On the relevance of the cursing gesture.
 

So I was watching the Breakfast Club the other day and it struck me: when was the last time the middle finger held any cultural significance? It used to be everywhere in the 80's and growing up as a kid in the early 90's I most certainly remember it being the "end all" of obscene gestures.

So what happened? I dont really see it blurred out on my TV any more, slipping into my PG-13/R rated movies, or even really used colloquially among my friends. Hell, even the work "fuck" itself seems to be losing meaning from overuse as we move into adulthood and find a far more interesting litany of douche-nozzle son-of-a-cock trollop-spat words to express ourselves with.

Are there any new gestures taking its place? Have we lost that little bit of Americana to the annuls of history as we hunch beside our computers and type "fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff" as furiously as we can in hopes that the person on the other end can imagine us thrusting our finger to the heavens?

You know they had the same gesture meaning about the same thing in the Roman empire, right?

I'm quite aware of the various places and cultures it has come from. I'm just noting that I've not seen it in a while and wondered when it stopped mattering enough to use.

EDIT: More accurately, is "our" chapter of its history over?

_|_,ò_Ó,_|_ Fuck Yeah!

Also, in Web shows like Colbert Report and The Daily Show the middle finger still gets blurred out, and you can say Penis bur not Cock, unless you refer to the animal.

Moral guidelines are confusing......

I still see the middle finger get pretty common usage on the road. It's easier since you can neither type nor talk to your fellow road-sharer.

Is this appropriate here? I think it's appropriate.

It will probably become illegal to do while driving since you have to take your hand off of the wheel. Kinda like how states are starting to ban cell phone use while driving.

I've always thought, in contrast to short wave radio that reaches virtually anywhere, can't anyone make some kind of long wave radio with a reach of 100 meters or less? People could have one in their car and be able to talk to other drivers who also have one, instead of relying on flashing, honking and middle fingering to communicate.

Although it might take a while for everyone to figure out you can use it for messages other than "get off the road you son of a bitch".

What?
 

Pardon me, but I'm inclined to say here that talking on your phone while driving is irresponsible and dangerous as hell.