It is fair to say that the vast majority of people in the world have been through something tense during their lives. How each person handles tension will differ from one to another, but we all tend to have our own ticks and traits that reveal themselves at such times.
One of the things that many people will do is bite their nails, which is a reasonably disgusting habit that any nail technician will advise you not to do if it can be avoided.
When it comes to football matches, the phrase ‘it’s a nail-biter’ is an oft-trotted-out cliché that commentators will pull out, but what does it really mean in such a context?
Tension Writ Large
Football matches can often be tense affairs. Even the most seemingly innocuous game can go down to the wire, giving supporters a reason to become nervous and tense as they hope that the team that they get behind can pull off a result. Seeing your side win 5-0 is unlikely to be nerve-wracking at any moment during the game apart from when it is 0-0, but one in which few goals are scored or, worse, the opposition takes the lead when you need a win can feel as though it might turn into a heart-stopper. This becomes even more the case when the game has something riding on it.
Imagine the last game of the season, for example, in which a win for your side will see them win the title. It is 0-0 after 70 minutes, meaning that your rival will win the league unless your team can find a goal. The longer the game goes on without any score for your side, the more tense things will be and the more likely you are to bite your nails, simply for want of something to do with your nervous energy. The same kind of thing can be said for a cup final, where the result will decide which of the two teams taking part gets to lift the silverware when the ref blows the final whistle.
What a ball, what a game 🥺
Hull City went ahead twice yesterday but were denied victory in this nail-biter against QPR 😬
Watch EFL highlights on ITVX 📺 pic.twitter.com/Y9T6HHymTd
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 23, 2025
Such games are so tense as to mean that commentators are liable to refer to them as a ‘nail-biter’, even if no one is actually biting their nails. It isn’t so much about the literal action, as it is a reference to how much tension there is involved in the game. The more tense and exciting a match is, the more likely it is to be called a ‘nail-biter’, whilst the people responsible for filming the game for broadcast will be desperately searching the crowd to find someone who is literally going through the process of relieving their tension by biting their nails down to the quick.