This is what Reinhard Krüger writes in his book with the fitting title "The Middle Finger - A Short History of an Effective Gesture" (Der Stinkefinger - Kleine Geschichte einer wirkungsvollen ...

The middle finger originated as a phallic gesture The cheeky Greeks “probably relied on the use of the middle finger to represent an erect penis,” wrote Max Nelson, who teaches courses on ...

The middle finger isn’t the only digit with a message. The thumb talks too, but generally in happier tones, with an upward point indicating approval, good news or some other nicety.

Then showed that offense with the 2,000-year-old gesture. So say historians, anyway, who date the unfurling of the middle finger to ancient Greece and Rome. Digitus impudicus, it was called.

Max Verstappen was caught showing the middle finger to a rival racing driver on the final day of Formula 1 pre-season testing. However, the reigning world champion will not be penalised over the ...

Gabrielle Deleon may only be 4 feet 11 — yet the 28-year-old social media manager can be an absolute lion in rush-hour traffic. But she doesn’t display her road rage with her middle finger or ...

Naughty Grecians likely developed the phallic gesture around 2,500 years ago to offend each other. Here’s how the middle finger became the most obscene digit.