Why do people have long pinkie fingernails?

Purpose of Long Pinky Fingernail

One theory is that it is simply to look cool. Or to clean ears, since it's safer than a Q-Tip. Or for nose picking.

In some Asian cultures, men will grow a long pinky nail to indicate wealth and status, since it proves that they obviously do not do manual labor.

And last, a long nail is often useful for mundane purposes, and the pinky nail is least likely to get in the way, and the easiest to avoid breaking.

First answer by Deb. Last edit by Deb. Contributor trust: 1393 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 9 [recommend question]