Each of us wondered why men need a fingernail on their little fingers when they met such people. In fact, this tradition is very old. How did it come about? There are a lot of opinions about this.
How did such a custom come about?
Some researchers are inclined to argue that the nails on the little fingers of men were present in ancient China. Thus, representatives of the strong half of humanity demonstrated their position in society. It is considered interesting that the longer the nail itself was, the higher was the position of the man among those around him, and he was deeply respected.
Later, in the XVII – XVIII centuries, among the aristocrats, too, lovers appeared to wear nails on the little fingers. Men in this case had a different purpose. It was simply convenient for them to open the mail envelope in this way. After all, a paper knife was not always at hand. This custom lasted long enough, until the XX century. Later, in order to seal the letter, they began to use glue instead of sealing wax.
The little finger nails in men in France were used for completely different purposes. There the aristocrats did not knock on the door, but slowly scratched it with a fingernail. Some historians claim that even the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin had a similar feature. Veresaev wrote that all Masons were required to grow such a nail. Pushkin was also considered a freemason, as he had such a distinctive feature. She was noticed by the famous artist Tropinin, who came to him to paint a portrait.
Some interesting facts about the emergence of such a tradition
Almost no one knows that the nails on the little fingers of men who worked as assistant drivers were mandatory attributes. Workers used a fingernail to twist a tape on which a lot of useful information was displayed. For example, this is the braking distance, stop, train speed and much more. She served as a kind of black box that kept important information in it.
In the 1950s, nails on the little fingers of men testified that a person belongs to the criminal world and is a thief. Such people absolutely did not want to work, and they tried to grow a nail as long as possible in order to show their superiority over other prisoners.
In America, in the 1980s, long nails on the little fingers of men were among drug addicts. They sniffed cocaine like that, raking them powder. For these purposes, even a peculiar dose was invented, which was called nail.
Also, card cheaters, in another language “Katala”, grew a fingernail in order to split the cards during the deal. So they could perform a fraudulent meal. And after that some ordinary inhabitants began to adhere to such a tradition. And we saw the nails on the little fingers in men quite often. Although many of them did not even know why they needed it. They just followed fashion.
Modern attitude to such a tradition
Today, European men call this custom Moveton. They have long ceased to pay attention to this. It should be noted that this has spread not only to the inhabitants of Europe, but throughout the world. But Asians relate to this very differently. Eastern representatives of the stronger sex consider this their own decoration. They are sure that the nails on the little fingers in men can bring them only luck.