Date:  Tue, 4 Feb 1997 09:16:32 -0500
From:  Jesse T Sheidlower <jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PANIX.COM>
Subject: Re: "the bird"

There's an excellent article discussing both of these issues
in the current (February) issue of GQ, of all things. I
recommend it.

> My daughter inquires about the origin of
>     1. the American rude gesture known as "flipping the bird", which
> is not really within the domain of this list, and
>     2. its name, which is.

The original sense of _bird_ goes back to 1825 and meant 'the booing
or hissing of a player or performance'. Later senses, attested by
the 1920s, are 'a raspberry; Bronx cheer', and 'ridicule, mockery,
or rejection in any form'. The first evidence I know of that
unquestionably attests the sense 'extended middle finger as rude
gesture' is only in 1966.

Jesse Sheidlower
Random House Reference
<jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]panix.com>