Which do you prefer?

[dragon_mando]

Short. I tried long fingernails once just to see what it was like and found I had to relearn how to do EVERYTHING. Plus my guitar became useless (not like I really knew how to play more than a couple chords anyway). I keep mine all short now except for my left pinkie which I'm growing out a bit so I can get back into Asian fingerpainting.

[Xbcdrt8741]

I like it when my fingernails don't go past my fingertips. Then it's gaudy, unnecessary, and impossible to do stuff like type.

I recently stopped biting my nails and I'm used to them being short P:

[Smelz]

definitely (with an I, not an A) short, never had long, never will

[Lagie]

I like mine longish. They're handy for folding the origami cranes I do. I generally let them grow as long as they will until three break and then cut them all short and start over. It takes a day or two to readjust to typing with short nails when I cut them. When I'm working in a library, I have to keep them short as reshelving the books is inclined to break them more easily.

[evilbunny405]

My nickname at school is 'Claws'.

It's actually funny, people ask me whether it's hard to hold a pencil. So I sarcastically rant about how it is a horrible disability that I must overcome. Then they leave me alone.

There are mixed reactions: Gross, weird, cool, and my personal favorite - terror.

As for cleanliness? Simple. When one nail gets dirty, use another nail to scrape it clean. The nail on the opposite hand is the perfect tool for this. Shot nails are harder to clean, in my opinion.

Typing? I clearly have no problems.

Self defensive: Extremely effective. Though there are consequences if you manage to draw blood....De-clawing....

If you paint them you have a larger workspace.

Another question I get is 'How do you get them that long?' Don't bite them, avoid manual labor whenever possible. And drink milk. Thats supposed to strengthen nails.

/end long nail promotional advertisement.

[LadyLyzar]

As a pianist, I can only tolerate fingernails until they start clicking on the piano keys. Then they drive me crazy, and I wind up ripping them all off.

 

I don't mind people with long nails though, but for me they just get in the way. I tried fake nails once and got rid of them ASAP.

[Kumiho]

Same for me. It's simply impossible to play classical piano properly with long fingernails.

[Stromboli]

Yeah... between needing short fingernails on my right hand for tuba, my left hand for cello, and both for piano, my nails stay short.

 

Long fingernails just kind of gross me out though. Not sure why. D:

[Alpha Gryph]

No preference here. I don't care about the length of my nails and I don't find one length more attractive than the other.

 

Mine are usually short though, lol. Darn biting habit. =/

[TCA]

Anytime my nails get long enough to touch my pencil or my violin strings, I start feeling incredibly anxious until I cut (or more often chew) them down as far as I can without hurting myself. Other people bug me about keeping them so short, but I hate the way it feels to have long nails. Any dirt that gets under there, I can use a piece of paper folded in half to clean it out because it's so little area to get at. And, as a result of not carrying around nail clippers, if I am given a couple of minutes to do so I can completely smooth out the edge of the nail with my teeth, making it as sleek as if cut with clippers. And sharper too- I haven't drawn blood with them yet, but I probably could.

[Kaynight]

I have an awful habit of chewing my finernails which means they're always short.

[Goslander]

Short. I find long fingernails to be creepy and gross. When I was little I would hide from my mother whenever she had long nails, which thankfully wasn't often.

Edited May 12, 2011 by Goslander

[Switch]

Looong. D: I like how it looks.

 

I had to cut my nails really short recently, though. >.< Hate it.

[Omen]

I like my nails around medium length, not too long and not too short. Short nails annoy me because it makes me feel like the top of my fingers were chopped off (minus the pain of course). Plus, my fingernails tend to break easily, so long fingernails only last a few days before they get torn off or clipped.

[Crisis]

I don't mean really long, but long enough... Because when I cut my nails, I can't do anything. I'll try and text and hit every button on the keyboard... Does anyone else get that way?

