Having learned a lot at the thread about the provenance/background of the word, “horny”, I was reminded of the gag of holding two fingers in a “V” over and behind someone’s head when you are beside him/her in a group photo.
What is the original meaning? Horny? Cuckold? Cute bunny? Just to mess with him/her?
An earlier thread on this subject
Inside is a link to a thread started by yours truly.
BTW: Someone told me that in “The DaVinci Code” the author mentions that that is the origin. FWIW. Haven’t read it personally, so I can’t attest to that.
As I understand things, the “horns” were developed by Ronnie Dio and Gene Simmons independently, but yet, simultanously, to indicate “rockness!”.
The same could be said of Liebniz and Newton of the science of Calculus, and of similar importance to modern society.
The pinky and ‘pointy finger’ behind the head indicate an ‘inclination to rock!’ as well as an indication of mathematical prowess.
Tripler
That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it. Who wants to rock on some orbital mechanics?!? ::makes horns::
In the stone age, we used to run around with two fingers behind our heads and pretend to be indians. 
I must have lived in the same stone age as ouryL. Doing that to someone while their picture was being taken was called “giving them the indian sign”.
I must admit, the modern “horny” explanation is more interesting to contemplate.
That is the ‘corna’ (aka devil horns). Ignatz is referring to the index finger and middle finger behind someone in a photo.
I vividly remember the “horny” connotations of the bunny ears from when I was a kid. I can’t believe this is coming back to me now. When I was in 3rd and 4th grade, I was told that bunny ears means “I want to see you in bed in 10 minutes” and “moose ears” (both hands outstretched and joined at the thumbs - obviously they meant moose antlers) meant “I want to see you naked in bed in 10 minutes.” Yes, those were the actual phrases I was told. No, I’m not making this up, no, I’m not crazy.
I had the same kind of meanings running through my young days with the “bunny ears”.
It meant nothing to us as kids except your mom is going to be pissed that you screwed up the picture. It was just like crossing the eyes or sticking out the tounge. We never even heard the the pinpinky thumb one back then. I’m sure it meant many different things to kids wayback then, because you only learned stuff from imediate friends back before the internet. It took a long time instead of a half minute to research stuf, and if it was something like the two fingers up, you couldn’t get that from the local library.
I first saw this in a cartoon, I think it was Sergio Aragones in Mad Magazine. A bunch of devils in hell having their photo taken, one guy is grinning and doing it to his next door neighbour.
So, I think that the intention is to make it look like the guy has devil horns growing out of his skull.
I remember doing the V trick as a kid in the 60s. It had no significance at all, other than you did something which made the victim look foolish for being clueless. All the better that it frustrated Mom’s attepmts to take a photo.
Horny? What the hell would that mean to an 8 year old?
Oh yeah. . . I knew that. I was just checking you!
Tripler
::ducks and runs::
replicant
I always assumed the two fingers meant bunny ears and were intended to make the subject look silly. Always sounded/looked ridiculous to me.
I have taken group photos on occasion where I discover, later, that someone in the group did a rabbit ears or gave the finger, spoiling the shot (like this one – guess which smartass did that before retouching). No problem – with photoshop, I can give the miscreant as many fingers as I want, and in any place I want. I’m sure they’re disappointed to find out that I caught them and their attempt at crude humor didn’t work.
Certainly I think the oldest meanings, going back to Shakespeare and before (quotes given in one of the previous threads) is “cuckold.”
Obviously, given the responses in this thread, today the meaning of the “horns” sign varies.
Index finger and pinkie can mean “cuckold,” or “Rock on!” This sign is also used among Italians and perhaps others to ward off the “Evil Eye.” However, I think this particular sign is rarely used now to surreptiously make horns behind someone’s head.
Index finger and middle finger, held behind the head, is generally understood to be devil horns or bunny ears by grade schoolers. By high school, most kids understand it to mean “horny” (since they now comprehend all too well the meaning of the word). Certainly that was the case when I went to school. In either case, it is frequently used to screw up a group photo.
One of my favorite uses is in a Far Side cartoon of “The Holsteins visit the Grand Canyon.” A cow family is having their picture taken in front of the canyon and the boy cow is making the horns sign behind his sister’s head with his hooves. 
Clearly, what it “means” depends upon what you learned it meant. In our family, it has always just been something silly that someone who has a chance to do does. Whoever is behind someone else, or next to, has the opportunity to do the bunny ears sign behind the unsuspecting victim. We have tons of pictures in which someone is doing it. My favorite, that I can’t seem to find right now, is a picture of my son (then 33 years old!) standing next to my wife. And he’s giving himself the ears. Someone usually does it to him, so he figured he’d do it himself. We’re silly, but we like it that way.
Your right or our right?
On my bulletin board is a picture of me standing next to Robin Curtis. I’m doing the fingers-behind-the-head bit to her, with a Vulcan salute.
Same here. That’s pretty much been my assessment of it.
