Body Language

Hand to chin........................................................................................

The chin resting on the top of the hand is a sign of thinking: The person’s

pondering something. The thumb under the chin with the index finger point-

ing up the side of the face signals that an evaluation is being made. She’s lis-

tened and now she’s making an assessment.

Recent photographs of Hilary Rodham Clinton show her posing in the evalua-

tion posture, with her chin resting on her thumb and her index finger point-

ing up her chin. The pose indicates that she’s weighing up the merits of the

argument.

164 Part III: The Trunk: Limbs and Roots

Biting fingernails

If you ever work in intelligence you’re told to

observe people’s mannerisms. Mannerisms are

a sure sign to a person’s state of being and are

more difficult to disguise than facial features.

Mannerisms are so entrenched that eliminating

them is hard, whereas facial features can be

fairly easily changed. During any assessment of

another person look to her hands to see what

they’re like.

Doctors examine a patient’s fingernails with the

same amount of care and attention as they look

at the face and the eyes. Any irregularity,

including shape and colour, is evidence of

physical poor health and psychological stress

and anxiety.

Nails bitten or picked to the quick lead to

brachyonychia, a condition in which the width

of the nail plate and nail bed is greater than the

length. If any of the nails, especially the thumb,

have been sucked they may show teeth mark-

ings. These are signals that someone is experi-

encing extreme tension. It’s doubtful that she

confines her stress behaviours to nail biting

alone. From the look of Gordon Brown’s finger-

nails, Britain’s Prime Minister is a regular nail

bitter.