Life With Long Fingernails Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ayanna Williams

Ayanna Williams is a nail technician from Houston, Texas, who has been growing her nails for over 20 years. When measured by the official Guinness World Records, they were an eye-watering total of 576.4 cm.

All the incorrect options are also people who are skilled at using their hands; Jennifer Pike is a British classical violinist, Ariann Black is a Canadian magician who is now based in America, and Jamie Genevieve is a Scottish make-up artist who has her own Youtube channel, to which she uploads make-up tutorials.

Answer: Nitrocellulose

Nail polish typically consists of nitrocellulose dissolved in a solvent of either ethyl acetate or butyl acetate. After applying nail varnish, the hands should be kept still until the nail varnish has dried. During this time the solvent evaporates to leave a hard glossy finish.

The incorrect options are all toxic chemicals which were once present in nail varnish but are now not used or at least only in small amounts.

Answer: Melvin Boothe

Melvin Boothe was an American man who had his fingernails measured at a combined length of 9.85 cm. His record still stands at the time of writing, 2019.

The incorrect options are all people who have also sadly passed away; Dennis Avner was also an American man, he modified his face to resemble that of a tigress and legally changed his name to "Stalking Cat". This earned him a world record for "most permanent transformations to look like an animal". He passed away in 2012. Dede Koswara was an Indonesian man who became known as "The Tree Man Of Java" due to a condition he couldn't fight off which caused warts to sprout all over his body. He passed away in 2016. Rick Genest was a Canadian model who held a world record for most tattoos of insects, and he featured in Lady Gaga's music video for her hit "Born This Way". He sadly committed suicide in 2018.

Answer: Acetone

Acetone is a powerful chemical and thus has a variety of uses, for example as a cleaning agent and a superglue remover. It can even dissolve some plastics. When removing nail varnish it basically works by getting in between the chains of nitrocellulose and thus bringing it back into its liquid state so that it can be easily wiped off.

Isobutane is the simplest alkane with a tertiary carbon atom and has uses in the petrochemical industry, and also as a refrigerant and an aerosol propellant. Cinnabar is a deep red form of mercury sulphide which can be toxic to humans, and is known for its use in decorating lacquerware in many ancient civilizations. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane is a colourless, viscous liquid that has wide uses in cosmetics.

Answer: Lee Redmond

Lee Redmond, of Salt Lake City Utah had fingernails which reached a combined total of 8.65 m at their maximum recorded length. After spending 30 years growing them, she sadly lost them in a car accident in 2009. Her record still stands at the time of writing, 2019. In an interview she maintained that although it seems like they become a part of you, and she wouldn't want to cut them off, she also said she would always say to people who commented "there's more to me than my fingernails" adding "so maybe it's time for me to prove that". She has been photographed with Melvin Boothe, the equivalent male record holder who she referred to as "my brother".

Kanchana Ketkaew is a Thai woman who earned the title "Scorpion Queen" for her feats involving scorpions, including living in a glass room containing 5320 scorpions for 33 days in 2008 and 2009, being allowed a fifteen minute toilet break every eight hours. During the course of this she was stung 13 times, and this feat earned her a world record. Cathie Jung is a world record holder for the shortest waist on a living person which at the time of measuring was 38.1 cm. Her interest in Victorian dress and corsets helped her to achieve this. Brittany Mcglone is an athlete and winner of a significant high heel race that took place in 2008 to raise money for breast cancer awareness. At the time was the world record for the largest stiletto sprint, however this has since been broken.

Answer: Purlicue

Pertinent to the title of the quiz, growing fingernails to an extraordinary length requires learning how to do everyday tasks with different parts of the hands. The purlicues come in handy when getting dressed, and also picking up clothes and other things made of fabric.

A gowpen is the hollow shape formed when the hands are cupped, like for example when someone pours food into it, a canthus is either corner of the eye where the two eyelids merge, and rheum is the scientific word for the gunk that accumulates in the corner of the eye during sleep.

