In Japan I noticed teenaged girls would give the ‘peace’ sign whenever pictures were taken of them, except they used both hands, held in front of themselves. They also said “posu”, and giggled a lot.
When we did this as kids, holding the “peace sign” fingers behind the head of another, we meant them to be devil’s horns. The implication was that we were “good” but the horned one was “bad” - I suppose that was the ultimate insult back in those days. I think the other part was to mock someone who didn’t realize they were being mocked - lightheartedly, of course.
Did this evolve into guys surrepticiously giving the finger in group photos? In my OCS class shot, one guy on the front row had his hands at his side “just so” - very subtle.
In another Gary Larson cartoon he has “The Holsteins at the Grand Canyon”. Father and Mother in the background, brother and sister in the front, posed for the photograph. But if you look close, what looks like a black bow on sister’s head is really brother sticking up his cloven hoof as “bunny ears” (or “devil horns” – I don’t want to start a religious war).
It took me quite a few viewings before I realized that. A friend of mine had the same experience.
This is a somewhat off topic, and certainly off the tone of the topic, but I’ve googled for information without success.
There was a famous propaganda photograph, taken of four American POWs during the Vietnam war. They spelled out something (naughty word? - I can’t remember) with their hands in American Sign Language (or something similar), which their captors didn’t catch until the photograph had been printed in newspapers worldwide.
This ring any bells with anyone?
I heard it was pictures taken of the USS Pueblo, and the crew members who were being held by the North Koreans were flipping the bird. They told their (obviously culturally isolated) captors that this was the Hawaiian symbol for good luck, and had a wonderful time wishing all and sundry good luck for a while until the Commies caught on.
Unsurprisingly, the NKs did not find this amusing.
Regards,
Shodan
Thanks, Shodan.
With the Pueblo information, I googled this site:
“The most famous act of defiance was seen in a photograph with the crew making an obscene gesture, which they told the North Koreans was the Hawaiian Good Luck Sign. The daily beatings and deprivations grew more severe when the true meaning of the gesture was discovered.” The USS Pueblo was captured by North Korean ships in January, 1968.
jkirkman, I found a few pages on Baphomet. The trick was to search for “baphomet templar -mason -masons -masonic -illuminati” (without the quotes). The minus signs mean to exclude those words, which filters out most of the BS.
And Cervaise, about that Falstaff quote “my horns I bequeath your husbands.”, it seems to me that he’s saying that he’ll be the one to give the husbands their horns, in other words, that he’s going to sleep with all of the ladies he’s talking to. Rather more in character for Falstaff, that.
I have found an early example from around 1940. And, just in case you don’t recognize the people:.
Camman Newberry and Kathleen Kennedy in the foreground, and the person attached to the two fingers. . . none other than 14-year-old Bobby Kennedy.
This does not confirm the meaning of the fingers (cuckoldry, bunny, devil, etc.), but it does give an early “first reference” waiting for someone to best it.
The first might be some guy standing behind the guy posing for Michaelangelo’s Moses.
Not quite as early as that, but there’s this 16th century painting by Francois Bunel.
Which pre-dates Earl’s example by about 350 years.
That’s such a cool example because it’s so clearly EXACTLY middle school.
I think there’s a part on the right that doesn’t quite fit.
Oh, we must have gone to different middle schools.
Another Kennedy sighting!
In 1965, ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” featured Bobby Kennedy’s ascent of Mount Kennedy in Canada. In some of the footage from the climb, one of the team members (don’t recall which one) is shown putting up the fingers.