Funny fingers

[muckefuck]

When the fingernail on my pointer finger gets beyond a certain length, using it to perform actions like pressing the touch/heat-sensitive surface of a button or screen can become difficult. The nail on my middle finger is broader and tends to curve under itself once it gets as long, so I often use that instead--but never alone. I'll still extend my pointer finger alongside it even if it's just for show.

I did this unconsciously on the elevator last night. Then I suddenly remembered watching an episode of the British version of Antiques Roadshow with monshu the other night and pointing out how an appraiser was using his solo middle finger to rub a groove on a piece of furniture. There was an auctioneer on a similar programme who had a habit of using his middle finger to push his spectacles onto the bridge of his nose.

The only time I ever saw anyone do something like that in the States was in high school, when we were always looking for ways to insult people (other students, our teachers, etc.) without getting caught. There was a kind of risqué cleverness to working the bird into an otherwise innocuous gesture. So some adolescent part of my brain is shouting, "DUDE! HIS FLIPPING OFF THE PUNTERS!!!" just before being corrected by the mature part which knows that this isn't an obscene gesture in the UK.

In fact, ironically, my now-ingrained habit of using the first two fingers to push my own glasses up or hit the button on elevator would be offensive in Britain. Must keep this in mind next time I'm abroad...

Comments

[wwidsith.livejournal.com]

Oh, the one-finger salute is pretty obscene over here too. In fact the fuck-off V-sign is quite rare these days (probably after exposure to so many American films and TV shows) – I think of it as an eighties thing.

It freaks me out too when people use their middle fingers to point to things. It's like I've forgotten what pointing means – I just stare at the finger rather than what it's pointing at.

[thesilia.livejournal.com]

on the pointing thing... when you work for the Disney corporation in a public-interface position, you have to give directions a lot. they train you in your orientation classes to always point with two or more fingers, the index and middle at a minimum, and to point with both hands when possible.

i didn't know that two fingers was a vulgar gesture in britain. is it only when they're separated like a "v"?

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Could be. As you can see from wwidsith's response, above, I'm not the best person to ask. I was last in Britain in the early 90s when the "V" sign was still the most common variant. I know that the orientation of the fingers is important: Showing the underside is still the "V for Victory" sign familiar to us; it's only vulgar when turned around.