Answer: Shridhar Chillal

Shridhar Chillal spent 66 years growing the nails on his left hand which were measured at an incredible combined length of 909.6 cm on 17th November 2014. He was 14 when he started growing his nails, and his reason for deciding to do this was that he accidentally broke his teacher's fingernail while playing with his friend. Both Shridhar and his teacher were upset by this, as it is a cultural tradition to grow this nail long to demonstrate caste. So when he was scolded, by his teacher, who told him he'd never committed to anything, Shridhar took this as a challenge to try and grow his fingernails. Shridhar Chillal got married, had two children and three grandchildren and worked as a photographer, using a special camera adapted for him to use easily, but he has now retired from work. His fingernails are on display at "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" museum. He said it was difficult to decide to have his nails cut, but since they would be memorialized, he felt it was the right one. His left hand his permanently handicapped, and he can neither fully close nor open his left hand. He also says it hurts to laugh. He appears in the 2019 edition of the Guinness Book Of World Records where it states his longest nail, the thumbnail is 197.8cm and thus taller than basketball player Stephen Curry.

Takeru Kobayashi is a Japanese competitive speed eater who has set numerous speed eating records, Muhammad Rashid is a Pakistani man who earned a 2018 world record for crushing 49 watermelons with his head and has held other similar records, Ashita Furman is an American man, born Keith Furman who has set over 700 official Guinness World Records - including the most records held at a particular time. He started this in 1979 and this was roughly the time when he changed his name to Ashrita which is Sanskrit for "protected by God"

Answer: A balanced diet with lots of nutrients and no exercise besides natural daily moving around

Basically the less exercise you can get away with while still maintaining healthy blood circulation is better as you don't want to risk breaking a nail. It is also essential to take greater care in life when performing tasks and gradually learn how to do things without causing damage to your nails.

Maintaining a healthy balanced diet with the right nutrients is essential for gaining strong nails, and avoid smoking and drinking or consuming any other toxic substances. There are certain foods of which the increase of in your diet will help promote nail strength. Most nuts are a good source of vitamin E and biotin. Almonds and walnuts are particularly beneficial and Brazil nuts contain zinc and selenium so these are well worth including in your diet if possible. Foods high in protein also, such as chicken and salmon, are good for your nails. If you maintain a healthy and balanced diet, your nail growth will take care of itself, at its own natural rate. However some other foods which are of noteworthy aid to nail growing are spinach which contains vitamins and folate, blueberries which are high in biotin, beef, turkey, oysters and other various seeds are a good source of zinc.

Answer: Christine Walton

Christine Walton of Las Vegas, USA had nails which were measured by Guinness World Records at an incredible cumulative length of 601.9, before she decided to cut them, thus unveiling a new record holder in 2018. Christine is also a talented singer and uses the stage name "The Duchess". She said in an interview "I never made a conscious decision to grow my nails but with all my children and the music commitments I guess it was easier to let the nails grow. Then one day I look down and they're like 9 inches long!" she also said she encouraged her children to celebrate difference as there are seven billion people on the planet and everyone's different. "To be different is a blessing".

Anne-Julie Caron is a marimbist who has won multiple awards, Lisa Gerrard is an Australian composer who has worked on many projects and has received a Golden Globe for her collaboration with Hans Zimmer on the Gladiator film score, and Ashly Covington is a hand model who has earned a successful career by letting her hands be photographed for numerous adverts.

Answer: John Waweru

John Waweru is a Kenyan man who has fingernails on his left hand which were each over 30cm long each by 2018. He said he hopes to make it into the Guinness World Records one day, and also that he is inspired by Shridhar Chillal, who is his mentor. John has built a nail salon and works as a manicurist; he earns roughly $3000 a month from letting tourists see and take photos of his fingernails.

Unfortunately, the long fingernails have restricted certain aspects of his life; he claims he can neither wash his clothes, nor cook.

He also has stopped covering his body with a duvet whilst sleeping in order to take greater care of the nails. The three incorrect options are all African poets.