Mittelfinger - Middle Finger

I’ve never quite understood why giving somebody the middle finger is deemed to be offensive. Same with two fingers. Everyone just takes for granted that they are rude gestures and apply them to situations where a verbal outburst is either inappropriate or insufficiently insulting on its own. I’d be interested to find out where it came from and why it’s so powerful. It could have all come about from a simple misunderstanding thousands of years back. An out-of-work archer was stretching his digits one by one, sitting patiently outside the Job Centre. As he extends his middle finger, someone calls him a dole-dossing prick, to which he snappily replies Get stuffed, or something equally offensive, unwittingly flipping him off at the same time. Someone sees it and mimics the motion, exposing it to obscene-hand-gesture-craving public at large, who lap it up and use it as frequently and inappropriately as possible. I just find it odd that it’s only considered rude because we’re told it’s rude. Why is it perfectly fine when accompanied by its four smaller friends? He’s the life and soul of the party. Without him, all the other fingers look lame - some can’t even stand up straight! There’s nothing offensive-looking about him, except that maybe he makes Mr Thumb look like a midget. At a massive stretch it looks vaguely like a penis. But at any rate, getting the finger is considerably less offensive than someone shouting expletives and waving his cock at you. I’d absolutely take an up-yours over an awkward indecent exposure incident on almost any occasion. In fact, I’m certain.