Raised Middle Finger Is Ancient Gesture

A P ^

[billorites]

"There was, however, no mistaking the middle finger that Vice President Nelson Rockefeller gave in 1976."

I always have admired Rockefeller for returning the protestor's salute so cheerfully.

That, and for his dying "in the saddle."

[Newbomb Turk]

It was once common to cut off the middle finger of your enemys captured archers making it hard to draw their bow.

Flipping the bird was one way to show you were still a danger to your enemy.

[woofie]

The middle finger was used by the Aztecs to plant corn in the 12th century...Thus when one extended that finger it was recognized as the universal symbol for prosperity and rebirth. As corn began to loose its value in the corn trading scandals in the late 1300s the middle finger likewise became a sign of derision and scorn.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

In quite a few countries a "thumbs up" sign is considered just as vulgar and for the same reason.

They would often cut off the thumb of captured swordsmen. No thumb means you can't handle a sword anymore.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Is the Middle Finger Losing Its Badness?

The guy I flipped off in traffic last Friday didn't seem to think so.

[weegee]

The finger still can provoke outrage. In the 1990s, some yo-yo company (really, they make yo-yos) tried to air an "edgey" commercial to sell yo-yos to teens and it consisted of a bunch of gen-Y kids flipping the bird (as a sign of what finger to use to launch the yo-yo).

The ad was pulled.

[Monty22]

There's something almost fundamentally offensive about the finger.. It's kinda like nodding the head or the 'I dunno' type shrug of the shoulders.

[winodog]

Whenever someone gives me the midle finger, I ask them if that is their IQ, sperm count or # of friends they have besides their dog.

[weegee]

And, she says, its meaning isn't always negative: "It can be done out of excitement, joy -- or if you finally found the perfect pair of shoes to go with a new outfit."

I've never seen this usage but then I've never been that excited about shoes.

[Porterville]

F!#K it!!

[Spiff]

Vice President Nelson Rockefeller 
gestures to a group of student 
demonstrators, who were making 
similar gestures. (AP Photo)

[Williams]

You are too clever. What if it's a genius woman with no pets?

[Chad Fairbanks]

Even the kids are using it earlier and earlier every generation...

[Joe Boucher]

I love Don Imus story of how Nelly died. His mistress not knowing how to release his turgidity because she didn't know how his weiner pump worked. Left him with an upside down newspaper and his shoes on the wrong feet.

[weegee]

That includes The Amazing Johnathan, a comedian who regularly flips off his audiences. Earlier this month, he hosted a media event at a Las Vegas hotel -- complete with a giant middle-finger ice sculpture. He seemed pleased that its presence made hotel officials squirm a little.

In January AJ (that's the initials for jackass backwards) had pretty much the same comment when he was roasted by Penn and Teller. The skit had Penn remove a sheet made to resemble the Shroud of Turin and revealed a naked Teller dressed as the crucified Christ receiving simulated oral sex from a male midget dressed as an angel.

Some people like to create outrage signifying nothing.

Roast Attendees Take Umbrage With Stunt By Penn & Teller -article on their sacrilegious stunt

"This was performance art," said Johnathan, who moves to a new, open-ended run at the Flamingo on Saturday. "I know that Penn is a practicing atheist, and I agree with him that Christianity can be dangerous. Look at the Trade Center. That was done in the name of religion."

[Exit148]

One of my kids was about 10 or 11, he came running to me and said that his older brother "swore at him with his finger"!! LOL!

[weegee]

The man in black would like to weigh in on this issue:

[weegee]

To him, it's "more general symbol of, 'Shut up' or 'You're an idiot.'"

As in, "Hey, Looney Clooney..."

[dix]

It’s nice to see that the East Coast moderate Republicans had some fight in them at one time.