Steepled fingers

[Oliver Cromm]

From the book by David Weber, On Basilisk Station:

| She steepled her fingers under her jaw in her favorite thinking
| posture [...]

I have a vague image, but do we know exactly what gesture this
"steepling" is?

[Reinhold {Rey} Aman]

Post by Oliver Cromm
| She steepled her fingers under her jaw in her favorite
| thinking posture [...]
I have a vague image, but do we know exactly what gesture
this "steepling" is?

Yes: /\

[Reinhold {Rey} Aman]

Post by Reinhold {Rey} Aman

Post by Oliver Cromm
| She steepled her fingers under her jaw in her favorite
| thinking posture [...]
I have a vague image, but do we know exactly what gesture
this "steepling" is?

Yes: /\

E.g.: http://www.dreamwidth.org/userpic/2363872/1385839

[R H Draney]

Post by Reinhold {Rey} Aman

Post by Reinhold {Rey} Aman

Post by Oliver Cromm
| She steepled her fingers under her jaw in her favorite
| thinking posture [...]
I have a vague image, but do we know exactly what gesture
this "steepling" is?

Yes: /\

E.g.: http://www.dreamwidth.org/userpic/2363872/1385839

More iconically:

Loading Image...

....r

[Oliver Cromm]

Post by Reinhold {Rey} Aman

Post by Reinhold {Rey} Aman

Post by Oliver Cromm
| She steepled her fingers under her jaw in her favorite
| thinking posture [...]
I have a vague image, but do we know exactly what gesture
this "steepling" is?

Yes: /\

E.g.: http://www.dreamwidth.org/userpic/2363872/1385839

That's what I thought, but the "under the jaw" part gave me
doubts. Most people do it in front, like in all the pictures
posted.

I assumed that "under the jaw" would not be "under the chin", or
he would have written that.

Now I found a natural way to do it under the jaw, that's when I
lift my head - following a turn of the eyes towards the ceiling.
That's for rather intense thinking alright.

Other things could be natural for "her", of course.

[Glenn Knickerbocker]

Post by Oliver Cromm
I assumed that "under the jaw" would not be "under the chin", or
he would have written that.

I'd interpret "under the chin" as more likely meaning in the fleshy part
behind the jaw.

¬R

[Oliver Cromm]

Post by Glenn Knickerbocker

Post by Oliver Cromm
I assumed that "under the jaw" would not be "under the chin", or
he would have written that.

I'd interpret "under the chin" as more likely meaning in the fleshy part
behind the jaw.

When I search for "under the jaw" on the Net, it's pretty much all
about the lymph nodes, and "under the jaw" is more often used as a
location for these than "under the chin". I had never thought
about where "under the jaw" is before this, but that fits to my
image.

[Dr Nick]

Post by Oliver Cromm
| She steepled her fingers under her jaw in her favorite thinking
| posture [...]
I have a vague image, but do we know exactly what gesture this
"steepling" is?

Here's the church, and here's the steeple
Open the doors and see the people
Here's the parson going upstairs
And here he is, saying his prayers

I think it can either be all the fingers or just the index.

[Tom McCreadie]

Post by Dr Nick

Post by Oliver Cromm
| She steepled her fingers under her jaw in her favorite thinking
| posture [...]
I have a vague image, but do we know exactly what gesture this
"steepling" is?

Here's the church, and here's the steeple
Open the doors and see the people
Here's the parson going upstairs
And here he is, saying his prayers
I think it can either be all the fingers or just the index.

To me, extending just the index fingers would be the more accurate
representation of "steepling': For the three rear fingers interlocked simulate
the church roof, and the extended, touching index fingers simulate the steeple -
typically at the end of the church. (i recall often acting out that rhyming
finger-game as a child.)

But I suspect that the image iintended by the writer was that of those posted
pics ("tenting"). I also think that that "tenting" is a more common body
language than "interlocked steepling".

[Horace LaBadie]

Post by Oliver Cromm
| She steepled her fingers under her jaw in her favorite thinking
| posture [...]
I have a vague image, but do we know exactly what gesture this
"steepling" is?

Mr. Burns on The Simpsons. "Excellent."

Also called "tenting" of the fingers.

[Lewis]

Post by Oliver Cromm
| She steepled her fingers under her jaw in her favorite thinking
| posture [...]
I have a vague image, but do we know exactly what gesture this
"steepling" is?

Hands clasped, index fingers extended and pointing toward the chin.

Or, all five fingers extended, touching complementary fingers, like
this:

<Loading Image...>

[Mark Brader]

Post by Lewis

...do we know exactly what gesture this "steepling" is?

Or, all five fingers extended, touching complementary fingers, like
<http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lesdibXwyC1qfd6ajo1_400.png>

That's how I'd take it.

The picture is intersting: Leonard Nimoy is wearing his Spock makeup
but not his uniform. Was there an episode of the series where he
dressed like that, or was this taken on the set before or after
filming of a scene?

[bill van]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Lewis

...do we know exactly what gesture this "steepling" is?

Or, all five fingers extended, touching complementary fingers, like
<http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lesdibXwyC1qfd6ajo1_400.png>

That's how I'd take it.
The picture is intersting: Leonard Nimoy is wearing his Spock makeup
but not his uniform. Was there an episode of the series where he
dressed like that, or was this taken on the set before or after
filming of a scene?

