bobm@rtech.UUCP (Bob Mcqueer) (12/15/85)
[]--- Well, I guess "sign language" counts as natural language, so we can discuss its etymology here, also. I saw an item in the newspaper a while ago, in which the author stated in passing that the upraised middle finger as a rude gesture went back to the Roman Empire. I found this surprising. I would have guessed that the gesture was of distinctly American origin, and probably fairly recent (no more than a century or so old, if that). Can anyone verify this one? Somehow, I find it comical to contemplate the vulgar masses of ancient Rome flipping the bird at Nero when he wasn't looking. Bob McQueer ihnp4!amdahl!rtech!bobm decvax!mtxinu!rtech!bobm
jim@randvax.UUCP (Jim Gillogly) (12/17/85)
In article <793@rtech.UUCP> bobm@rtech.UUCP (Bob Mcqueer) writes: >I saw an item in the newspaper a while ago, in which the author stated in >passing that the upraised middle finger as a rude gesture went back to the >Roman Empire. > Can anyone verify this one? Not exactly a verification, but I have allocated some neurons to remembering that its Latin name is the "digitus impudicus", or "immodest finger". -- Jim Gillogly {decvax, vortex}!randvax!jim jim@rand-unix.arpa