Thumb twiddling is an activity that is done with the hands of an individual whereby the fingers are interlocked and the thumbs circle around a common point, usually in the middle of the distance between the two thumbs.
While it is an expression of at least a moderate amount of manual dexterity, thumb twiddling is frequently used as an example of a useless, time-wasting activity. [1]
Medical uses
Thumb twiddling can be used as a simple test for manual dexterity. [2]
Contra-rotating thumbs
Contra-rotation involves moving the thumbs in opposing directions. While thumb twiddling comes naturally for almost everyone, it is extremely rare for people to be able to naturally contra-rotate their thumbs without spending a significant amount of time training the new technique. [3] Typically, a person will get through a half rotation before both of the thumbs will inexplicably synchronize directions. A similar phenomenon occurs using similar finger or arm movements. [4]
See also
References
- ^ Hayes, Justin Cord. 747 Things to Do on a Plane: From Lift-off to Landing, All You Need to Make Your Travels Fly By. F+W Publications, Inc., 2008.
- ^ O'Sullivan, Joanne. I Don't Care If We're There Yet: The Backseat Boredom Buster. Sterling Publishing Co Inc, 2008, p. 19.
- ^ Thumb Twiddling - Contra-Rotating for Fun & Coordination Training, retrieved 2021-10-13
- ^ Rotating Fingers in all Different Directions, retrieved 2021-10-13