Why do we bite our nails?

[shkrobius]

Why is nailbiting so common? Not piking one's nose or poking one's eye, but specifically biting one's nails? It is said that 30% of kids and 45% teenagers are nailbiting. It is unlikely that it stops there. When people are stressed it provides relief, and when they get bored it provides stimulation. Most of the ideas I found are meaningles

Comments

[shkrobius]

Weren't they dividied on the issue?

R. Eliezer said, 'She shall cut them'. R. Akiba said, 'She shall let them grow'. R. Eliezer said: An act was mentioned in respect of the head, and an act was mentioned in respect of the nails; as the former signifies removal, so does the latter also signify removal. R. Akiba said: An act was mentioned in respect of the head and an act was mentioned in respect of the nails; as disfigurement is the purpose of the former so is disfigurement the purpose of the latter. The following, however, supports the view of R. Eliezer: And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and he had neither dressed his feet, nor had he done 'his beard; by 'doing' removal was meant. http://www.come-and-hear.com/yebamoth/yebamoth_28.html

R. Eliezer is obviously right: just how much "disfigurement" can one produce in a woman by growing nails for a full month? I bet R. Akiba had no clear idea, given his unusual marital situation.

[idelsong]

Exactly. The aristocratic R. Eliezer thought that she should cut the nails, and the plebeian R. Akiva thought the contrast. Rashi has chosen the latter.