We had a fascinating discussion at the Thanksgiving dinner table today, regarding the significance and history or the signal made by raising the middle finger toward one to whom one wishes to display disdain. The other people at the table thought this signal came from the 1960's, but I insisted the custom was ancient and hallowed.
I promised to start a Mudcat thread on it as soon as I got home, to get the real facts on the matter.
So, when and where did the practice of flipping the finger originate? This page (click) appears to be quite comprehensive, but it it correct? What does Botkin have to say about it? Did Frank C. Brown address the matter? Hey, Randolph oughta know, right?
About.com is often a good source of answers to useless questions. Here's what it says:

The middle-finger gesture, which apparently has had phallic connotations in every culture in which it has been used, is much older [than the word "fuck"]. We know it dates back at least to ancient Greece, where it was referenced in "The Clouds," a play written by Aristophanes in 423 B.C. It was also well known to the Romans, who referred to it variously as digitus infamis ("infamous finger") and digitus impudicus ("indecent finger"). In all likelihood its origins were prehistoric.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
-Joe Offer-