Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 15:16:00 -0500

From: Cynthia Bernstein bernscy[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MAIL.AUBURN.EDU

Subject: Re: pop one's fingers



I polled my undergraduate intro to linguistics class at Auburn (Alabama),

but none had "pop" to mean "snap." About a third of them used "pop" with

"knuckles" or "fingers" to mean 'to crack one's knuckles (fingers)'.



Cynthia Bernstein

Dept. of English

Auburn University, AL 36849-5203







On Fri, 3 Oct 1997, Joan Houston Hall wrote:



We didn't ask this question in the DARE questionnaire, but anecdotal

evidence suggests that "to pop one's fingers," meaning 'to snap one's

fingers' (i.e., sliding the middle finger quickly off the thumb onto the

palm, making a snapping sound) is found chiefly in the South. Are some of

you familiar with the term? When? Where?



Thanks--



Joan