Flipping the bird. A generational or regional preference?

[SoonerPride]

A hearty FU can be cathartic.

While it is vile, vulgar, base, uncouth, and confrontational, there are times when it is well deserved - say Dick Cheney's motorcade passes you on the highway.

In my analysis of this universally understood hand signal, I have uncovered a regional and generational preference in style.

There's the close fisted version, with the middle finger protruding defiantly from the fist in a threatening and lewd manner:



Then there is the "more refined" flat handed fuck off, where one keeps the palm open and the fingers all bend down to leave one lone finger saying "hello"



Have a nice holiday weekend.





Oh, and fuck you!

:)

[Warpy]

1. The universal one finger salute is so common in Boston

that it's almost a greeting.

I was shocked when I moved out west to find out it's really frowned upon.

I've learned to use it sparingly but emphatically.

[MADem]

5. Hey, we have traffic. It means "Your driving does not meet our standards. Please

pay more attention to the road and keep your vehicle zipping along smartly, thanks much, so that you don't impede our progress!"

[madokie]

7. Amazing the difference a few miles makes

around here its a for sure fighting invitation. We don't cotton to the finger much ;-) An Eskimo Joe's type teethy grin is what we use for what you describe there.

[Warpy]

8. Funny, that's when I never used it back in Boston

because the key to driving there isn't how fast the finger gets whipped out, it's not making eye contact with anybody. Making eye contact is an invitation to being cut off or otherwise aggressed upon. You can fake out other drivers if they think you haven't seen them.

Flipping them off tells them you did see them, not a great idea in Boston traffic.

[MADem]

13. I drive in the city all the time, and I make use of the bird on occasion.

And when I'm inattentive, I find myself on the receiving end of it at the rare moment.

A lot of that stuff is hype--we aren't vicious, though a display of "attitude" has a lot to do with how we "roll." We aren't mean drivers, we're simply somewhat ITALIAN in our driving (anyone who has driven in the major cities of Italy knows what I mean). Even those of us who are not Italian.

You get where you are going, you do not impede others--slow to the right, fast to the left, if someone is coming up on you, get the fuck over, thanks! The finger is usually used as you pass someone who was slow to follow those simple rules. A sharp bellow that may or may not include a profanity often accompanies, but that's merely for emphasis and as a way to reduce aggression.

[Warpy]

23. I learned how to drive in Boston

by riding the bumper cars at Revere Beach late at night in the late 60s.

Most of those guys were (I swear!) Italian cabbies taking out their frustrations of the day.

When I made it completely around the track without getting bumped, I knew I was ready to leave my parking space and drive in the city.

[MADem]

29. That was probably a better course of instruction than a driving school!!

And more fun, too!!!

[MikeNearMcChord]

2. Then there is the three fingered version

sometimes called "read between the lines".

[SoonerPride]

3. Every time I pass a Boy Scout he flips me that one!

[Runcible Spoon]

12. I am partial to the "peace, here's your half"

:rofl:

[logosoco]

4. One would think that at my age

43...I would be past this, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do!!! When * is on the tv, it can stop you from tearing up your set.
I had a looney neighbor a few years back and I would push my glasses up with my middle finger when talking to him. Just made me feel better.

[Echo In Light]

6. ...

[insanity]

9. its amazing

how much pleasure can be achieved through the simple act of putting a sole finger in up to say hello.

[tanyev]

10. I never used to do it at all.

Now the mere sight of any Bushie on my TV set elicits a quick salute. And I know I won't be able to restrain myself in the future anytime I drive past his liebrary.

[alfredo]

11. In Eritrea the palm is up, fingers extended with the middle

finger turned skyward. There is a rhythmic bobbing up and down of the arm.

[MADem]

14. In parts of the middle east, "thumbs up" means "up your ass!"

And then, there's the (more popular in former British Empire locales) two fingered version, which was Churchill's "V for Victory" way of telling Hitler to go fuck himself!

[SoonerPride]

16. Don't forget in Italy, the OK sign means asshole!

[Canuckistanian]

19. Those are two very different gestures

The "V for Victory" is done like the "peace" gesture.

The "up yours" gesture is done with the back of the hand to the insultee.

[MADem]

20. Look at some of the early Churchill pictures and films--he's doing the back of the hand.

Many films have him doing it JUST this way.

He was making a very plain point, you see.

Us Yanks didn't get it, we thought it was simple, sweet earnestness... his compatriots chuckled, and did get it.

[alfredo]

24. Then there's the modified OK with the index of the other hand passing

through the O of the other.

[MADem]

28. Ah, yes...the "Doctor RUTH!!!"

SNL used to do a skit with someone playing Doctor Ruth, making close to that very gesture!

[alfredo]

30. Back when Japan conquered China the Chinese got even in a subtle way.

they printed a stamp of one of their historical figures making that gesture.

[MADem]

31. Fascinating! Ya learn something new every day! How... amusing! nt

[alfredo]

35. Nobody likes to be occupied.

[SmokingJacket]

15. Do the young people even do it anymore?

I feel like I haven't seen it in a while. Maybe I'm too isolated!

[SoonerPride]

17. Where do you live?

Do you drive?

