This question is marked "community wiki".

It has been only recently that I started wondering about this. Being on sick leave for almost 2 months, I stayed at home and didn't really clip my nails as I didn't venture into public places very often. Only to shop food in a small grocery store every day or other. Thus I felt no need to do so. Now I'm sort going to public a lot, but I haven't clipped my hand nails, for I've been wondering why should I.

Every since I was kid, it has never been explained in reason. All I was ever told, "you got long nails, clip them!" And that's it. Now I wonder, why? If it would be impractical due to nature of my work I would, but it isn't, I type on keyboard all day and there really isn't any other activity I could think of that requires short nails.

And why it seems a guy with long nails is anymore wrong than a girl with ones. Society seems to be full of brainwashed conventions that have been in place too long to even realize how unnatural and forced they are. For nails growing is a natural process after all.

asked 30 Aug '13, 05:51

CalonLan's gravatar image

CalonLan
(suspended)

4

Do you file your nails, or throw them away? Har Har!

(31 Aug '13, 06:56) Dollar Bill

Just saw this today... "It's not hard for me, It's just hard for your thought process."

Chris ‘The Duchess’ Walton, World Guinness Record Book for 10 foot long finger nails.

(13 Sep '13, 01:01) ursixx

@Cal Hope you're feeling better & all 'mended'. Great to 'read' "Cal's sage insights" once again. I've always had moderately long nails & they tend to break if they grow past a certain point. I believe this is the main reason why one should keep their nails clipped/filed cause torn nails hurt & are unsightly.

(14 Sep '13, 04:25) ele
showing 1 of 3 show 2 more comments

why do many women shave their under arms and legs? could aslo be asked. If you are comfortable with your nails long ,so be it. Some places in the world a long pinkie nail is a sign of success on men

peace

link

answered 30 Aug '13, 10:21

ursixx's gravatar image

ursixx
22.0k1445

1

Perhaps long nails are a sign that a person is so successful he does not work, and the long nails show that he can't do manual labor.

In African sculptural art the wealthy, the royal women are shown with high elaborate hair styles. This shows that the woman can afford to have her hair done and that she cannot carry a basket on her head.

(31 Aug '13, 19:25) Dollar Bill

That's a bit sexist @ursixx. I know lots of athletes who shave - especially cyclists, swimmers & body builders.

(14 Sep '13, 01:15) ele

@ele true. I guess everyone has their reasons. ... One would think that there is quite a few more women out there than swimmers that shave. and women that shave I don't believe that it's to "shave" a few seconds off their morning commute. ;-)

(14 Sep '13, 02:18) ursixx

I meant male athletes @ursixx -- my error. Actually I think most people use other means of hair removal other than shaving when it comes to body hair. You should try a total body wax - I bet your wife would love it. Smooth & very smexy! (smart & sexy)

(14 Sep '13, 02:23) ele
showing 2 of 4 show 2 more comments

Do you know about all the wonderful decals and art that can be put on nails? You could make quite a statement.

Not sure about fingernail polish for a man, but I know men who have manicures. You can lightly sand and then buff and then shine your nails while keeping them whatever length you like.

I think this looks good on a man, and shine your shoes. Women like clean and shiny!

As far as "natural" goes, I am reminded of the farmer who was showing his fields to a visitor. The visitor said, "The Lord has certainly given you some beautiful fields!" The farmer replied, "You should have seen these fields when only the Lord was taking care of them!"

"Natural" is good, but I shave my legs and armpits. It is a woman thing.

link

answered 31 Aug '13, 07:08

No%20Brainer's gravatar image

No Brainer
75514

Ah proof! Long nails take more to take care of them. Great farmer story. I could have chosen an ugly picture of natural long nails, unkempt. I didn't want to gross anyone out though.

(31 Aug '13, 09:45) Wade Casaldi

Couldn't agree more - I don't mind slightly longer nails on a man as long as they are immaculately clean. Next thing I notice after the eyes & the smile are the hands & nails -- they best be clean..

(14 Sep '13, 01:23) ele

Well i can think of a few good reasons why one should clip his nails ... imagine if you had nails like this,

alt text

doing ordinary everyday tasks could become quite complicated and time consuming ... like button your shirt, do (or undo) a zip, lace shoes, wash your armpits (and other more intimate parts), pick up a pencil, cut and eat food with a knife and fork, use a portable telephone, turn a doorknob to open a door, brush your teeth and last but not least put in contact lenses ...

link

answered 01 Sep '13, 02:54

jaz's gravatar image

jaz
2.4k312

1

This would indicate that the hand in the picture belongs to a married person and that person has people to do things for her/him. therefore a life of ease, possibly abundance.

(01 Sep '13, 08:21) Dollar Bill
(02 Sep '13, 02:14) jaz
showing 1 of 2 show 1 more comments

Well speaking as a man for me when my nails get too long they get in the way. I notice it is easier for me to do things like use this cell phone than it is for my Jaianniah whom has long nails. I can play my guitar easier, I can use the lap top keyboard easier and when it comes to the mouse pad on the lap top, for me no problem. But for her near impossible. Her nails are only maybe and inch long.

There was a woman that worked at Kmart that didn't believe in cutting her nails. Her nails were very long, curled under and didn't look too clean. They were about twice as long as her fingers. It didn't look attractive at all, plus it was very impractical. She couldn't use her hands very much because her nails got in the way of everything.

Most woman with long nails still get them trimmed. They don't want them getting too long. Esteban probably even trims his left hand nails even though that they are maybe and inch long on his picking hand.

The point is the longer they get the more you have to take care of them. Most men prefer to just cut then off so they don't need to bother for a while, they just get in the way.

Does this look appealing to you? alt text

link

answered 30 Aug '13, 11:40

Wade%20Casaldi's gravatar image

Wade Casaldi
36.9k428102

edited 30 Aug '13, 11:46

There is a Riply's Believe It Or Not photo of some guy that had much longer nails that are all twisted and grown together into and huge tangled mess. That guy didn't believe in taking care of his nails.

(31 Aug '13, 09:51) Wade Casaldi
Click here to create a free account

If you are seeing this message then the Inward Quest system has noticed that your web browser is behaving in an unusual way and is now blocking your active participation in this site for security reasons. As a result, among other things, you may find that you are unable to answer any questions or leave any comments. Unusual browser behavior is often caused by add-ons (ad-blocking, privacy etc) that interfere with the operation of our website. If you have installed these kinds of add-ons, we suggest you disable them for this website




Related Questions