I love to show off my tongue-rolling powers. Mostly because my boyfriend can’t do it.
While Gimmi knows there’s nothing he can do about it (either you can roll it, or you can’t, so they say), his very very adorable 4-year old baby brother is a different story. I love to curl my tongue in front of him and watch Gino try to copy me in vain. Usually he ends up frustrated and just stomps away from me. So cute.
We’ve all heard that tongue-rolling (or tongue-curling or tongue-folding) is an inherited dominant trait. If you can, then at least one of your parents can. However, research says the inheritance is not that secure, based on a 1975 study which found that identical twins don’t always share the tongue-rolling habit. So, nobody knows if it’s really inherited or not.
Another question that comes to mind is, is there a purpose to it, or an evolutionary advantage? No answer to that either, but a study in Spain showed 67% women and 64% men can roll their tongues, while another more recent internet survey suggested up to 81% people might be able to perform the feat.
Maybe I could make my own poll about that. We’ll see. For now, I’ll have fun lording my rolls over Gimmi.
Links:
Skinny on Tongue-Rolling
Tongue-Rollers Experiment
ay! ako din inggit sa mga ppl of the world na kaya mag-roll ng tongue nila. feeling ko “talented” sila (kasama ka na dun, hehe!), gifted baga, hehehe!
wish i could do that too. astig ang dating, kakaiba, hehe! 😛
hi Flisha,
hahaha isa ito sa pinaka-nakakaaliw na posts na nabasa ko. Study in tongue folding? Baka naman may study grants pa ‘yan? at saka gaano kaya katagal pinag-aralan? Once again , na-prove na naman that we are the more superior sex (lamang tayo ng 3% hehehe)
Swerte ka, you can lord it over Gim forever. Si Parts, nalulukot ang dila niya na parang lumpia.
i can also roll my tongue! i wasn’t aware not everyone could do this. something to add to the “special skills” portion of the resume, huh? i can also twist my tongue such that it stands sideways. can u? i know this is definitely something only very few people can do.
Three of my five children (all adults now) can touch their nose with their tongues.
barenaked, you could look at it this way, if 81% of us can roll our tongue that means ur in the minority, the few who have elapsed the vestigial act of tongue rolling, therefore, “more evolved than the rest of us.” hehehe just trying to find an optimistic viewpoint for your side. 😉
isabela, have u heard of the recent study made on whether the female orgasm has a valid purpose or not? there’s this scientist who claims kasi that the clitoris is “just for fun” i.e. it has no function related to reproduction (as opposed to other claims that say it “pulls” the sperm further inward). now that’s one study that boggles the mind. wonder how she got all those couples to perform in front of her? hehehe!
heids, i can too! can you twist your tongue upside down? hehehe! i do that when i feel squirmish. 🙂
abraham, they have very long tongues then! my tongue is very very short. 🙁