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  1. The Romans did not invent this gesture, however. The earliest recorded mention is a play "The Clouds", written by the Greek Aristophanes in 423 B.C. Even then, the middle finger has a clear, obscene and sexual use. It is unlikely that the ancient Greeks were the founders for flipping the birdie.

    • Etymology
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    The 'middle finger salute' is derived from the defiant gestures of English archers whose fingers had been severed by the French at the Battle of Agincourt.

    The basic premise that the origins of the one-finger gesture and its association with the profane word fuck were an outgrowth of the 1415 battle between French and English forces at Agincourt is simple enough to debunk. The insulting gesture of extending ones middle finger (referred to as digitus impudicus in Latin) originated long before the Battl...

    The military aspects of this account are similarly specious. Despite the lack of motion pictures and television way back in the 15th century, the details of medieval battles such as the one at Agincourt in 1415 did not go unrecorded. Battles were observed and chronicled by heralds who were present at the scene and recorded what they saw, judged who...

    Bowman were not valuable prisoners, though: they stood outside the chivalric system and were considered the social inferiors of men-at-arms. There was no monetary reward to be obtained by capturing them, nor was there any glory to be won by defeating them in battle. As John Keegan wrote in his history of warfare To meet a similarly equipped opponen...

    Moreover, if archers could be ransomed, then cutting off their middle fingers would be a senseless move. Your opponent is not going to pay you (or pay you much) for the return of mutilated soldiers, so now what do you do with them? Take on the burden and expense of caring for them? Kill them outright and violate the medieval moral code of civilized...

    And even if killing prisoners of war did not violate the moral code of the times, what would be the purpose of taking archers captive, cutting off their fingers, and then executing them? Why not simply kill them outright in the first place? Do you return these prisoners to your opponents in exchange for nothing, thereby providing them with trained ...

  2. Jul 29, 2013 · The Raised Middle Finger: Why It Means More In Country. Trigger History 15 Comments. During Johnny Cash’s legendary concert at San Quentin Prison in 1969, photographer Jim Marshall said to Johnny backstage, “John, let’s do a shot for the warden.”.

  3. While he didn’t invent it, the middle-finger gesture was very much around at this time. According to anthropologist Desmond Morris, the gesture is essentially phallic, with the curled fingers on either side representing the testicles and the raised finger you are presenting to your foe is the penis.

  4. Sep 13, 2017 · The truth is, he didinadvertently. He was singing "Where is Thumbkin" with children and, when he got to Tall-Man, he proudly displayed his middle fingers…because that's how the song played...

  5. Nov 9, 2017 · In the 20th century the term had morphed to “the bird” and when hissing at people in public (thankfully) fell out of fashion it became connected with our beloved finger gesture of old.

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  7. Feb 6, 2012 · The ancient Romans called the middle finger digitus impudicus, or the impudent finger. In a show of superiority, eccentric Roman Emperor Caligula made senators kneel and kiss his middle...