While throwing up a middle finger today clearly communicates a resounding “f**k you,” in classical society, historians say a middle finger was more of a ribald sexual reference. Proudly displaying a middle finger was usually a joke, an insult or a sexual proposition, Nelson and other classical researchers posit. Morris has said that the middle finger we know today – the digit hoisted high in the air, other fingers bending to its will – represents a penis and testicles. Morris has said that the middle finger landed in the US with Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. The singer appeared during Madonna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show and flexed her middle finger toward the camera, prompting the NFL and NBC to apologize.

Source: CNN January 22, 2024 19:16 UTC