<P> The media sometimes refers to the gesture as being mistaken for an indication of "we're number one", typically indicated with a raised index finger . Sometimes, though, the "mistake" is actually an intentional euphemism meant to indirectly convey the gesture in a medium where a direct description would be inappropriate . For example, Don Meredith is famously noted in a 1972 Monday Night Football game describing the Finger of a dejected Houston Oilers fan as, "He thinks they're number one in the nation ." Ira Robbins, a law professor, believes the finger is no longer an obscene gesture . Psychologist David Walsh, founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family, sees the growing acceptance of the middle finger as a sign of the growth of a "culture of disrespect". </P> <P> Google Street View's picture of the area around the Wisconsin Governor's Mansion, taken in 2011 during the tenure of Scott Walker, shows a jogger giving the finger in the direction of the mansion . </P> <P> In the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, the V sign or "the fingers", when given with back of the hand towards the recipient, serves a similar purpose . George H.W. Bush, former President of the United States, accidentally made the gesture while on a diplomatic trip to Australia . In countries where Spanish, Portuguese, or French are spoken, and especially in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and France the gesture involving raising a fist and slapping the biceps on the same arm as the fist used, sometimes called the bras d'honneur or Iberian slap, is equivalent to the finger . Italy, Poland, and countries under the influence of Russian culture, such as Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, also see it as equivalent to the finger, but the majority of young people in these countries use the finger as an insult, which is associated with the Western culture . </P> <P> In Islamic countries and cultures, a gesture involving exposing only the thumb in a vertical orientation--a thumbs up--is used in lieu of the finger to express roughly the same sentiment . A similarly obscene gesture is extending all five digits with the palm facing forward, meaning "you have five fathers", thus calling someone a bastard . This is similar to a gesture known in Greece as the Moutza, where the five fingers are spread wide and the palm is pushed towards the recipient . More commonly in Turkish or Slavic regions, the fig sign (also known as nah or shish) serves as the equivalent to the finger, meaning "you won't get it" / "in your dreams". The gesture is typically made with the hand and fingers curled and the thumb thrust between the middle and index fingers . This gesture is also used similarly in Indonesia, Turkey and China . </P>

Where does the saying holding thumbs come from