How did showing your middle finger come to be an insult?

Question

What did it originally mean?

Answer 1

in some war america fought the other country shot their index/trigger finger off to show we would still fight they put up their middle finger and it just went from there.  along time ago the insult wouldn't be the "bird" it was biting your thumb at someone,

Answer 2

I don't know... I guess it means something like: "take it to the rear end". So, people take it as an insult.

Answer 3

during the Hundred Years' War, the French would cut off the middle fingers of captured English archers so they would be unable to use their bows, and that after the Battle of Agincourt, the victorious English showed the French that their middle fingers were still intact.

The wikipedia entry on this is dead wrong.  The origin of this gesture has long been attributed to the Battle of Agincourt.

Answer 4

The origin of this gesture is speculative, and quite possibly thousands of years old. It is identified as the digitus impudicus ("impudent finger") in Ancient Roman writings[1] and reference is made to using the finger in the Ancient Greek comedy The Clouds by Aristophanes. It was defined there as a gesture intended to insult another person. The widespread usage of the finger in many cultures is likely due to the geographical influence of the Roman Empire and Greco-Roman civilization. Another possible origin of this gesture can be found in the first-century Mediterranean world, where extending the digitus impudicus was one of many methods used to divert the ever present threat of the evil eye.[2]

Another possible origin is the phallic imagery of the raised middle finger (the middle finger being the longest finger on the human hand), similar to the Italian version of the bent elbow insult. Also, there is a variation of the finger where it can be done by performing The Fangul, by sticking out the finger during the throwing motion.

A popular urban legend incorrectly states that during the Hundred Years' War, the French would cut off the middle fingers of captured English archers so they would be unable to use their bows, and that after the Battle of Agincourt, the victorious English showed the French that their middle fingers were still intact.[3]

Answer 5

I was taught that the Roman Archers were the first to use it. Italians have always been innovative with hand gestures.

Answer 6

Its not universal, however.  In Italy, raising your middle finger is saying "you're number one."

Answer 7

legalbgl is correct

Answer 8

I think it came from when men wanted to show a woman he wanted to f*** they would put up that middle finger representing the male anatomy and she understood it. So, that gesture somehow evolved to f*** you and became an insult.