This Is The Best Way To Hold A Coffee Cup

The other day, I was driving to the store, cup of coffee in my hand. I took a sip, and because I'm a moron, some of the steaming hot coffee spilled out of the cup and onto my lap. "Darn it! Darn it all!" I exclaimed. Thankfully, some researchers in South Korea have recently determined how to hold a coffee cup the proper way. No. Really. The technique even has its own name. Bear with me.

The study was published in the Achievements in Life Sciences journal, and it determined that we should stop holding mugs by their handles. We should stop gripping them by the outside. Fools, all of us. Instead, we should all be employing the claw hand technique, where you grip the top of the cup. Why? Because it helps reduce the force we add that moves the coffee around inside, therefore making spills less likely.

But just a second. What about a malfunctioning lid that comes off the cup? What about steam burns? This is chaos. Fret not, because the scientists offered one more gem of advice to reduce the chance of spillage: walk backward. "By walking backwards, we are able to significantly change the frequency characteristics of our hand motion ... leading to a subsequent decrease in the probability of coffee spilling," explained Mr. Han, of the Korean Minjok Leadership Academy. "Of course, walking backwards may be less practical."

You think?

I don't know about this one, guys. I can hardly walk forward without tripping. Walking backward with a cup of piping hot coffee just... I don't know... I'm imagining very bad things happening. You can all try it and report back.

In the meantime, I will continue holding my coffee cup by the paper sleeve and spilling it on myself while I'm driving. It's worked well for me so far.

Images: Bryan Thomas/Getty Images; Bustle; Giphy