# Three Fingers Pointing Back at You **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659 "2011-04-08T14:27:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/1 "2011-04-08T14:27:14Z")
Not really worth starting a pit thread, but this irritates me: > [@](#): > > Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., was the next to take the floor. > > “Have you ever noticed that when someone points their finger and says it’s all your fault, it’s all your fault—have you ever noticed that there are three fingers pointing back at them?” I’m glad people have stopped saying that it’s four fingers pointing back at you. Still, though, the pointing of the index finger is a simple, well-understood gesture that doesn’t require or admit to further analysis. The direction in which the other fingers are pointing is not part of the gesture, except that they’re out of the way. Your fingers don’t all radiate recrimination wherever you happen to have them pointed. It’s the act of singling out one of them that gives the pointing gesture its significance. Look, if somebody threatens you with a fist, he can’t take as a defense that he was merely poking himself in the hand with his own four fingers. We know what a fist represents. I’m not less tolerant of sophistry than anyone else. I will stipulate that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I just take a little umbrage at talking like that first step was the hard part, especially when we’ll be back here next year congratulating ourselves about that same god-damned first step. And, I realize that “A stranger may or may not be just a friend you haven’t met yet” is less punchy than the original, but I just feel that it’s more accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/2 "2011-04-08T14:42:12Z")
What has two thumbs and completely agrees with the OP? _This_ guy! ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/3 "2011-04-08T15:44:05Z")
“God doesn’t give us more than we can handle.” And yet, people have nervous breakdowns, commit suicide, go on killing sprees, starve to death, succumb to diseases, overdose on drugs and so on. The galling thing about this one is that it invokes God to express a lack of sympathy for whatever issue you might be facing. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/4 "2011-04-08T15:48:24Z")
When you blame someone for electro-magnetic induction, you’re pointing two fingers back at you. And one at some poor dude standing next to you. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/5 "2011-04-08T16:11:20Z")
“Everything happens for a reason.” Nope. Is there causality involved…sure. But it’s not part of some master plan. That’s just a fiction that people use to make themselves feel better. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/6 "2011-04-08T17:02:22Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m glad people have stopped saying that it’s four fingers pointing back at you. Still, though, the pointing of the index finger is a simple, well-understood gesture that doesn’t require or admit to further analysis. The direction in which the other fingers are pointing is not part of the gesture, except that they’re out of the way. Your fingers don’t all radiate recrimination wherever you happen to have them pointed. It’s the act of singling out one of them that gives the pointing gesture its significance. I always hated this statement because I don’t have fingers pointing back at me – they’re oriented toward my palm. I’ve never seen anyone hold their fingers pointing back at themselves. It’s awkward and doesn’t look right. Yeah, i know, it’s inaccuracy in the cause of a pithy point. But the inaccuracy always bothers me, so that I end up concentrating on it, instead of the ostensible point. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/7 "2011-04-08T17:04:54Z")
> [@CapnPitt](#): > > “Everything happens for a reason.” Nope. Is there causality involved…sure. But it’s not part of some master plan. That’s just a fiction that people use to make themselves feel better. This. Grr, I hate it when people say this. “No, no it doesn’t!” ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/8 "2011-04-08T17:10:33Z")
> [@Double\_Foolscap](#): > > When you blame someone for electro-magnetic induction, you’re pointing two fingers back at you. And one at some poor dude standing next to you. I use the full-hand method when applying the right-hand-rule. 4 fingers point to the person in front of me and then all four get pointed at the person next me. No blame attaches to me at all. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/9 "2011-04-08T20:11:51Z")
When you point the finger, you have four fingers pointing at you, _if you’re Anne Boleyn._\* \*Yeah, I know it’s not necessarily true. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/10 "2011-04-08T20:52:03Z")
“As we say in Program, when you point a finger at someone, you have three fingers pointing back at you… and… I guess… a thumb pointing up at God. Or something. Whatever. I don’t know. I’m sorry.” -[Sen. Stewart Smalley, D-Minn](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/92/92esmalley.phtml) ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/11 "2011-04-08T20:57:25Z")
Remember, when people tell you to “Hook 'em Horns!” what they’re really asking is that you spend part of your energy to go hook yourself. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/12 "2011-04-11T06:42:21Z")
I always thought the point of the finger statement was to be annoying. Who doesn’t know that saying something bad about someone else can make them look worse? I mean, has anyone ever responded to that by saying “Wow, I hadn’t considered that”? If you are saying it because you think it’s some great revelation of character, you might want to go back inside from recess. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/13 "2011-04-11T13:01:14Z")
And when the guy says he got your nose, he doesn’t really have your nose! ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/14 "2011-04-11T13:33:45Z")
Guys, if you have three fingers pointing back at you your doing your pointing all wrong. They should be pointed towards the ground. Where the thumb points is optional I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-fingers-pointing-back-at-you/577659/15 "2011-04-11T17:22:27Z")
When you pick your nose, you’re pointing a finger at God.