Joe, I remember reading that the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled as to the obscenity of the gesture, which they found to be derogatory but not obscene, and which was said to date back to ancient Greece. I don't know if I can find the source, but I remember reading a book about gestures in general--how the hitch-hiker's thumb means "sit on this" some places in Europe, and doesn't help you get rides. I'll nose around.