|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
THE UPDATE
|
| Since we published the book, THE FINGER: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO FLIPPING OFF and the companion website, information on The World's Most Insulting Gesture is more in demand than ever. Do you have a bizarre Finger Photo? Did you see a big Middle Finger in a movie you liked? Got a Finger Story you want to share? Let us know.
(you can order the book online from Ooze for $10 +shipping, browse 16 pages from the book, or visit our companion website!)
|
 |
MORE FAMOUS FINGERS
FINGER MYTH DEMYSTIFIED!
The Battle of Agincourt
October 24, 1415 - According to internet folklore, the notorious middle finger apparently made its first appearance during the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. According to limitless e-mails and postings forwarded to Ooze, the French taunted English bowmen by threatening to cut off their middle fingers. According to these sources, the mighty English longbow, made from the yew tree, would have been impossible to draw without the aid of the strongest finger. When the English won the battle, they allegedly waved their middle fingers at the defeated French, taunting, “We can still pluck yew!” Some even believe that the words pluck yew transmogrified through the years into 'Fuck you.'
In our book, we demonstrate that this gesture can be traced to the ancient Greeks, 2000 years earlier. And unfortunately for proponents of this convenient story, the battle of Agincourt is one of the better documented battles in European history. While there was a story circulating among the English that the French threatened to cut ALL their fingers off, there is no account of this being anything more than a rumor among the nervous soldiers. Nor are there any solid accounts that either the middle finger gesture or any other obscene gestures used during the battle, by either side, for any reason. If it was used, it was probably because soldiers were a surly lot, and it had been around for centuries. It seems the survival of this tale owes its debt to folklore masquerading as fact.
|
Celebrities freely flip their birds more than ever. Sadly, it mostly makes them look clueless.
(also see our famous fingers and unauthorized celebrity gallery)
Russell Crowe, between scenes on location for "A Beautiful Mind," gives a 21 year-old Princeton Student a Fat Middle Finger for snapping his picture.
|
 |
 |
- Eminem glumly poses with his fingerandfinger.
|
Michael Jackson, looking a bit like his own Elephant Man Bones, shows off his only speckle-free member- at least according to witnesses.
|
 |
 |
Elian Gonzalez's father, Juan Miguel, tries to give the finger to demonstrators in Washington, D.C. Obviously Cubans have been a bit out of touch since the blockade 40 years ago. |
Porn star Jenna Jamison with two middle fingers, two fake breasts, a mysterious 1/2 dollar and a grand canyon.
|
 |
 |
| Kids- only perform this stunt at home if you don't mind 3rd degree burns! |
FIINGERS ALL OVER FILM
Enough is enough already. The Finger can't stop poking its little angry head in films like AUSTIN POWERS 2 (Mini-me flicks a mini digit many times) and even national television (UPN several times)! Oh, ubiquity, you dilute the most powerful of expressions! The following reader uncovered a finger of HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE. Although the flip was unintentional, this is the earliest celluloid flip off uncovered thus far:
 BATTLE CRY (1955)
To flip the bird today in a film is nothing. You can probably do it and still be rated PG. [PG-13 -ed.] However, to do it in the 1950s, and better yet to do it and not have it notices until after the film was released, now that was a SCANDAL!
Go look at "Battle Cry." When old High Pockets has force-marched the Marines to their breaking point, another Battalion comes down the road, riding on trucks. The actors were instructed to stand up, shake their fists, and be angry. I guess the moment was too much for one actor, who clearly in the middle of the scene, with his hand waist high, pops the bird.
- submitted by: TeoLang@AOL.COM
 |
| "When I was getting confirmed as a Catholic (I know it was a mistake, but I got better) I took a picture of the Bishop with his arm around a girl giving the finger. He also has a big dumb grin on his face." -Devilspwn6@aol.com |
MAC-IN-FINGER
If you have a Mac, you can change the staid pointer into a digital middle finger. Download, uncompress, place into the extensions folder, restart. Doesn't work with OSX. Highly recommended to install on an annoying co-worker's iMac. (24k)
MIDDLE FINGERS IN THE NEWS
In August of 2000, Janet Woods, acting principal of Strong Vincent High School in Erie, Pa., got angry at reporters' questions about a rumored gun incident. She unleashed her fury by allegedly displaying her middle finger and telling camera operators to "Shoot this!" With that kind of temper, it wouldn't be surprising if SHE brought the gun to school.