[Shienvien]

I don't mean really long, but long enough... Because when I cut my nails, I can't do anything. I'll try and text and hit every button on the keyboard... Does anyone else get that way?

Well, I use my mainly nails on the rare occasions I am doing something on the cell phone, but it isn't by far the only thing I use my nails for. Pick something small up/out, turn the pages on the book, open one of those tin cans... It all is very hard to accomplish with short nails, at least to me. My fingers simply start to feel blunt, short and clumsy without.

Mine've been practically constantly fairly (but not too) long for over the past decade, hence...

[Pink]

Well, I use my mainly nails on the rare occasions I am doing something on the cell phone, but it isn't by far the only thing I use my nails for. Pick something small up/out, turn the pages on the book, open one of those tin cans... It all is very hard to accomplish with short nails, at least to me. My fingers simply start to feel blunt, short and clumsy without.

Mine've been practically constantly fairly (but not too) long for over the past decade, hence...

Same with me.

I feel handicapped without my nails.

I don't use them to type, but with so many other things... they're just useful.

One thing I find particularly difficult with short nails is opening soda cans.

I always have to open them for people who don't have fingernails. It takes me about .2 seconds with long/longish fingernails as opposed to the 2-3 minutes without.

 

[ksew]

I prefer short.

it's so uncomfortable with long nails and I always get them broken

[Infinis]

Long nails o3o

 

My thumb and index finger nails can get to around a half inch long without breaking, cracking, peeling, etc. 83 And I type with said index finger nails all the time too...I'm surprised they DON'T break

 

Suddenl;y cutting my nails short screws up so much for me. I have to get used to typing without long nails again @_@ It's a weird feeling when they aren't long anymore. :x

[wonton55912]

I chew mine, so it's impossible for me to keep the long nails I want.

[Shienvien]

Say, I have natural nails and mine never break- which is a thing that largely depends on one's genetics, general health and whether or not one polishes/etc. the nails. (Nail polish, especially if worn constantly, makes them significantly more fragile.)

I've burnt/melt off my nails a few times, though, unintentionally- if I didn't have them then my fingers would either be shorter or lacking fingerprints by now.

 

I am actually curious on how the long fingernails can get in the way, unless they are truly past half an inch in length? I've had nails this long in the past (currently more around 1/5 of an inch.) and neither handling more complicated tools or climbing on the cliffs those got in the way, not to speak about more mundane tasks. (In the case of some of which, like mentioned, those actually are helpful.)

[-platinum-draco-]

I have very long fingernails. I feel weird without them. I don't keep them long purposefully, they just grow fast and break scarcely.

 

Longest is about 1/4 inch, shortest broke recently and is about a millimeter, maybe two.

[Moonlightelf]

Long, they absolutely have to be long on my case. I just can't live with stubs...

 

Often my mom, though, tells me to cut my talons. She just doesn't understand that I become almost... imcapable. Feels too weird to suddenly not be able to do pick up that small needle same way as I do with nails.

 

As for fingernails being too long for typing... nay. I don't get why people complain about nails touching the keys... wrong typing-technique, I presume...

 

Either way, I've had long nails as long as I can remember. I just never bothered with cutting them... and my mom usually has to pull my hand to the clippers before they get that short... and that is usually after she actually mentions about it...

 

Of course... I've also heard from her that whenever I give or take something from her, I scratch her. I don't do that intentionally, but if someone can't accept my little claws... I don't care. They just have to get used to it, since I'd feel naked without my long nails.

 

Anyways... I don't take care of my nails that much. Yet still I manage to grow them up to 9mm. But the average is usually 5-7mm on my nails. As for dirt... I scrape it with my other hand's nails.

[Ilera]

Used to hate cutting my nails. Now they're ridiculously short. I guess my piano-player mother finally drilled it into me. I don't have any reason aside from having even middling-length fingernails drives me nuts.

[faeiri]

I've played the violin since I was about four. I tried growing my nails longer last summer, just to see - it felt horrible, and I had to cut them.