What is this thing whereby a fully grown man decides to let their small finger nail grow to a ridiculous length? For starters, that tiny finger on your palm is also known as the "pinkie”, and the last time we checked, pink and all associations with it were feminine territory.

There was a time in the past when the pinkie finger was almost in perfect vogue for the dudes. Some of you were not born yet, because it was such a long time ago. The time when rearing a long nail on your tiny finger was in fashion, was the time it was acceptable to go to a fairly decent restaurant and strip off your shirt before delving into your meal.

The story goes that in olden day China, long finger nails were the best way to prove to all and sundry that one did not engage their fingers in lowly manual work. In other words, rearing a wild finger or two was the best indication of one’s economic status. The Chinese of then used long nails as a direct symbolism for wealth.

Rearing of a long nail on your small finger is not to be confused with having long unkempt nails on all fingers. If all your nails are unruly, we will know that you are just too damned lazy to groom.

I had an old uncle who used to keep his pinkie nail forever long and sharpened, and for reasons that were known to all; to open envelopes from his Post Office box. However, he kept all his other finger and toe nails trim. Every week or so, his wife would boil lukewarm water in which she would soak the tough, nut-cracker nails for about 20 minutes before clipping them! Only the pinkie would survive unscathed because it had envelopes to open!

Men have many reasons to grow long nails, usually depending on their job, character, likes and hobbies. Like if you have seen guitar players who use their bare fingers for the job as opposed to plucking with a plectrum, the long pinkie is inevitable. What is hard to comprehend is how some one who ekes a living from banging away at a computer keyboard still finds room for nails that stretch to eternity. I have no issues with manicured and polished nails on women as they definitely look pretty. The same nails don’t look pretty on the boys who vend airtime at street corners, but at least we know why they need them.

To me, a hardened, sharpened and long nail is to be treated as the dangerous weapon it indeed is, perhaps a sign that one is just returning from serving prison time. Otherwise, it could be that your Post Office box is still hyper-active and you still open tonnes of envelopes.

So, that long pinkie nail could actually be a sign that you still communicate through Iposita, as opposed to email.