what does it mean when people cross their fingers?

Answer 1

When the first two fingers of the same hand are crossed, it is the same symbol as the 'fig' hand; that is, sexual intercourse between a male and a female, or procreation. Naturally, when watered down by the prudish, it's taken as 'luck', or 'wishing', or 'taking the curse off' something dishonourable, such as lying or shaking Clinton's hand, by invoking the most magical moment of Creation.

http://www.luckymojo.com/manofico.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_of_gesture

"Mano Pantea
The Hand of Blessing was a Roman sign of "The Hand of the All Goddess." It was later adopted by Christian clergymen and in Islam it is called the Hand of Fatima.
Egypt used it to evoke the protection of the parental spirits. The index finger is the Mother-Goddess, the middle finger is the Father-Godhead, and the thumb with an acorn seed is the Child, Horus, the newborn sun of each day." http://www.smallwork.com/hands.html

http://www.sacred-texts.com/evil/tee/tee13.htm

"The Dactyls-Fingers-were born from the fingerprints of the Goddess Rhea: five males from the print of her right hand, five females from the print of her left. Mano pantea, the Hand of the All-Goddess, was a sacred fetish of which many examples have been found in Pompeii and Herculaneum. It always showed the thumb and first two fingers raised and the last two fingers folded down. Middle finger, index finger, and thumb involved pagan trinity of Father-Mother-Son, such as Jupiter-Juno-Mars, or Osiris-Isis-Horus. The same kind of trinity, consisting of God, Mary, and Jesus used to be worshipped by eastern Christians-which may explain why they adopted the mano pantea and called it the "hand of blessing." The gesture was and still often is displayed by priests as a way of benediction and blessing.

In the mano pantea, the thumb was the child, or child-soul (such as in fables like Tom Thumb and Hop-O-My-Thumb). The index finger was the Mother, the one who pointed, controlled, cast spells. The Egyptians believed this finger to guide, show, beckon, call for attention, bless, and curse. The Arabs believed it to represent the Goddess Fatima. The Jewish patriarchs fettered this powerful female finger by casting the right index finger with the wedding ring, and orthodox Jewish women wear their wedding ring on the right index finger to this day. Christians, however, copied the wedding ring custom from the pagans, who believed that a mystic "love vein" ran directly from the fourth finger of the left hand to the heart, and therefore should be bound in marriage.

The middle finger was the Father, a phallic symbol for thousands of years, up to and including the present. Arabs used to cut open a vein of the middle finger with a stone when making a pledge of faith, invoking a curse of castration if the pledge be broken. Roman male prostitutes used to signal customers by thrusting their middle finger into the hair on their head. Like all phallic symbols, the middle finger was associated with the devil by Christian authorities, who called it the digitus infamus, or "vile finger." When torturers asked accused witches which finger they raised to take the devil's oath, the only "right" answer they would accept was the middle finger, for reasons plainly associated with its sexual meanings."
http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/7747/011fickl.html

Answer 2

Either they hope something will happen, or they are lying and they are trying to protect themselves from the consequences.

Both come from the Christian symbol of the cross, which crossed fingers are fancied to look like. In the former case, they are hoping that making the sign of the cross will bring them "luck" (a non-Christian idea if there ever was one); in the latter, hoping to appropriate some of God's grace for their blatant lie.

Needless to say, crossing your fingers may be a vaguely Christian symbol, but the idea behind both usages is profoundly non-Christian. I suspect it came from the middle ages, when people had little actual knowledge of Christianity and mixed it with a lot of folk superstitions.

Answer 3

Generally it is a sign of wishing for good luck. It can also mean that you are kidding or not telling the truth.

ALSO for military personnel it is a sign of distress. Like if you are captured and you are forced to do something crossing your fingers indicates you are doing the action under duress.

There is a pretty famous photo of a troop shaking Hilary Clinton's hand while crossing his fingers, it indicates he dislikes her.

Answer 4

Do you mean crossing two fingers on the same hand for luck or making a cross shape using one finger from each hand, like my history teacher used to do when I entered the classroom?

The first is believed to bring luck, perhaps through the application of effort it makes the perpetrator believe they are working for the desired result. Among children it is also meant to indicate lying.

The former is a religious symbol intended to expel me from the class room or perhaps turn me to dust.

Answer 5

People cross their fingers when they feel the need for good luck or protection. It's not very common in non-christian societys though, because it's considered a Christen sign. We probably have the English to thank for our little good luck sign.

Answer 6

it used to implore God for protection, as well as to wish for good luck,Some people, mostly children, also use the gesture to excuse their telling of a white lie,A similar belief is that crossing one's fingers invalidates a promise being made

Answer 7

Wish/Hope

Answer 8

wishing for good luck of hoping something will come true.

Answer 9

peace and quiet its reminder to be good luck when they
cross there finger

Answer 10

it either means theyre hoping for something to happen or theyre lying about something