arab men with long pinky nails

at first i thought it was just a fad in amman.
then i saw it again in cairo.

what’s with arab men and extra long pinky nails?
my initial thought,
men being men,
is that it’s for picking and scratching
on, in and between body part surfaces and crevices.
eww.
i even asked one of my teachers about it
who happened to have a long pinky nail.
“i don’t know why other people do it,” he said,
“but for me it’s just uncomfortable to cut my nail short.”
bogus.
i’m not the only one asking this question.
just google “long pinky nail”.
still, the answer remains a mystery.