Flipping the bird
Posted by R. Berg on January 08, 2002 at
In Reply to: Flipping the bird posted by ESC on January 08, 2002
: : Where does the phrase "flipping someone the bird" come from?
: I couldn't find anything on the use of "bird" for finger in this phrase.
The following, from Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English may be relevant although it makes no mention
of the hand gesture. To give someone the bird is "to dismiss [him], send him about
his business . . . late C. 19-20. [From] the theatre . . . In Australia, 'give
the bird' is to treat with derision: from before 1916."
In obsolete theatrical
usage (Partridge gives a date of 1883), "the bird" is defined as "a hissing of
an actor," from the sound made by geese.
- flipping the bird The Fallen 01/08/02
- No more far fetched
than... Word Camel 01/08/02
- I take that back... Word Camel 01/08/02
- Explanations
R. Berg 01/08/02
- History of gesture R. Berg 01/08/02
- History of gesture Chris Yate 01/10/02
- History of gesture
Sauerkraut 01/11/02
- History of gesture... the horns The Fallen 01/11/02
- History of gesture
Sauerkraut 01/11/02
- History of gesture Chris Yate 01/10/02
- History of gesture R. Berg 01/08/02
- No more far fetched
than... Word Camel 01/08/02