Gleeking
Gleeking is the ability to projectile spit from the glands under your tongue. Often done involuntarily during eating or yawning, some people have developed the skill of unleashing their inner king cobra on command. It’s not a medical abnormality and certainly not hazardous to the overall health of your mouth, it’s just kinda gross.
The chair challenge
The chair challenge was popping up on everyone’s TikTok feed in 2019 and it’s still baffling people today, especially men. The challenge is to place your head against a wall with a chair below you, step back, pick up the chair and stand up, all while keeping your head against the wall. Sounds simple enough for everyone, yet an overwhelming majority of women do it first time, while almost all men fail. It’s all down to foot size apparently.
Sneezing with your eyes open
If you’ve ever tried to do this, you know how hard it is. It’s all down to the body’s natural defense mechanism – when the body senses a sneeze is coming, it sends a message to your brain to shut those eyes tight. This is so that your eyes are protected against any infection caused by the sneeze. People with independent control of their eyes can do it however, just not many.
The paralyzed finger trick
When you first see someone attempt this trick, you don’t believe it’s real. Trap your middle finger on a table and simply, lift up your remaining fingers one by one. Thumb, index and pinkie – no problem. It’s when you try to lift your ring finger that it becomes impossible. This is because, in most people, the tendon that holds your middle and ring finger are connected, so when one finger is compromised, it affects the other.
Performing a rose tongue
The ability to be able to roll your tongue used to be believed to be down to genetics. If your parents couldn’t do it, neither could you. This belief has been challenged though, and it’s shown that, with enough practice, most can do it. What’s more difficult are advanced tricks, such as making a rose tongue. Serious practice must go into getting this one right.
Raise a single eyebrow
Having the ability to raise a single eyebrow takes a certain level of control in your facial muscles. When attempted, most people will raise both and struggle to even move a single eyebrow independently. Maybe with enough practice and time in front of the mirror, you too can perfect the ideal Rock impersonation.
Bending your thumb all the way back
This ability is enough to make most people a little squeamish, yet it causes no pain for those who can. Being able to touch your wrist with your thumb is due to having what is known as hyper-extended joints. Though it sounds like a cool trick to have at a dinner party, having hyper-extended joints can lead to some problems, namely a higher risk of dislocations.
Crossing both sets of fingers on the same hand
The relatively simple sounding task of crossing both fingers on the same hand would surprisingly stump most people. If you cross your fingers like normal, middle over index, it’s near impossible to cross your pinkie over your ring finger at the same time. This is all down to flexibility and the strength of a person’s finger joints, something most people don’t have.
Licking your elbow
Quite why anybody would want to lick their elbow is one thing, the fact that only a few people can do it at all is another. The combination of flexible enough shoulder joints and an exceptionally long tongue are the answer to this weird exercise.
Eating a spoonful of cinnamon
Although this sounds like a pretty simple thing to do, a whole spoonful of cinnamon is a lot for the majority of people to handle. Cinnamon is hydrophobic, which means it doesn’t dissolve in water very well. This results in the cinnamon sticking to the throat when swallowed. Combine this with the spices in cinnamon and it’s easy to see why only a few can successfully pull it off.