Who decided that the middle finger meant F U?

Question

MY 6 yr old daughter wants to know? She got scolded at school for this, and in my household, the middle finger is just like all the other fingers. She has always pointed at things with her middle finger. She asked me why would God give us something, the is supposed to mean something bad. Anyone got the answer to this question?

No my daughter doesn't even know what FU means. She is six. Since she was little, she has always pointed at things with her middle finger. I tried to get her to use her other finger for this, but she never did.

I have told her that many people think that, the middle finger is something bad and to not use it anymore. SO far she hasn't.

And PANCAKES: No I do not think child porn is a beautiful thing. I think anyone that takes part in child porn, should be shot and hung from their private parts.

Answer 1

i don't know if you'll want to read this aloud to your 6 year old...but this explains in great detail....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_finger

basically it is 2500 years old and likely used by the romans...the rest i'll let you read for yourself;..wouldn't want edna the SULLEN would report me for telling the truth


the battle story is an urban legend...hahahha...read deeper people!!!


PS sullen means showing a disagreeable and gloomy mood...didn't want anyone to have to get up off their big bottoms and get a dictionary ;)

Answer 2

The History of the Middle Finger





Well, now......here's something I never knew before,

and now that I know it, I feel compelled to send it on

to my more intelligent friends in the hope that they,

too, will feel edified. Isn't history more fun when

you know something about it?





Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French,

anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut

off the middle finger of all captured English

soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be

impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and

therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the

future. This famous English longbow was made of the

native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the

longbow was known as "plucking the yew" (or "pluck

yew").





Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English

won a major upset and began mocking the French by

waving their middle fingers at the defeat French,

saying, See, we can still pluck yew!





Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the

difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has

gradually changed to libidinal fricative F', and thus

the words often used in conjunction with the

one-finger-salute!





It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the

arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture

is known as "giving the bird."



SOME FEEL IT IS STILL AN APPROPRIATE SALUTE





And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing

Answer 3

American culture... in the east, thumbs up means FU (and the middle finger means good job I believe) You should just tell her that there is nothing wrong with her middle finger, but sometimes when you make certain gestures in public, some people might be offended and interpret it a different way. Hand gestures are a means of communication.

Answer 4

Oddly enough I know the answer to this. It started in Europe in the medieval times. Archers were some of the most feared fighters because they could inflict harm from far away with their bow and arrows. So if another army captured archers, they'd cut off their pointer and middle fingers, so the archers couldn't pull back the bows anymore. After a battle, victorious archers would hold up those two fingers in an act of defiance. "Ha, ha, you can't cut off my fingers!" Through the years those two fingers were reduced to the one we know and love!

Answer 5

The story (which is likely false) is that during the Hundred Years' War, the French threatened to cut off the middle fingers of any English archers they captured. Before the next battle, as the French approached, the archers waved their middle fingers at the French to show their contempt.

Answer 6

There are two reasons:

First, middle finger is what the doctors use to probe you in all those different holes in your body. The back side and you know.....in the front.........that one...?? Yes, that one. They use mid-finger for that to check for many things.

Second, with the middle finger pointed up, just take one good look at it. It looks like an erect penis with the rest of the folded fingers as its balls one on either side of the erection. So, F.O is said this way with the erect finger...!!

Get it now?

Answer 7

I don't know the answer to your question but was your daughter using her finger as FU? I would be mad if my daughter came home asking about this because of getting in trouble in school and she had no idea what it meant.

Answer 8

Make a fist...then hold your middle finger up...what does it look like? The middle finger is used to represent the penis...it is called a "phallic symbol"...look it up in the dictionary. I also suggest you teach your daughter to use another finger to point with.

Answer 9

The F-U that you refer to, means fornication under consent [of the] King... in the days of the rulers, people needed consent to do what comes naturally. therefor the word that is used today. As for your great question, I am waiting for the educated answer as are a countless many. It is a real nasty word and I believe that we would be much more civilized if we just eliminated it and that C word from our language completely. we no longer need to ask permission from anyone to do it, therefor the word is moot.

Answer 10

Harry Truman

Answer 11

thats a pitiful thing for ur child
that teacher should understand that she is just a kid and should try to convince her to use other fingers instead of scolding her
u go and talk to the teacher
while u also convince ur child to use the remaining fingers
if any more probs just contact me at [e-mail]