# Giving--a \*different\* finger? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165 "2006-06-10T04:51:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165/1 "2006-06-10T04:51:50Z")
At the moment, my cable company is showing _In Cold Blood_ free on demand, so I’ve been watching it. Robert Blake and Scott Wilson play two drifters on the run after murdering a Kansas family, and in one scene they’re driving along when Scott Wilson gives the finger to another driver. But he doesn’t give **the** finger; instead, he gives his index finger. You see his arm raised outside the window, just as if he were really giving the finger, but it’s is index finger. I had to rewind over that spot and watch it again, because I didn’t think such an old movie would show someone actually flipping the bird. Turns out the movie wasn’t as old as I thought it was. It was made in 1967, by which time I thought a movie intended for adult audiences might well show someone flipping a genuine bird. So why was the index finger used? Was there ever a time or place where someone might use the index finger instead of the middle finger? ---
**Author:** ![seenidog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@seenidog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seenidog)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165/2 "2006-06-10T08:28:26Z")
Great question, let us consult the ultimate authority. Big C if you are there enlighten us with your wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165/3 "2006-06-10T16:07:44Z")
Big C…Or “Ed” for short? 🙂 I forgot to mention in my OP, that I was wondering if the raised index finger was meant to be just a cinematic device to get past the censors; everyone would know that he was supposed to be flipping the bird but the censors couldn’t say he actually was doing so. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165/4 "2006-06-10T16:33:15Z")
No, no, he was just conveying that “I’m Number One!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165/5 "2006-06-10T17:12:17Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > No, no, he was just conveying that “I’m Number One!” 🙂 AKA The Big Pschit? ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165/6 "2006-06-11T18:39:23Z")
Try asking the [Moive Answer Man](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/GENERALINFORMATION/40909004), Roger Ebert. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165/7 "2006-06-15T18:36:33Z")
> [@Will Repair](#): > > Try asking the [Moive Answer Man](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/GENERALINFORMATION/40909004), Roger Ebert. No, he seems a bit uptight. I have a feeling this would be a “trivia” question, which he explicitly refuses to field. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165/8 "2006-06-15T18:49:49Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Was there ever a time or place where someone might use the index finger instead of the middle finger? I do remember a schoolyard joke of flipping a pinkie finger at someone and saying “You don’t deserve the best.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-a-different-finger/360165/9 "2006-06-15T20:27:29Z")
When I was a teenager in Boston, it was okay to hold up the index, middle, and ring fingers and say “Read between the lines.” 😃