Yes, even those people who think I know them reasonably well. Then post this in your own journal if you like.

Comments

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I can't snap my fingers. Haven't the faintest idea how it's done.

I can, however, make the sound of one hand clapping, which most people can't.

[davidgoldfarb.livejournal.com]

I could try to explain it to you, if you like.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Well, that would be interesting.

Whenever I mention in person my inability to snap fingers, whoever I'm talking to instantly snaps theirs - maybe to reassure themselves, maybe to show off, I have no idea. But they do it at full speed, leaving me with no idea how it's done. Any attempt to inquire has led to a vague explanation that boils down to "You just do it."

If you think you can explain in written words, go ahead.

I can't teach the sound of one hand clapping, however. It's a physical ability related to the length of fingers (mine are very long). Either you can hit your fingertips against the base of your palm hard enough to make a sound, or you can't.

Finger-snapping

[davidgoldfarb.livejournal.com]

Well, it would probably be easier to show in person -- maybe next New Year's? But I'll make an attempt to do it in text.

The basic principle is actually somewhat similar to the "clam-clap". (Which I also can do, albeit not loudly.) The sound is made by the middle finger striking the heel of the hand. The trick is that you use elastic tension from the thumb to increase the force of the strike, and thus the volume of the sound.

Actually, belay that a bit...to really get the snapping noise, you bend down the ring finger as well. The middle finger strikes the join between the ring finger and the heel of the hand; some air is trapped between the three surfaces, forming a resonating chamber.

For simplicity, I'll assume that you're using your right hand. Once you've got the knack, it's easy enough to transfer to the left.

To start: Take the first joint of your middle finger, and place its right side up against the right side of the thumb. This entails bending it slightly out of position. At the same time, fold the ring finger over so that it touches the heel of the hand -- only the lower knuckle should bend. In order to put the middle finger and thumb together, you need to bend your hand a little. This creates a small valley in the center of the heel. Put the ring finger right into this valley.

Now start exerting force with the middle finger and thumb so that they're trying to slide past one another but are prevented by friction. The thumb, being stronger, will force the middle finger back until it can't go back any more. Ramp up the force until friction is overcome and the fingers do slide past each other. The middle finger will snap downwards and, as mentioned above, hit the side of the ring finger where it touches the heel of the hand. If you've done it right, the two fingers will trap a small pocket of air against the heel of the hand, which resonating with the impact creates the snapping sound.

I wonder if this attempt will work out better than when I tried to teach Katie to whistle.

Re: Finger-snapping

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Well, that was indeed very interesting.

I'm now in the position I am with whistling: I know how it's done, but I still can't do it.

[sturgeonslawyer.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I taught you how.