"the finger" in 1932 Hollywood epic (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

> -
>
> 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-)
>

I know two ways of flipping the bird:

Hold a closed fist up, with the back of the hand towards the intended
recipient, then raise the middle finger OR

Hold a hand up with four fingers together and extended, with the back of
the hand towards the intended recipient, and then draw down the 1st,
3rd, and 4th fingers.  Don't draw them into a fist, but curl them so
that the 3rd knuckle is still unbent.

When I was in fourth grade, there was a significance as to which kind of
bird one was shooting (the fist one wasn't as offensive, as I recall --
it certainly wasn't as cool as the other), but the details escape me at
this advanced age.  There also was a way of weaving the two hands
together, each one held similarly to the 2nd method above -- a double
bird.
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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