Is the thumb officially considered a finger?
Asked by
raum (
13340
)
October 28th, 2018
from iPhone
I feel kind of silly asking this question. But, seriously though. Is it?
If we were talking in terms of Venn Diagrams, is it like:
1. {digits[fingers(thumbs)]}
Or is it more like:
2. [digits(fingers)(thumbs)]
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33 Answers
Yes.
The human has ten fingers.
Two of them are named thumbs.
We have four limbs; two of which are named arms.
I don’t know which Venn diagram it would be.
That’s what I always figured.
Ten fingers and ten toes, right?
But then I was reading this
and was like huh?
Pinky
Ring
Middle
Fore
Thumb
Each finger has a name.
You may well have ruined (or enhanced, perhaps?) my day with this Q.
I always thought that thumbs were fingers, but you are requiring me to reconsider. Looking more closely, thumbs have fewer bones in their make-up.
I also used to think that fingers and toes were phalanges. Apparently the bones are phalanges, not necessarily the bone-and-flesh combo.
I am set up for a long day of overthinking this.
I’m off to save the world – will get back to you later.
It’d be Venn #2, say the authorities—Oxford dictionaries, for one (a different link from the one you posted). But there’s fudging room there; Wikipedia, for instance, has two definitions. Common usage sanctions Venn #1.
So is this really a question about Venn diagrams rather than about fingers?
I don’t accept “pinky” (or “pinkie”) as a finger name. It’s a nickname like “piggies” for toes.
This question makes me want to take some digitalis!
It doesn’t fing like the other fingers, though.
Just depends on your definition.
As with many things, there isn’t a single answer. Language isn’t math, multiple definitions for a word are the norm.
The Oxford English Dictionary puts both options in one sentence – “Finger – Each of the five slender jointed parts attached to either hand; (also, in narrower sense) each of the four excluding the thumb.”
I also think it’s either, depending on context. Sometimes it’s useful to distinguish the thumb from the other four digits on the hand, and we have “fingers and thumb”; sometimes it’s not useful to distinguish it, and we simply have “fingers.” At least, that’s how I treat it.
@Call_Me_Jay: Perhaps thumbs are to fingers as squares are to rectangles?
@canidmajor: The big toe also has one fewer bone than the other toes. It’s the thumb of toes! (Which I guess isn’t so surprising, considering our species’ evolution).
@Soubresaut, I know! And yet, it’s not opposed, as it is in so many primates! So much digital confusion…
Yes. We have ten fingers barring any abnormalities.
@cookieman Except no one calls it a thumb finger. Which should be acceptable if thumb were just a name of the finger, right?
@raum: They originally tried to call it a “thumb finger” (a la “ring finger”, “middle finger”), but the thumb was opposed to the idea.
@canidmajor Only the bones are considered phalanges? What?!
LOL
Fluther needs a laugh emoji.
@Jeruba, @Call_Me_Jay and @Soubresaut
So it’s a finger sometimes?!
This is starting to sound like some whack riddle.
What is sometimes a finger?
And sometimes NOT a finger?
Okay, forget about everyday usage. What about medically? Surely there’s a consistent answer when we are speaking about it scientifically?
I tossed and turned all night, thanks to you, @raum! :-D
You can thumb a lift & finger (no, not that) a suspect in a crime, so although this analogy makes little or no real sense, it’s still a thing…so there.
I don’t usually say pinky finger, it’s just my pinky.
If your thumb isn’t a finger then all those expressions and sayings about ten fingers and toes, or count to ten on your fingers, aren’t any good.
Doctors call it the #1 finger.
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@RocketGuy I’ve only seen it referred to as the “first digit”. Could you find a link for me where it says “first finger”?
I asked our Occupational Therapist today if they considered a thumb a finger.
She looked at me like I was crazy and definitively answered that a thumb is NOT a finger. It’s a digit, but it’s not a finger.
I said what about the whole having ten fingers and ten toes thing? She said that’s just common usage. A thumb is opposable. Fingers are not.
I pushed and asked if a thumb is a type of finger. She said no. Thumbs are in their own categories.
Now my thumbs are sad. Lonely and ostracized at home (the hand). Thinking I need to don my sweatshirt that has has the one front pocket so they can socialize with each other.
Thumbs of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your finger friends!
The Unfinger.
I have to admit I’m a little sad too. Like finding out that Pluto wasn’t a planet.
Well that’s just unfortunate.
I say the common usage counts! There are plenty of words that have different or narrower definitions when they’re used in technical contexts versus common contexts.
And I’ll thumb-war anyone who disagrees! Haha
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