Is licking your fingers while eating a sign of social decay?

I'm far from the most hygienic person, at least according to most social norms. But people who lick their fingers while eating seem to be on a whole new level of degeneracy. Like, what possible reason could you have for doing that? You're going to swallow a fingerfull of bacteria, skin cells, and oil just to get an extra drop of your mayonnaise?

Is it a cost saving thing to get the most out of your jar of sauce? Or do you just love the sauce so much that you're willing to engage in socially tabboo and disgusting behaviour to show affection to it?

Here's an idea - let the food drip on your plate, then lick your plate when you're done. I think it's telling how clouted in judgement our society is that this would be considered awkward but licking your fingers, even post-covid, is widely acceptable.

I hereby request anyone who does this to stop and be normal.

Comments

  • +7

    How else am I going to get all of the bbq/pizza shapes flavouring off my fingers? Get a knife and scrape it off?!

    • +1

      Who doesn't eat shapes with chopsticks… Especially when you're gaming at the same time.

      • Amateur.

        Pro gamers use a trough so you can not miss a beat when your hands are occupied.

        Dunk your head in a bowl and whatever sticks to your tongue goes in the hole

  • +1

    Sometimes you just gotta lick ya figures because the tissue or serviettes get stuck when you try to clean them and can't really wash your hands when eating at AYCE buffets on a time limit

  • Ok, I'm a finger licker. I hate the feel of anything on my fingers so I tend to lick them clean immediately, sometimes I don't even know I'm doing it. And I eat pretty slowly and stop in between so it means my hands feel clean. I just don't like the feel. Especially if oily or salty. But then i also like eating with my hands so it's a catch 22 🤣

  • +1

    I can’t wait until licking not just my own fingers is acceptable

  • I may lick my fingers, but at least I don't lick my plate.

    Instead, I'll use my fingers to wipe up my plate, and then, lickety lick! Bacteria, dead skin cells, and oil, I welcome thee into my system.

    Sometimes I'll even re-use the plate.

    Weirdly enough, I haven't been bed-ridden sick in over a decade. Possibly nearly two.

  • wash your hands, you filthy animal

  • I routinely rub my butthole with my fingers then lick them

  • +2

    Wtaf…oh slavoz 🙄

  • -3

    Is licking your fingers while eating a sign of social decay?

    No, the wearing a masks is.

    • +2

      Some people have a face that would benefit from being covered with a mask…

  • +2

    I hereby request anyone who does this to stop and be normal.

    OK discount Ben Shapiro.

  • Matter of time and place, really; you won't lick your fingers eating soup at Vue De Monde, but you will eat your fingers at a wog barbecue - I guarantee you that.

    • -4

      I'm wog. Chewing with your mouth open, taking food from other people's plate and smoking around babies are totally normal and acceptable behaviour.

      But never have I seen a wog lick their fingers while eating. You'd sooner see one of us wipe their fingers on their shirt. (I once used my girlfriend's hair, she didn't mind all that much).

      • "Chewing with your mouth open, taking food from other people's plate and smoking around babies are totally normal and acceptable behaviour."

        Don't you find your post quite ironic?

        • +2

          Don't you find your post quite ironic?

          It's part of his free online irony course.
          Enrollment is free, and the course material is just reading through many of his responses/posts.
          Thankfully the test at the end of the course is pretty easy…

  • +2

    People being concerned about these things are a sign that the recession hasn't hit hard enough yet.

  • +1

    I lick almost all the way down to my elbows.

  • +1

    Agreed, especially the mf'ers who do it & then go back for more chips at a house party etc. without washing their filthy paws. Have we learnt nothing people.

    • It is fine if you take say chips with cutlery that is hygienic (tongs etc) and then use your paws or cutlery.

      I do have to agree that some people seem to think they are alright. Until some disease is festering in their body unknown.

  • Can we have a poll? I want to see hard numbers on this topic.

    Would a large number of "no" responses spawn a new thread about society decaying so much that people don't think about the decay?

  • +1

    lip my stocking

  • +2

    Is this the most emotionally fragile whinge yet on Ozbargain?

  • In other news, society is decaying from Slavoz licking his lips in public.

  • +1

    Finger lickin' good is literally used by a major fast-food chain because it's such a common thing. After I finish licking my fingers after every meal, I go around the table trying to sneak a lick of other people's fingers.

    • -3

      That same fast food chain has a known white supremacist/KKK sweetheart as its namesake and mascot.

      Let's not back their decisions with any sort of credibility.

  • Not surprised. I see disgusting people at shopping centres who lick the same figers they used to cart around supermarket trolleys.

    • Did you lick my fingers? LOL

      • are you angry?

