# For Shame!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-shame/123523>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 12, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-shame/123523 "2002-08-12T13:51:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-shame/123523/1 "2002-08-12T13:51:58Z")

</div>

Take one index finger, and point it at someone. Take the index finger from your other hand, and lay it across the first, at the first knuckle. Then repeatedly sweep the second index finger towards the other person. And you have to shake your head sadly and say, “Shame, shame.”

It’s a familiar gesture, but…where the hell does it come from? What does it mean, symbolically?  
WAGs and whacked-out theories welcome.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![femtosecond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@femtosecond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femtosecond)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-shame/123523/2 "2002-08-12T19:17:06Z")

</div>

This has been asked before, without conclusive answer.  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=108580](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=108580)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=51897](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=51897)  
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=35497](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=35497)

I can’t add anything except this mention of it in the dictionary of the Center for Nonverbal Studies: [http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/point.htm](http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/point.htm)

> [@](#):
>
> Yes, according to Desmond Morris (1994:94-5), the gesture (forefingers rub) means “shame,” and is restricted to North America. The rubbing of the two forefingers is thought to symbolize friction. There’s a related gesture (forefingers scrape) from Wales, Germany, and Austria, in which one finger “saws” across the pointed other one. The latter is considered an insult, again with the friction message coming though. The origin of both of these gestures is unknown.