I don't know the particular picture, but there were many episodes in
which Enterprise crew members were shown wearing clothing other than
their uniforms, sometimes to blend in on worlds they were visiting
incognito, other times for fantasy adventures on the "holodeck".

[Mark Brader]

Post by bill van

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Lewis
<http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lesdibXwyC1qfd6ajo1_400.png>

The picture is intersting: Leonard Nimoy is wearing his Spock makeup
but not his uniform. Was there an episode of the series where he
dressed like that, or was this taken on the set before or after
filming of a scene?

I don't know the particular picture, but there were many episodes in
which Enterprise crew members were shown wearing clothing other than
their uniforms, sometimes to blend in on worlds they were visiting
incognito,

In that case Spock typically had to pass for human by covering his ears
and hoping people didn't notice his greenish complexion.

Loading Image...

Of course he didn't have to do it if he was alone with Kirk, say:

Loading Image...

But I don't remember an episode where he wore short sleeves.

Post by bill van
other times for fantasy adventures on the "holodeck".

You've forgotten your history. Spock is shown as he was in the
23rd century; holodecks weren't invented until the 24th.

[bill van]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by bill van

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Lewis
<http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lesdibXwyC1qfd6ajo1_400.png>

The picture is intersting: Leonard Nimoy is wearing his Spock makeup
but not his uniform. Was there an episode of the series where he
dressed like that, or was this taken on the set before or after
filming of a scene?

I don't know the particular picture, but there were many episodes in
which Enterprise crew members were shown wearing clothing other than
their uniforms, sometimes to blend in on worlds they were visiting
incognito,

In that case Spock typically had to pass for human by covering his ears
and hoping people didn't notice his greenish complexion.

I'm fairly sure that in each applicable episode, some such thing was
indeed done.

...

Post by Mark Brader

Post by bill van
other times for fantasy adventures on the "holodeck".

You've forgotten your history. Spock is shown as he was in the
23rd century; holodecks weren't invented until the 24th.

You picked up waaaaay more detail on Star Trek than I did. I watched the
original Star Trek series (1966-69) on TV and recall it as novel and
entertaining, but 1966 was the year I started university, just in time
to be exposed to all the joys and sorrows of sex, drugs, rock and roll
and the freedoms and responsibilities that came with being in the
leading edge of the baby boom generation. All of that took so much of my
time there wasn't enough left for Trekky details.

You did remind me, though, that when I lived in Toronto (1976-81) there
was a games store at Yonge and Bloor streets called Mr. Gameway's Ark,
and a fine place it was, one of whose features was a scale replica of
the bridge of the USS Enterprise.

[Mark Brader]

Post by bill van
You picked up waaaaay more detail on Star Trek than I did.

Your confession is accepted.

Post by bill van
I watched the original Star Trek series (1966-69) on TV and recall
it as novel and entertaining, but 1966 was the year I started
university...

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-94) was the one that introduced
holodecks. I say that after a shaky first season it far surpassed the
original series -- and also the later ones -- as intelligent science
fiction.

Post by bill van
You did remind me, though, that when I lived in Toronto (1976-81) there
was a games store at Yonge and Bloor streets called Mr. Gameway's Ark,
and a fine place it was...

Yonge and Charles, more precisely. And yes, it was. We have nothing
quite like it now. The building still stands, the lower floors now
containing a McDonald's; the upper floors were a gym and may still be.

Post by bill van
one of whose features was a scale replica of the bridge of the
USS Enterprise.

And how do you know it was a replica, *Hmmmm*???!?!?!?

[CDB]

Post by bill van

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Lewis

...do we know exactly what gesture this "steepling" is?

Or, all five fingers extended, touching complementary fingers,
<http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lesdibXwyC1qfd6ajo1_400.png>

That's how I'd take it.
The picture is intersting: Leonard Nimoy is wearing his Spock
makeup but not his uniform. Was there an episode of the series
where he dressed like that, or was this taken on the set before or
after filming of a scene?

I don't know the particular picture, but there were many episodes in
which Enterprise crew members were shown wearing clothing other than
their uniforms, sometimes to blend in on worlds they were visiting
incognito, other times for fantasy adventures on the "holodeck".

The shirt has a discreetly frayed sleeve -- probably cut off --
suggesting that it's clothing, not costume. Nimoy may simply have
removed his uniform top for comfort between takes.

[Glenn Knickerbocker]

Post by Mark Brader

Post by Lewis
<http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lesdibXwyC1qfd6ajo1_400.png>

The picture is intersting: Leonard Nimoy is wearing his Spock makeup
but not his uniform. Was there an episode of the series where he
dressed like that, or was this taken on the set before or after
filming of a scene?

There were plenty of episodes where officers went incognito in local
garb. A little Google-hunting shows that this picture is from "Bread and
Circuses," set on a parallel Earth where the Roman Empire has survived
into the late Twentieth Century.

"I believe the children are our future: nasty, brutish and short."
¬R http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/dreams.poems.html \ --The Onion

[Mark Brader]

Post by Glenn Knickerbocker

Post by Lewis
<http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lesdibXwyC1qfd6ajo1_400.png>

A little Google-hunting shows that this picture is from "Bread and
Circuses," set on a parallel Earth where the Roman Empire has survived
into the late Twentieth Century.

Ah, right. Thanks. And sorry, Bill, I didn't see at first that there
was another followup parallel to yours.