A Brief and Funny History of the Middle Finger

Humanity’s Most Timeless Gesture

Ah, the middle finger. You know it, you’ve seen it, and let’s face it-you probably have used it. Maybe in traffic, after stepping on a LEGO brick, or perhaps at that time when you stubbed your toe on the corner of the coffee table. There’s something cathartic about that lone, raised finger speaking louder than a thousand words. But how did this eternal gesture-the ultimate visual representation of “Oh, come on!”-come to be? Buckle up, and let’s take a light-hearted journey through the history of the world’s most famous finger.

From Ancient Greece: The O.G. Gesture

The thing is, flipping the bird is older than any of us. Literally, the first-ever documented sighting of the middle finger goes as far back as Ancient Greece. There is this cynic philosopher named Diogenes who once flipped the bird into the masses. If you are flipping off ancient Greeks, that is civilization which pretty much invented philosophy, that is a bold move. He was the original bad boy: aggressive with his gestures in a toga.

The Greeks used the middle finger to mean the same thing it does today: disdain, disrespect, and a healthy splash of “I’m done with you.” Just imagine Plato giving a lecture on metaphysics, and Diogenes in the back, smirking and flicking…