Khaos

Do All My Fingers Have Names?

I always need to think about which hand is my left or my right but I didn’t realise until entering America that I didn’t know which finger was my index one. I need to know this as U.S. Immigration want to keep prints of my index fingers as I’m entering the country. When I presented the wrong finger to be printed the officer helpfully told me that I need to use the “pointy” one. All my fingers look pointy to me.

This made me realise that I don’t actually know how to describe my individual fingers. What do you call the finger between my middle one and the little one? Is this always known as the “ring” finger or does that only work in places where people wear wedding bands?

3 Responses to “Do All My Fingers Have Names?”

  1. Mark Fowler Says:

    Wikipedia for all your finger description needs. In multiple languages too. Cool.

  2. Tony Says:

    Took me a while to realise this, but he was probably saying “pointing” rather than “pointy”. It would sound similar, but it would make a lot more sense!

  3. Karen Says:

    I’m glad I took the time to follow the link to Wikipedia that Mark posted as I also needed to know this for getting into the Universal Studios themeparks in Orlando. They are now using fingerprints and pictures to make sure that theme park tickets are only being used by one person.