"the finger" in 1932 Hollywood epic

[Victor Steinbok]

I never questioned it, but when you flip the finger, the usual gesture
involves not flipping up a finger from a closed wrist, but rather
folding down the other four in a somewhat symmetrical manner--like
flapping wings

     VS-)

On 5/13/2012 8:24 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> On Sun, May 13, 2012 at 7:13 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> he calls the gesture "the bird"
> Is there any known motivation for calling the finger "the bird"? Or is
> it simply another, ah, sweet mystery of life? Is there any commection
> between the finger and getting "fucked by the fickle finger of fate"?
>
> --
> -Wilson

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