Nick Stoeberl from Salinas, California, USA has an extremely unique, record-breaking feature.
You may not realize what it is until you go to get ice cream, though.
Nick has the world's longest tongue (male), measuring 10.1 cm (3.97 in). It's so long that it can hold five ring doughnuts!
@guinnessworldrecords Longest tongue (male) 👅 10.1 cm (3.97 in) - Nick Stoeberl 🇺🇸
♬ CALIFORNIAN DREAM - bittymacbeth
"I’ve always sort of known I’ve had a long tongue, just like you would know if your hand was bigger," said Nick.
"It was quite useful on long road trips being in the back seat and sticking out my tongue [at people]."
Funnily enough, Nick's younger brother Chad also has a very long tongue.
"Growing up we've stuck our tongue out at each other enough to be like 'hey, we've got some long tongues'."
Nowadays, Nick still sticks out his tongue quite a bit, but not to annoy his brother.
"Every time I’m introduced to someone new, they’re like 'hey this is Nick Stoeberl, he has the longest tongue in the world'."
"So upon meeting someone, immediately I just have to stick my tongue out at them."
He also finds his tongue useful for everyday tasks, like if he accidently gets some ketchup on his cheek – while others would need to use a napkin, Nick can just whip out his tongue.
"One of the most useful things my tongue offers is not having to use a napkin. It’s eco-friendly."
In addition to this useful trick, Nick says that his tongue aids him with lots of other things.
"My tongue is useful for a lot of the conventional things you would think. Licking lollipops, eating ice cream and getting all the pudding out of the bottom of the cup."
He also uses his tongue for a unique talent… painting!
"I use my tongue to create… you could call it art I guess. I wrap my tongue in cling wrap, dip that in acrylic [paint] and apply that to a canvas."
"I know it’s rather long and I can do that so why not express myself through that medium?"
While having the longest tongue in the world has lots of positives, there are a few things that Nick has to deal with.
"One thing I’ve learnt is that I’m actually at more risk of choking on my tongue while sleeping, so that’s not good."
Nick also receives many unsolicited messages about his supersized feature.
"I get requests and strange emails saying you should do this silly thing, which I have no interest in… at least, not for free!"
Despite these things, Nicks wouldn’t change his tremendous tongue.
"There’s not too many downsides to having a really long tongue!"
On breaking the official Guinness World Records title, Nick said he was "totally stoked" and that it was "pretty insane".
Nick’s record was first confirmed in 27 November 2012, and he is now closing in on a decade of holding this record.
However, His Guinness World Records title has not only gained him recognition and bragging rights.
He recently featured alongside fellow record breakers in a recent campaign for fashion brand Diesel called For Successful Living.
He has even appeared on TV shows around the world, including the Italian show La Notte Dei Record in 2018.
There he met fellow record holders Byron Schlenker and Emily Schlenker (both USA), the father and daughter duo who held the record for the widest tongue (male) and widest tongue (female) respectively. While Emily still retains this record, Byron's record has since been broken.
Other record-breaking tongues
- Widest tongue (male) - 8.88 cm (3.49 in) achieved by Brian Thompson (USA) in La Cañada, California, USA, on 30 July 2018.
- Largest tongue circumference (male) - 12.19 cm (4.80 in) achieved by Dante Barnes (USA), in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA, on 24 December 2021.
- Longest tongue (female) - 9.75 cm (3.8 in) achieved by Chanel Tapper (USA) in California, USA on 29 September 2010.
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