this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
66 points (74.6% liked)

Showerthoughts

33881 readers
1001 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS

If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.

Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Your middle finger is only your middle finger if you also count your thumb as a finger. Which I find hard to accept. @showerthoughts πŸ–•

all 40 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Blade9732@lemmy.world 65 points 15 hours ago

This is like the square/rectangle thing: "Not all fingers are thumbs, but all thumbs are fingers".

[–] betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world 46 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

The thumb is thicker than other digits so naturally it'll be harder to accept. A lubricant may help but the key is to relax and go slow.

[–] j4k3@lemmy.world 11 points 15 hours ago

Nailed it.In that case use clippers and a small sanding stick.

[–] Lembot_0002@lemm.ee 39 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

You don't consider a thumb a finger? What is it then in your world? Tail?

[–] vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 16 hours ago (1 children)
[–] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 2 points 4 hours ago

There are ten digits in our numeral system, and the thumb is neither a 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9.

I'd a tail! Prehensile, or of that's not possible, then spiky

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 38 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

It's pretty normal to count the thumb as a finger. I find it strange that you would not.

If you were asked "how many fingers do you have", would you answer 8, or 10? Surely, everyone knows the answer is 10 (assuming no physical abnormalities)? On a fingering chart, music will instruct you to play a note with your thumb with the number "1" and your pinky with the number "5".

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 20 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

you count your pinky as a finger ? it is not a finger; it is a pinky.

with the thumb being a thumb and as we have previously discussed about pinky leaves three fingers and certainly a middle one

[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 18 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

All of them are fingers. Thumbs are fingers, but a finger is not necessarily a thumb. I dont know where people get the idea that a thumb is not a finger. So many common sayings reinforce that it is. "Counting on your fingers (including your thumbs)", healthy babies have "Ten fingers, ten toes", "What did the five fingers say to the face... slap", "high five", "five finger discount", etc. Also, honorable mention to Princess Bride's Inigo Montoya searching for "the 6 fingered man" which includes his thumb. "Middle finger" is not the only thing that makes no sense if you don't accept that the thumb is a finger.

[–] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 13 points 6 hours ago

I used to genuinely argue that it wasn't a finger bc it had only two segments, not three. I've since realized that there is a third and I'm fucking stupid.

[–] Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works 13 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

If it’s not a finger, what do you think it is?

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world -3 points 7 hours ago (1 children)
[–] JigglySackles@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago

Not unless they are on your hand. Either way though they are phalanges.

[–] dumbass@leminal.space 11 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Which I find hard to accept.

How?

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 3 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Probably because of its unique structure. It is slightly different than the rest of your fingers. I wouldn't consider it different enough to exclude it from being a finger though.

[–] davidagain@lemmy.world 9 points 6 hours ago

Well, it's not a toe.

[–] griefreeze@lemmy.world 7 points 1 hour ago

What do you consider the thumb to be if not another finger?

[–] Acamon@lemmy.world 7 points 15 hours ago

"middle finger" is "the finger in the middle of the digits" not "the finger on the middle of the fingers"

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 5 points 15 hours ago

Oh yeah? Well πŸ–•

[–] Archangel1313@lemm.ee 5 points 15 hours ago

If you had to pick either one of those fingers to call the "middle" one, it's pretty obvious which one better fits the description.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 4 points 2 hours ago

The thumb, the misunderstood tentacle.
An essay.

[–] SRo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 hours ago

What's wrong with you?

[–] guy@piefed.social 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I got shocked when I learned my SO had learnt we have only four fingers. And a thumb.
I mean..

[–] tunetardis@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 hours ago

Yeah seriously don't tell my wife this. She still counts on them and it's going to go badly…

[–] superkret@feddit.org 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

You have three fingers named fingers.
Index finger, ring finger and middle finger. The middle finger is in the middle of the three. Thumb and pinky are both outliers.

[–] Arkouda@lemmy.ca 4 points 5 hours ago

I have always known it as the "Pinky Finger" myself.

[–] pacology@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

Have you ever thought that it's called the middle finger but it's actually the long finger?