Indian sign (1895, 1897)

Barbara Need nee1 at MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU
Tue Apr 12 16:55:58 UTC 2005


Isn't this (what I call bunny ears), the first and second fingers
behind the head of someone (particularly in photos!).

Barbara

>We called this sign "donkey ears" in the '50s. It was used to make
>other kids look ridiculous. I never heard it called anything else or
>that it had any hoodoo power.
>
>JL
>
>  >----------
>I wonder if anyone else on the list can confirm a hazy memory I have of
>one use of what may be this sign. Fist closed, fore- & little fingers
>extended, hand held at the back of the head to suggest "Indian" headdress.
>I think it was called the "Indian sign." (It is basically the same as the
>old European sign for cuckold,except for the position.) School-aged kids
>(in Lincoln NE in the '30s &'40s) used this as a way of saying "bullshit"
>without utterance. It might also have had other negative meanings.
>A. Murie



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