A couple nights ago, we watched a DVD of "A Change of Seasons", produced in 1980, which we had somehow missed at that time. It starred Anthony Hopkins as the philandering professor. It was fascinating to see Hopkins as a youngish man, still staid, with many of his same facial mannerisms as his older self. His Englishness came out not only in his accent but in his gestures. He used his extended third finger to push up his glasses, "flipping the bird" to the audience several times in the film.
This gesture is commonly seen in Britain when people push up their glasses, oblivious to its American meaning of "giving the finger". Instead, the British use the backhanded V-peace-sign, called "the two finger salute", to mean the same thing; I guess it doubles the meaning of the third finger. But I can never remember which way round it goes. Think of Churchill giving the Victory sign. Then turn your hand backwards and give a back-handed peace sign (actually, Churchill sometimes got it wrong, see the Reuters blog below). It's often hard to catch at a glimpse – you don't know whether you're being encouraged or discouraged. Anyway, I just avoid the peace sign altogether to be safe. It's like road rage. Don't incite anybody!
See more at http://blogs.reuters.com/photo/2007/10/22/universal-gestures-of-understanding/,
and http://handfacts.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/v-sign-research-middle-finger-length-is-involved-in-the-effect-of-the-v-gesture/
or type in "Churchill victory sign" to Google images and laugh at a bunch!
1 comment:
By the way, is there any Japanese female under age 50 who ever poses for a photo without showing the V-sign? Seems to be a decades-old tradition now - why? And is a Japanese man allowed to do this?
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