arg, what did dit mean when him, and henriette[sp?] were talking at the party and david stuck two fingers up at her after her pointing to the other guy.
sorry if this is stupid, but i thought it looked funny :]
Dr.Cox: Hello Sad Clown
-scrubs
I've always taken it to mean something along the line of 'Stuff You'. I think Rik Mayall used it alot in The Young Ones, and a friend of mine uses it whenever I annoy her. So she basically uses it on a constant basis.
I Know What You're Thinking...Elephants Are Coolshare
Erm, it is more like the adult version of 'stuff you'. Wouldn't advise using it in public....
"Being short only means you have to reach higher."
Uh, yes. I think I understand the usage you're meaning, although I'm quite sure there's a slightly different motion involved...
I Know What You're Thinking...Elephants Are Coolshare
It's a British insult, it means *beep* off' or *beep* you'
The British version of giving someone the middle finger.
shareHistory Lesson:
It comes from the habit of the French (during one of our many wars with them) of cutting off the fingers of the English longbowmen if they were caught. Bowmen would therefore stick up two fingers at the beginning of a battle to prove to the enemy that they were fully equipped in that department.
Not true - Snopes debunked that one.
But yes, whilst sticking two fingers up with the palm facing towards someone means "peace", as in the US, turning your hand so your palm faces you means "F you". It's usually described as flicking a V, as it is often done by flicking the wrist or sometimes moving the whole arm up and down. Putting your middle finger up as in the US is usually thought of as more "up yours" than "F you".
No... here in the states flipping someone off (middle finger) mean "F You", nobody here really means it as "Up Yours"
I was always told the two fingers in the reversed peace symbol meant "Up Yours" (From people I know who lived in various parts of the UK). LoL, go figure. :o)
www.lost.eu/6e82c
a bates ,has already stated where it comes from.
So the fact that this argument is still going on is quite bizarre. 'F You' and
'Up Yours' are basically the same thing.
Made You Look
Yes, but a bates was mistaken as tot he origins of the gesture, as the subsequent poster pointed out.
Just wanted to add that the gesture isn't an alternative to the middle finger; we use both gestures. I've always thought of the two-fingere'd version as slightly less offensive... is that just me?
In Italy of the time (and still today actually) when someone holds up 2 fingers it means they're calling someone a cuckold. It's a term used to refer to a man whose wife is cheating on him w/ a younger man. Today the two fingers used the index finger and the pinky, which are different from the ones Casanova used, but I guess the fingers used could have changed in 200 years.
shareI'm Irish I was always under the impression that it meant a rather rude version of up yours, and that's what he was saying about Grimani. I kinda got the impression that it was an ever so slightly modern version of Casanova, in regards to the language and mannerisms. But then again I wasn't there 200 years ago, so I dunno if it's changed all that much. But hey, isn't the index finger and the pinky "rock on". At least here it is.
No! I said! Diggity!
That's cool to know what it means in Ireland! Here in the States it's a gesture for the University of Texas (mainly at football games) The football team is the Longhorns, so everyone does the "Hook 'em Horns" at the games.
shareHehe, look at the internet being all multi cultural! :P Lol. I reckon the pinky and the index finger is just positive. At least I hope it is, or I've insulted a WHOLE lot of people in my short life!
No! I said! Diggity!
As far as Snopes debunking the fact it came from English archers fighting the French, opinion is actually split on that. Some theorise that while there is no consistent proof that the French actually did this, the archers were told, by their commanders, that they might have their fingers cut off as a form of early propaganda. Its late, and I can't go into it all here, suffice to say, though Snopes is a wonderful website it is not infallible.
shareQI also says that it wasn't from Agincourt - apparantly the first notice of its use was in 1945ish. Originally, the index and middle fingers meant 'peace', whichever way round it was used, but towards the end of the war palm outwards meant 'peace' and palm inwards meant 'f you'. That was why in some earlier photos, Churchill appears to be telling the crowd to f off. He later used just the palm outwards version.
I'm anespeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericumbobulations...
I think you misunderstood the previous post (understable, given the lack of punctuation in the sentence)
'Putting your middle finger up, as in the US, is usually thought of as more "up yours" than "F you".'
I think the poster meant: Putting your middle finger up, as is more common in the US than in England, is thought of as saying 'up yours' rather than 'f you' in England.
I'm anespeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericumbobulations...
Sorry, but the earlier poster is correct. The sign does indeed come from the period in Late medieval/early modern Europe when England and France had been at war for decades.
The English/Wesh longbow men were basically the best man on man weapon available at the time. In order to remove the threat of this weapon; and to demoralise the English army, the French had promised that any longbowman caught would be left alive, but that he would be rendered useless by having his bow fingers removed. Prior to battle the bowmen taunted the French army, and gave them an almighty "f you/ up yours" by showing their intact bow fingers, and "giving the V".
I will direct you to this page, if I may:
http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/pluckyew.asp
And in the interests of fairness, see also Theguar's post above.
Here is what I thought. In the movie Casanova motioned to his glass and indicated that he was asking Henriette if she wanted any wine. She points to her fiancee and indicates that he won't let her have any. Then Casanova points to him and makes the two finger gesture as a way of saying "F-him" in response to that.
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