[SmokingJacket]

22. Hahaha. I live in the country and I drive as little as possible.

I once flipped someone off while driving and I created not a little roadrage. Thought I was going to be killed. Never did that again.

Traffic in my town is boring.

[Forrest Greene]

18. A Healthy FU Can Elicit Positive Change

I used to work for a large, glassy-officed corporation. My department worked with other departments to produce items for use throughout the company.

At one point, a new hire was made in one of our related departments. This was an important position which worked with and had a certain amount of authority over other positions in the several departments.

They couldn't possibly have made a worse choice. You hear a lot these days about how the psychopathic personality seems to be the one most favored in the corporate environment. If that's true, here is the perfect example. This guy proved to be a classic kiss-up / kick-down backstabber, intriguer, liar, would-be bully, all the worst. And he wasn't even competent at his job, which didn't matter much to the product because he spent most of his time solidifying his base of support with relentless, compulsive brown-nosing up there on the higher management floors.

You wouldn't believe half the stories, but here's the main one. Our Boy -- married, with a kid -- fell in lust with a young woman in my department. He was in his forties, she her twenties. He began stalking her, countless drunken phone calls all evening long, threats, sleazy unwanted attentions, the whole routine. She complained to the management, who did nothing, just hoped the problem would go away and not rock their boats. At one point, Our Boy was called into his manager's office -- a closed-door, corner office, with a stand-alone, non-cubicle desk -- for a discussion of the situation. Our Boy -- this was some years ago, prior to current tobacco conditions -- extinguished his lit cigarette by grinding it out on the polished surface of his own boss's expensive hardwood desk!

I kid you not, I saw the mark. And still Our Boy retained his job, smirking and strutting and leaving a trail of cologne behind him in the halls. He must've had something on somebody important. Morale in the departments plummeted. The poor young woman at the point of it was utterly miserable. Finally, one Sunday, she visited me at my home (we lived in the same suburban town.) She had her resignation typed out in an envelope, and asked me to deliver it for her. She herself couldn't even face walking into that office ever again.

So I did. That afternoon, leaving through the main lobby, who should I see walking in but Our Boy. I'll admit it, I sneered at him. He sneered back. I had had it. It had been months of watching this perverted personality destroy what had once been a high-functioning team, filled with good morale. So as he walked past, I turned around to speak to him.

"Hey, Jim," I called. "Terrorize any small children lately?"

He turned around. "Hey pal, I think you better chill out..."

"Hey pal," I interrupted. "I think you better go fuck yourself."

The reaction was wonderful. He huffed and puffed. His eyes bulged out, and his head swole up two, three times its natural size. His face turned beet red. I didn’t actually see steam shooting out his ears, but I feel certain that would’ve come next. I turned and casually walked away, feeling good.

Well, this was a very traditional, white-bread, sack suit sort of company, couple hundred years old. One did not just lightly trip around making suggestions like that, even in calm and reasonable tones of voice. I got home, called the VP of my area, and explained the situation. The next day, I expected to be terminated. Instead, although I spent a few hours being grilled by the middle-managers who should themselves have handled the situation less destructively far earlier, it was in fact Our Boy who had been involuntarily released.

Well, life again was, not exactly good, at least improved in our little enclave for the next six months. Then, we were all swept out in one of the periodic layoff-waves that serves that kind of company as a reorganizing tool and bad-apple remover. Some time later, I looked up Our Boy on the Web. He had a site offering to serve as a letter-writer for guys who found themselves speechless when dealing directly with women of their affections.

Ok... Lotta luck with that, I guess. "And fuck you," said Tiny Tim. "Fuck you, everyone!"

[SoonerPride]

21. Thanks for sharing your story.

I loved it.

[SmokingJacket]

25. That story makes me feel good about America.

Really!

[Beregond2]

26. I'm always amazed how many young guys

post pictures of themselves on sites like My Space flipping the bird. Do they think that's charming? That people are going to rush to put them on their Friends List? Weird.

[Wizard777]

27. SCOTUS has ruled it to be protected Speech.

This stems from a Maryland Case. A Maryland motorist was arrested for giving a cop the finger after receiving a ticket. He took all the way to SCOTUS. They basically decided that it would be protected speech if he had given the President the finger and the Officer was not entitled to protections not afforded to the President. So Maryland has established your Constitutional right to give the finger to the Police and The President. Ahhhh, Maryland my Maryland.

[marmar]

32. I rarely flip it now that I'm back home in Michigan.....Our usual tactic....

..... is to speed around the driver and jump in front of him/her to scare the hell out of them. ..........
When I lived in New York, bird-flipping was just a regular thing you did. I remember engaging in a 10-minute bird-flipping session with this jackass who jumped in front of me in the toll lane at the Whitestone Bridge.

[Solly Mack]

33. It's illegal to make offensive hand gestures while driving here so I'm

no longer in the habit of flipping people off while driving.

In fact, I'm pretty much out of the habit when not driving

Flipping someone off might be worth the big euro fine...but I doubt it.

Enjoyed your post though!

When I did flip someone off, mine had "wings"...open palm..refined vulgarity...lololol

Oh, and fuck you too

[SoonerPride]

34. Thank you!

Nice reply.

[RB TexLa]

36. Just a sign of being trash.