        • I will if you lick my fingers…

          • @[Deactivated]: haha clearly someone is very angry and agitated. maybe stay off the internet kid. it will do a world of good for your mental health.

            • @keejoonc: maybe stay off the keyboard boy. it will do your keyboard a world of good lol.

              • @[Deactivated]: I have no interest in wasting my time with an angry kid. I've said my piece so ciao :)

                "Its just under those dreaded 45% tax bracket. they all tried to avoid paying 45% on the dollar…"

                • @keejoonc: Wrong thread, this is about licking my fingers. LOL.

  • swallow a fingerfull of bacteria, skin cells, and oil

    If you wash or sanitize your hands before eating there will be no bacteria on your hands. Skin cells and oil is harmless and will be also no existing after washing if you take care of your fingers.

    You are making it a bigger problem than it is.

  • KFC in America pretty much agrees with you.

    Introducing Finger Sporks!

  • Who licks my fingers did you say?

  • At the risk of being sent to the naughty corner ……. but is someone going to tell the OP about rimming?

  • That's why people these days have such weak immune systems…. Your hand is probably cleaner than a lot of things….

  • +1

    As you said, you're far from the most hygienic person.
    Most people wash their hands before eating. You should try it you feral!

    Bet you're also one of those people who doesn't use a bidet. Just craps in the toilet then smears their bum with leftover faeces, leaving it to crust up and wash off hours later.

  • Hey OP, if you have ever kissed(French, smooch, cheeck, neck or wherever it might have been, lets not go into the detail), then licking your own fingers should be least of your worries.

  • I lick my fingers while I'm eating because it's sexy. If the ladies know I don't mind a few extra skin cells in my mouth when I'm eating then, well, they know I like eating.

  • Tell us your thoughts on eating a*** OP.

    • -1

      Are you sexually aroused by your food?

      You should talk to someone about that. I love eating beef but that don't mean I'm gonna eat a cow's ass.

  • +1

    What is this stupidity?

    If your dining at quay.. no don't lick your fingers..

    Eating BBQ ribs at hurricanes.. go for it..

    Wtf is this question..

    Genz are all about eating ass, I'm sure they don't care at all.

  • +1

    Finger licking good.

  • +1

    I was scared that the comments section will be full of people agreeing with OP. I'm so glad he's gotten his ass handed over to him. Faith in society restored.

  • +1

    No. In these high inflation times you’re obviously one of those rich people who can afford cutlery,

  • Dude. You eat with your fingers in so many countries. In India eating with fingers is akin to respecting your food and body. You might be caught in a hygiene illusion. Wash your hands before eating but eating with your fingers adds to your experience of food

  • +1

    If food wasn't sharing, no problem from me.

    Besides licking fingers while eating, licking fingers while flipping pages is absolutely NO from me! I witnessed people did that on magazines in clinic waiting room! 🙅

  • Ok so op doesnt lick vagina because its even worse. I magine kissing someone, all the bacteria that isnt even his !! Disgusting. Good to know.

    You think food you buy at resturants is clean lol ?Most Bacteria gets digested in your stomachs acid.

    • Such a terrible habit. Vaginas are self cleansing after all.

      • -3

        Vaginas are self cleansing after all.

        Ummm…no pretty sure they need to be washed manually.

        Please ladies, don't listen to this guy. It's important to wash.

        • +1

          As a dr, i can confirm CauseNEffect is correct. Wash skin/body yes, vagina no

          • -3

            @May4th: Huh, you are correct. I did a Google search and it says you should never wash the inside of the vagina. I stand corrected on my use of terminology. What I meant was that women should wash the actual touch-able part of their vagina, ie the the squished salami looking part (aka the labia and clitoris).

            Then again, the same websites also say that men could have vaginas so not sure about their credibility.

            • +2

              @SlavOz: Yeah, and this from the guy who suggested parents should teach their kids sex-ed, not teachers…

              • -1

                @spackbace: Dude if your sex involves cleaning a vagina, I think we might be on the wrong page here.

        • +7

          no pretty sure

          Well, sit down and listen ladies..
          Dr SlavOz is here to teach you about your own bodies……
          No vagina, no children, but an expert in all related matters ……

          • +1

            @SBOB: It's ok, he Googled it and confirmed that the doctor in indeed correct. Thank the heavens we have slavoz around to fact check…

    • -1

      I appreciate the laugh but this is an absurd comparison. Eating food and eating vagina are 2 different things intended for 2 different purposes. One is for survival and sustenance, the other is for sexual pleasure.

      Hardly surprising that people's standards might change depending on the context. There is no way of showing affection and enjoying companionship without sharing germs, so I don't mind. But eating doesn't require germs. We've worked very hard as a species to develop the tools and knowledge that allow us to bypass bacteria and ingest food safely.

