“食指”跟食物有什么关系？

Q:

Why is the forefinger (食指) called shizhi in Chinese?

A:

The name shizhi is a bit different from the other fingers, such as damuzhi (thumb), xiaozhi (little finger) and zhongzhi (middle finger). The name has nothing to do with the size or location (位置) of the forefinger. It refers to food. Shi means “food” in Chinese – therefore, shizhi means “food finger”.