Ten Fingers

My friend Jillian, who I played basketball with high school, taught me the game ten fingers as we were riding a school bus to one of our basketball games.  We played with some of our teammates who were sitting near us on the bus.  Jillian said that everyone has to first hold out both hands with their fingers spread.  Then you go around in a circle saying, “I never…..” and complete the sentence with something that you have never done before.  Everyone playing the game listens to what that particular person says that they have never done and then they if they have done it before they put down a finger.  Once you lose all you fingers you’re out of the game.  The object of the game is to be the last person with fingers in tact or to have the most fingers left.  The game is similar to truth or dare in the sense that it the idea behind it is for people to be truthful and reveal things that they might not ordinarily tell others.

This game seems to be a variation of another game I learned about from a friend called the spoon game.  The spoon game is also documented in this folklore collection.  Please refer to Item 11 of this folklore collection for further analysis.

The Spoon Game

I went out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen with some friends to celebrate a another friend’s birthday.  The restaurant was pretty crowded that night, so we waited a while to put in our orders and after we finally did put in our orders we knew it would be a wait until we got our food so my friend Erin explained to everyone the spoon game so we could play it while we were waiting.  In the spoon you put an equal number of spoons on the table as there are people at the table.  Then everyone closes their eyes and someone says something that they have never done.  However if you have done whatever it is that particular person says that they have never done you take a spoon from the middle of the table and hide it in your lap.  Then everyone opens their eyes, and from the number of spoons left on the table everyone knows whether others have or have not done something, but they don’t know exactly who has done or not done something.

The game is similar to the popular game truth or dare in the sense that it allows its participants to reveal something, perhaps a secret about themselves or something they wouldn’t normally admit to, yet it also allows for the participants to keep an element of anonymity.

Erin said she learned this game from her friends in KCM who were playing.  KCM is a Korean Christian group/club on USC campus.  She said she played the game once and liked it which is why she remembered it and taught it to us at dinner.  In this instance, Erin went from being a passive bearer of folklore to an active bearer.  I think people enjoy playing these games because it allows people to somewhat reveal their secrets, but not completely.  The appeal must lie in the fact that sometimes it is really difficult to keep a secret.

“Nose Goes”

During biology lab we were studying the structure and function of the kidneys.  So in the first part of the lab we dissected a sheep kidney to examine its structure, and in the second part of the lab we analyzed a urine sample to study one of the kidneys main function, elimination of waste products.  The urine samples to be analyzed were to supposed to be collected from one student at each lab station.  My lab station consisted of myself, my lab partner Christine and two other girls.  None of us wanted to pee in a cup, which was required to collect the urine sample that needed to be analyzed for the lab.  So Christine announced, “Nose goes!”  According to the game, if there is something that has to be done but no one wants to do it, someone says “nose goes” and the last person to touch their nose has to do whatever is was that no one wanted to do.  Since all the other girls touched their nose with their index finger before me I was the one who had to supply the urine sample for the lab.

Another version of this game called “Not is Noses” has also been documented in this folklore collction.  Please refer to item #8 of the collection for further analysis.  Additionally, while searching the Internet I found a website that explains and documents the “official” rules of nose goes.  This shows that the game is well known and it is known under the title or phrase “Nose Goes” not “Not it Noses”, which is another version of the same game.  Annotation: http://nosegoes.bavetta.com/

“Not it Noses”

I was hanging out with my friends and we all decided to go out to eat for dinner  Someone asked out loud, “So who’s going to drive?” then my friend Kelsey said, “Not it noses!” and touched her nose with her index finger.  Everyone else quickly tried to touch their noses because in this game the last person to touch their nose would be the one who would have to drive everyone to dinner.  According to the game, if there is something that has to be done but no one wants to do it, someone says “not it noses” and the last person to touch their nose has to do whatever is was that no one wanted to do.  It is also important to note that you have touch your nose, usually you touch the tip of your nose with your index finger.  The person who touches their nose last is the one who has to do the undesired task of the group.

The game could be viewed as a modern day version of pulling straws or sticks when there is a task to be done but one wants to do it and the group can’t decide who should have to do it so they come up with an arbitrary way of choosing a person and this is generally considered a fair way of deciding such a thing.  For example, when pulling sticks usually the person who pulls the short stick has to do whatever the everyone in the group does not want to do.  Not it noses is just another game and another way of arbitrarily deciding who should have to do something.  Another version of this game/ritual is something called nose goes which is also documented in this folklore collection.  It is essentially the same game, the only difference being that instead of saying “not it noses” one would say “nose goes” before proceeding to touch their nose.

This game is typically played among friends and I have only seen it played within the high school/college student age range.  This is probably so because adults might find it too foolish to touch their noses in order to get out of doing something.  It is also fun to play because it is sort of like a competition of speed and to me seems to resemble the childhood saying “Last one there is a rotten egg”.  Not is noses draws on childhood memories and plays into this whole idea of not being the last person, and to be last is not a good thing, which could also explain its popularity and appeal to many people.