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<TITLE>RE: [Linganth] Middle finger as informal greeting</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Leila,</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I don't have any real data on this, but my surmise is that you & your students are onto something. </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">An example from pop. culture that comes to mind is Eminem's movie _8 Mile_, in which a few of the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">characters use the middle finger to greet each other in a way that (to me) suggests affection and </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">hostility at the same time. I'd be curious to know how you & your students read it.</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Rudi </FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Rudolf P. Gaudio</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Assistant Professor of Anthropology</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">School of Natural and Social Sciences</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Purchase College, State University of New York</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Purchase, NY 10577</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">rudolf.gaudio@purchase.edu</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">----------</FONT>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">From:</FONT></B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">owner-linganth@ats.rochester.edu on behalf of monaghan@indiana.edu</FONT>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sent:</FONT></B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sunday, January 30, 2005 8:47 AM</FONT>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">To:</FONT></B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">linganth@cc.rochester.edu</FONT>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Subject:</FONT></B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">[Linganth] Middle finger as informal greeting</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">Hi. I'm writing a paper on student doing conversational analysis based </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">ethnographies and the question of using the middle finger as a casual greeting </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">has come up. </FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">Have other people seen/heard of this phenomenon? It seems to be common among </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">male undergrads and grad students here at Indiana University but I don't know </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">if it is just an IU phenomenon or is broader spread than that.</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">Amazing where this profession of ours leads us!</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">all best, </FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">Leila</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">Leila Monaghan, PhD</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">Department of Communication and Culture</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">Indiana University</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Monaco">monaghan@indiana.edu</FONT>
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