Of Nose Goes!
- A Crazy Little Bird Told Me
- Nov 3, 2024
- 2 min read
Yet another wonder of cultural differences that I discovered through a chat with my boss, who is American. Let’s not get into the why we were having that particular conversation though!
The fact remains that when she sent me the GIF of a man touching its nose, accompanied by a “I’m not it” comment, we realised there was a serious gap in my culture, and so obviously, here went another, albeit tiny, rabbit hole!
I scratched my head, trying to recall whether I ever played such game growing up in France, but I came up empty. I asked around, unknown in Canada or Singapore, and as far as I know in Europe (but somebody might prove me wrong!).
The origin of the game, whether it be when, why or where, seems to be a mystery, even though it is commonly accepted as an American phenomenon.
How do you play that game, and what is the purpose, now those questions we can answer!
According to Scott Berkun website, the game is used when there is a task to be done or a bill to pay, that no one wants to handle. The rules are pretty simple, provided you pay attention (having your nose in your phone rather than engaging socially with the people around you will ensure your defeat!):
At any time, anyone can put their finger on their own nose.
This signals everyone paying attention to do the same.
The last person to put their finger on their nose loses and gets assigned the task.
Think about it as an equivalent of you snooze you lose!
Now, if that wasn’t odd enough on its own, variants of this game exist:
"Get Down, Mr. President", used in the US, where the last person in a group to touch their ear, as you see Service Secret agents do, is tackled to the ground by the other players (the outcome does seem slightly more violent for the loser than Nose Goes!)
“Bags Not”, used in Australia and New Zealand, where players will say Bags Not! and place a thumb on their forehead, with the last person to do it losing; I am not clear what the loser get to do though, do something, get tackled or being fed to crocs!
Now for a similar gesture found in Europe, and even used by the hobbits in the Lord of the Ring, we have the tapping of a finger on the side of your nose. According to the website Superlinguo, that gesture is known in the UK, Malta and some areas of Italy, France and Belgium and vary in meaning, from sniffing out trouble, being clever or knowing a secret. Once again though, nobody seems to know the origin of this practice!
So, what is the conclusion you will ask? Well, if you are ever in the US and you don’t want to pay the bill in a restaurant, pay attention and tap your nose fast my friend. Oh, and stay away from “Get Down, Mr President” if you want to avoid broken bones!
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