This may be a wierd question to ask, but when referring to people giving you the middle finger in literature, is it 'flicking you off' or 'flipping you off'? This just may be a regional difference in dialogue but I thought I'd ask anyways.
~Fetch
Posted by NewsBys (Member # 1950) on :
I've heard both, as well as "giving you the bird".
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
I've never heard "flicking you off" for that gesture.
Posted by Eluj (Member # 2718) on :
I've heard of "flipping you off".
Another term is "she flipped me the bird".
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
In Georgia, it's shooting a bird. I never heard of it as giving the finger, although I think it's probably filtered in by now through TV. Flipping somebody off, yes, I hear that in Georgia and elsewhere.
[This message has been edited by wbriggs (edited July 11, 2005).]
Posted by Ahavah (Member # 2599) on :
I've heard both 'flipping you off' and 'the Universal wave' (although that one is probably not quite universal).
When I hear 'flicking you off', I think lint or bugs.
Posted by Jeraliey (Member # 2147) on :
I've heard both, used interchangeably and in equal amounts.
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
This must be regional then. I have heard 'giving the finger' 'flipping you off' and 'giving you the bird' but never 'flicked you off' or 'universal wave'. Interesting.
Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :
Be warned; "flicking off" could have a very different meaning to a UK reader. I think "flipping off" would be understood by a fair number of people over here, and "giving the finger" abundantly clear (this country is pretty much losing its traditional "two-fingered salute" - reputedly dating back to 1415 and the battle of Agincourt - in favour of the US middle-digit gesture, whose origins I don't know).
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
Now I'm curious as to what "flicking you off" means in the UK Posted by hopekeeper (Member # 2701) on :
I believe the two-finger salute had to do with English Longbowmen taunting their enemies with the two fingers they used to draw the bow. At least that's what a very reliable source told me... As far as the term used, in my story, I used "obsene hand gestures." I guess that may convey different things regionally, but to me it means giving the finger.
Posted by dpatridge (Member # 2208) on :
And no matter what, hopekeeper, it all adds up to basically the same thing: I'm taunting you.
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
What about when you filp the bird sideways? We call it "and one for your horse"
Posted by Ransom (Member # 2712) on :
My favorite is when you're too polite, so you substitute an adjacent digit and shout "Church finger!"
Posted by Jeraliey (Member # 2147) on :
It's also fun to swear at the offending person in American Sign Language. There are some really creative signs, and you can put them together into really fun phrases!
Posted by djvdakota (Member # 2002) on :
Oh, yeah. I LOVE the sign for BS.
One for your horse. LOL
There's always the backwards flip. Hold up all your fingers EXCEPT the middle one and say "read between the lines."
[This message has been edited by djvdakota (edited July 12, 2005).]
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