In Chiang Mai, Thailand, Kamol Kaewmora, 50, recipient of the gesture, was arrested and charged with shooting to death the 41-year-old
 |
| Happy? Sad? Angry? Confused? This picture is plain disturbing. -anon. |
German motorcyclist who had displayed it to him. I guess our comment about East Asians not easily recognizing the finger isn't 100% true. At least, I wouldn't bet my life on it.
A Superior Court Panel Overturned a Motorist's Fine for Cursing at a Lancaster County Road Worker.
On a spring afternoon in Lancaster County, Linda Kelly told a flagman at a road construction site to buzz off - although buzz is not exactly the four-letter word she chose in the heat of the moment - and then, as she drove away, she emphasis to her remark by flicking her middle finger...
A Namibian resident gets abducted, arrested and assaulted for allegedly giving the finger to the Prime Minister.
"Obscene gesture" [ok- it's not the finger but a slapping forward fist] by a Malaysian politician to hecklers becomes campaign issue.
Duncan Yo-Yos Gives Children Obscene Gesture - says Christian Journal
Congressman gives a constitute the finger during a speech to prostate cancer victims.
Two Teens Flip Off a Cop and Miss Final Exams - Lawsuit to Follow
High school students find themselves in hot water for making obscene gestures in yearbook photos. When I was in High School, I too hoisted my middle finger in the senior class photo. Little did I know that I would grow up to be one of the World's Foremost Scholars of that very same gesture! The only reason I probably wasn't suspended was because photo is so blurry. That, and I was hiding my face. (see photo right)
While we at Ooze defend your right to Flip the Bird, remember that it's use can create headaches, court costs galore, and even death or dismemberment. Use your middle finger with caution!
LEGAL EAGLE FINGERS
- submitted by: ppetterson@ntglty.org
MIDDLE FINGER UPHELD AS FREE SPEECH - AGAIN!
Commonwealth of PA v. Fenton, 2000
The Court observed that there are times when using a base term for sex may be intended to express disrespect for someone and to offend that person, yet not amount to offensive communication that appeals to the prurient interest. The court stated: "It would be a rare person who would be 'turned on' by the display of a middle finger or the language it represents . . .."
| If you are going to have a whopper of a birth defect, this one at least lets people know you do mind their stares. |
 |
CITY BISMARCK ND v. THOMAS SCHOPPERT, 1991
On April 1, 1989, Schoppert (an attorney!) approached a police car in which a police officer and volunteer police chaplain were sitting. As he walked past the car from its front to its back, Schoppert gestured with his middle finger and said, "Fucking, bitching cop." The cop followed Schoppert and attempted to talk to him through her car window. Three times she asked Schoppert what was the matter and three times he replied, "Fuck you." He was then arrested.
 |
| Cats like their privacy. Period. -schuy1@midwest.net |
The court said, "The First Amendment protects a significant amount of verbal criticism and challenge directed at police officers. Speech is often provocative and challenging . . .. [But it] is nevertheless protected against censorship or punishment, unless shown likely to produce a clear and present danger of a serious substantive evil that rises far above public inconvenience, annoyance, or unrest." - INNOCENT!
NEW FINGER LINKS!
Flipped off - Nothing but the Middle Finger
Not really about The Finger, but widely still widely featured on a site called, The Finger
Middle Finger Internet Greeting
RANDOM PICTURES FROM AROUND THE WEB
 |
 |
 |
| Don't mess with a girl and her webcam -Bowlergurli8199@aol.com |
|
 |
Finger sightings? Got an old family photo 'ruined' by an overzealous flipper? Lot of cash or collectibles sitting around your house gathering dust? Send it all to us!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
