Flipping the Bird: The Decay of Western Society!

Kirk the Curmudgeon!

Barry the Blasphemaous!

Annie the A-hole!

Jimbo the Jack-Ass!

After years of using this infamous hand gesture as my signature pose in pictures, I suppose I deserve a taste of my own medicine. I still care deeply for the four of you sinners, even though I now consider this phallic symbol to be the decay of western society. You'll never catch me using this heinous expression ever again (wink-wink)!

Flipping the Bird: The Origin of Everyone's Favorite Middle Finger Gesture

by Glenn Church

There are many colorful names for the middle finger: the highway salute, concert C, the New York hello, or for both hands-the double barrel salute, double deuce or dirty double. Yet, all the phrases simply say, "F*** you."

A common internet rumor has the 1415 Battle of Agincourt between the French and English as the birth of flicking the bird. The English had the best archers in Europe at the time. For the archer to use the longbow, he needed his first two fingers. Apparently, the French threatened to cut the fingers off the English longbow men. In a contemptuous gesture, the English gave the finger to the French showing they still had their fingers.

What is indisputable is giving the finger did not begin here. Its origins go back far earlier.The Romans referred to the middle finger as digitus impudicus (dirty finger). The Emperor Caligula insulted people by making them kiss his middle finger instead of his hand. Another Emperor, Augustus Caesar, expelled an entertainer from his presence by an obscene wave of his middle finger.

More likely, flipping someone off goes back into prehistory.The middle finger, extended outward from the rest of the fingers, is an unmistakable phallic symbol. Some have even suggested that the middle finger's use as a sexual instrument, in place of the penis, is its true origin as a phallic symbol. Somewhere between primate and human, caveman and civilized man, the middle finger found a way to make a profound statement.