Flipping the bird
Posted by The Fallen on January 08, 2002
In Reply to: Flipping the bird posted by R. Berg 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.
I'm wondering whether we can point the finger at Cockney rhyming slang again here... always a useful last resort. Could "bird" be rhyming slang for "third", as in third finger? Or is this too far-fetched?
- 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