Katie and I had a heated discussion the night before last. We were sitting on the couch watching Jon Stewart when she noticed a large, apparently cancerous growth sticking out of the bottom of my foot. She asked what the big lump in my sock was. "That's my toe," I responded, nonplussed. I had crossed my first and second toes, causing a lump to protrude from the bottom of my sock.
Katie was quite alarmed. "You can cross your toes?"
"Sure, can't you? Everyone can cross their toes!"
"Of course I can't cross my toes. Who can cross their toes?"
And I confirmed that Katie could not, in fact, cross her toes. Even manipulating her toes with my fingers, I could not get her toes to stay crossed. She just has very short toes.
That led, of course, into a discussion of who was the freak. Were my long, crossable toes abnormal, or were her stubby, uncrossable phalanges the outliers?
In case you're confused, here are some pictures. First, of my very ugly (according to Katie) feet in resting position:
I can cross in one direction. . .:
. . . and the other:
I did a search for "cross toes" in the medical literature. Sadly, the most relevant report I found was from a plastic surgery journal on a polydactyly patient with eight toes. It was not much help:
A search of the whole internet did yield some relevant but very limited results on toe crossing, which seem to give me the early edge:
Poll #1: 13 can cross, 2 cannot.
Poll #2: 3 can cross, 0 cannot.
Help us out! Can you cross your toes? Tell us in the comments, please! Please also forward this link to all of your friends, family, and acquaintances. I want to create a more authoritative sampling in answer to this question than is currently available on the web. For science!
Katie was quite alarmed. "You can cross your toes?"
"Sure, can't you? Everyone can cross their toes!"
"Of course I can't cross my toes. Who can cross their toes?"
And I confirmed that Katie could not, in fact, cross her toes. Even manipulating her toes with my fingers, I could not get her toes to stay crossed. She just has very short toes.
That led, of course, into a discussion of who was the freak. Were my long, crossable toes abnormal, or were her stubby, uncrossable phalanges the outliers?
In case you're confused, here are some pictures. First, of my very ugly (according to Katie) feet in resting position:
I can cross in one direction. . .:
. . . and the other:
I did a search for "cross toes" in the medical literature. Sadly, the most relevant report I found was from a plastic surgery journal on a polydactyly patient with eight toes. It was not much help:
A search of the whole internet did yield some relevant but very limited results on toe crossing, which seem to give me the early edge:
Poll #1: 13 can cross, 2 cannot.
Poll #2: 3 can cross, 0 cannot.
Help us out! Can you cross your toes? Tell us in the comments, please! Please also forward this link to all of your friends, family, and acquaintances. I want to create a more authoritative sampling in answer to this question than is currently available on the web. For science!
Yes, I can cross them both ways :)
ReplyDeleteI can't, but my brother definitely can! I think he does double crossing, or some such freakish thing.
ReplyDeleteI can. If memory serves, however, Craig cannot.
ReplyDeleteAdrian's right. My toes are quite stubby, in fact, compared to most. J-Mo, I notice you have Morton's toe...
ReplyDeleteI can, and often do in idle moments when I'm not paying attention. Both ways.
ReplyDeleteBoth ways, both feet. Mendelian disorder?
ReplyDeleteI can, I think my SO can't. I can also cross my little toes over the one next to them, which my SO thinks is very odd.
ReplyDeleteI can cross my toes -- both feet, both ways.
ReplyDeleteI can! Both ways! But I figure you must have too much time on your hands. Pictures & all!
ReplyDeleteMichael, like you I too can cross my toes. I also find them to be useful at picking things up.
ReplyDeleteI think these results are biased. Assume that I'm correct and the toe-crossers are freaks. Then, they are much more likely to respond than those of us who feel no need for validation. Further, lest you think my supposed "short" toes are unattractive, I promise to provide some photos of my own as I have photos of my feet--and of me admiring my feet--going back decades.
ReplyDeleteNot so anonymous. :D
DeleteI can do it with my right, but not my left foot! (liz)
ReplyDeleteCan I - of course I can, why can't you Katie...
ReplyDeleteFreaks all of you -
just teasing ya think...
I can cross my baby toe over my one beside it. Only with my right foot though.
ReplyDeleteMe too! :D
Deleteand i thought i was the only one.....
Your feet aren't ugly at all, your toenails could do with a bit of TLC but I'd love to suck your toes.
ReplyDeleteI can't, but my son can cross both ways.
ReplyDeleteI cannot, but my son can cross them on both feet.
ReplyDeleteToo funny, I just had this conversation and had to Google it. I thought my boyfriend was abnormal however I see he has a special talent..
ReplyDeleteI can on both feet! I can even cross my pinkie toe over my fourth toe on my right foot.
ReplyDeleteI can cross my big toe and my pinkie toe both ways.
ReplyDeleteThat's a rare one. Seems like two above can do it too. I need subcategories of crossing abilities.
DeleteMee too, i can too :)
DeleteI can and do it all the time! And, I had a similar conversation with my wife many years ago, because she apparently cannot.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's better to know how.
DeleteI can cross my toes and make the stay there without trying. My toes are really curved, especially my fourth one, and I can cross it over the third without any effort, and simply moving one toe over the other to make it stick.
ReplyDeleteI can cross all my toes. I can also write with them...
ReplyDeleteI cross mine all the time. It's always been a "nervous tik' I think. Sometimes they just stay crossed, in their comfort zone, Lol!
ReplyDeleteI can cross my toes on both feet and both ways
ReplyDeleteNot only I can cross both big toe and index toe in both feet (I can cross with either of them on top), I can also cross my little toe on top of my fourth toe in both feet. And can do all that at the same time. Never met anyone that can cross their little toes like me.
ReplyDeleteFun fact: Men whose second toe is longer than their big toe -- like yours -- are usually above-average in the endowment department. The condition is known as Morton's Toe. Most men have big toes that are longer than their second toes.
ReplyDeleteI can big toe over second on both feet but not the other way and I have very small feet and toes ;)
ReplyDeleteI have short toes and can cross both feet and both ways… my SO has longer toes and cannot cross at all
ReplyDeleteI can cross my big toe over my second toe on both feet, and can cross second toe over big toes on both feet. I cannot cross any other of my toes.
ReplyDelete