We all wink, some more than others, but at some point in our lives we have all winked at least once. At Wink Bingo we thought it might be interesting to research into how and why people wink and if there are any weird and wonderful underlying reasons why we do it and what other people perceive this facial expression as.
We have found this insight into the world of winking really interesting. Take a look at what we discovered:
What Can A Wink Be Used To Signal?
A wink can be used in so many different ways that we often don’t think about it. It can be used to signify:
Flirting
If a guy winks at you and then smiles, this is a clear flirting signal. It is completely up to you whether you want to smile (and even wink) back!
Mutual Knowledge
People tend to wink at each other if they share certain knowledge or information as a sign that the two involved know what the ‘message’ is. This is often used if there are, for example, three people and one of them is deceiving or teasing another, the person doing the teasing or lying can wink at the third person to signal their mischief to them. If you ever use this…make sure you don’t get caught by the person being teased or lied to! It can also be used in a jokey way if you want the person you are teasing to be aware of the situation.
Comforting
This type of winking can be used if you want to comfort someone or show your approval and can be used instead of a ‘thumbs up’. It can help settle a person’s nerves and let them know you are behind them 100%
Wink Wink
The double wink, which is often followed by someone saying ‘wink wink’, is usually done to indicate to another person that what you said just before was untrue or misleading in some way.
Click and Wink
If someone makes a clicking noise with their tongue whilst winking this usually indicates that they agree or are satisfied with what you have said or what they see. Men have been known to do this as they casually pass a girl in a bar or on the street as a flirting technique…it doesn’t work on everyone guys!
As you can see in the western world a wink is used as a flirting mechanism or when someone is joking or lying but in China, it can be seen as an offensive gesture! In Africa, parents may wink at their children to signal to them that they need to leave the room because there is a guest. It is seen as rude, in African cultures, if a child stays in a room whilst adults are talking.
Famous Winking
Winking has been used in television programmes and films from Monty Python who named a whole sketch ‘Nudge Nudge’ (after ‘wink, wink, nudge, nudge’) to Seinfield and I Robot where Will Smith teaches a robot how to wink!
Finally, two weird and wonderful facts for you…the owl is the only bird to lower its top eyelid in order to wink, all other birds raise their lower eyelids. In Ottumwa, Iowa, a man cannot wink at a woman he does not know within the city limits!
