Name: Finger princess.
Age: The term circulated this month, but the behaviour has been escalating across digital communication for some time.
Appearance: Someone you know well enough to share a group chat with.
Who?! You tell me. A “finger princess” is the person in the group chat who asks questions that they could easily answer themselves.
Oh, I know exactly who that is. Yes, everyone knows at least one: “What time are we meeting tonight?” “What’s the best way to get there?” “Am I bringing the pasta salad?”
Why don’t they just scroll up through earlier messages? Or Google it? Well, that’s the question. It’s just as much effort for you to find the info as it is for them.
So they’re just being lazy? They might not think so, but the name jokes that they’re too precious to lift a finger to make a simple search.
Where did it come from? Korea, originally – “finger princess” is a direct translation of “ping-peu”.
It’s not only women, surely? No, you can also be a “finger prince”.
Very modern. So who do we have to thank for bringing this to our attention? It was shared by a Korean slang account on Instagram, then picked up by digital media sites like Self and Slate.
What do they have to say about it? Well, Self says it’s a “friendship red flag”.
Ah, another one of those. Sure, it’s annoying, but is it really all that bad? The odd question, of course not, but if it’s a pattern, it may suggest a sense of entitlement. “They’re used to others doing things for them,” a counsellor told Self.
They only asked for the address to the restaurant! Yes, but if it takes you just as long to look it up as it does them, then they’re outsourcing emotional labour, you see.
What if they want advice, or a personal recommendation? That’s different. This is about adults who wilfully refuse to take initiative.
Has anyone bravely owned up to being one of these deadweight friends? Yes. An Australian blogger confessed to being one, and described to her group chat for help with a power outage as a “humbling reality check”: “I am a walking, talking red flag.”
In fairness, that sounds like it might be a job for a qualified electrician. Well, you could argue that this whole issue stems from the immediacy of digital communication, making it easy to fire off texts without thinking. Instead of finger-pointing at our finger-princess friends, we could probably all stand to be a bit more mindful of what we’re asking of others.
Exactly! Don’t people like to feel useful, anyway? That sounds like something a finger princess would say.
Don’t say: “Here is the pdf menu you requested, Your Royal Highness.”
Do say: “Let me Google that for you.”