      • everything we put into our mouth has germs..in fact our gut and skin is full of them

        • -1

          So why wear a mask or get vaccinated then?

          • +1

            @SlavOz: some bacterias aka germs cause illnesses. others are commensal or destroyed by our body's defence system such as stomach acid. viruses aren't considered germs and can cause infections. masks and vaccinations reduce risk of infections

            • -2

              @May4th: But our bodies already have ways of fighting viruses and infections. That's what the immune system is for. It was designed specifically to stamp out viruses.

              Of course sometimes it fails, just like stomach acid can fail to kill all the bacteria and you can still get very sick.

              • @SlavOz: Is that what happened to you?

            • +1

              @May4th: Don't bring logic and facts into the arguement, you;ll never hear the end of it.

      • We've worked very hard as a species to develop the tools and knowledge that allow us to bypass bacteria and ingest food safely

        What are you going to do when you find out that microorganism cells outweigh your own by about 10 to 1….

        You're literally a walking germ factory….

  • They had to fight for our right to party … now its time to fight for the right to lick our fingers

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha5KihNIDCI

  • thanks slavoz for free entertainment. Does not even require 349 turkish lira for free fun

  • so you want to ruin someone's moment of enjoyment just because it disgusts you?

  • +3

    I'm just going to go ahead and keep licking whatever I want to lick.

    • …so long as you have legal consent :-p

  • I kind of get where SlavOz is coming from with the original post - I know a few people that do this regularly. Including someone who seems to get Gastro more than anyone I have ever met in my life.

    They have two things that I believe contribute to this:

    1. They eat with their hands mostly and proudly don't wash their hands before eating pretty much regardless of where they've been… according to them this builds up their immunity (despite being one of the regularly sickest people I have known for years, lol yeah it's really working!); and
    2. They noisily lick every single finger and thumb almost the full length on both hands after eating basically every time.

    It's the combination of the two that bothers me, as naturally they don't wash their hands/fingers afterward either, and given they go out on social and business lunches, it just seems wrong in a post-covid world to then handle communal things with your spit slicked fingers, shake hands saying goodbye etc …it's a habit, disgusting, and it bugs me when I see it quite regularly…. they may as well just skip straight to licking public toilet door knobs and other people's hands!

  • Bro is on some jokeman things 🤣💀

  • +5

    Imagine going through life being this guy.

  • I always wondered about the education of these hygiene freaks who has got no credible foundation on how they argue. For an instant, the OP is talking about bacterias that could go from his fingers to his mouth (the fingers you are supposed to wash often) then don't seem to think about food itself which would have ten times more bacterias. They all think as if bacterias choose to land on people's fingers for some odd reason. Lol. Living beings we can't see from naked eye are everywhere. On your food, hands, mouth, lips, water you drink etc.. No matter how clean they 'look' they are there. And they're not necessarily bad either. We all have numerous living beings inside our stomach for God's sake.. The lack of education and ignorance of some of us is astounding.. If anything, finger licking may look disgusting for some (I don't like it myself) but it's just my stereotype self that I don't like to see it. I don't put 'hygenic' reasons to justify that. That's dumb and baseless.

    • +2

      What I'm puzzled about is OP down playing a virus, even going as far as wanting to catch it, but freaking out over bacteria from licking fingers.
      I guess science can be scary when you don't understand it and start making things up in your head to make sense.

      • exactly.

  • A lot of cultures eat with their hands, inc Indian…

    • +2

      I'm from Sri Lanka and we eat by hand. But finger-licking is considered indecent. In fact, if food goes above the distal of each finger (which would be a difficult thing for many if not trained properly) that's considered a sign of 'bad upbringing'. But I've seen friends from our neighboring India eat (using hands) but with a very different set of rules (not sure finger-licking is considered alright over there). Not saying one is better than the other but simply the fact that I don't like it is purely how I was taught and brought up. I wouldn't try to justify that using fake 'scientific' facts. LOL. Now that I'm in a very relaxed country with fewer judging people (thank goodness), I'd gladly finger lick if the food is sooo good. Why not?

  • No, its not a sign of social decay. But people who are actually troubled by it, that might be a sign

  • id say its fine if youre wearing patagonia

  • Like, what possible reason could you have for doing that?

    1. To clean my fingers, so….
    2. Not to smear food/sauce/oil on my clothes, furniture, my car steering wheel, etc.

    What possible reason could you have for leaving food dripping from your fingers? You clean your fingers because your mouth removes nearly all the greasiness until you can get to soap and water. And you do it while eating so you don't have to get up and do that every 10 seconds.

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