Today it persists as a comedic shorthand for snobbery, which is almost the opposite of its intended signal. It's a gesture that outlived its social context entirely and became a caricature of what it once tried to signal.
-------------- (from an AI search)
All of this to say that the lady was trying to be aristocracy and failed miserably.
As I see Aunt Petunia was not as drunk as Marge but why _her_
little finger was stuck out, while she drank coffee? ;-)
Now I see where a drunk man stuck out finger came from. But
I never saw a drunk person with his finger stuck out. Does
it happen in England? :)
Today it persists as a comedic shorthand for snobbery, which is
almost ??the opposite of its intended signal. It's a gesture
that outlived its social context entirely and became a
caricature of what it once tried to signal.
-------------- (from an AI search)
All of this to say that the lady was trying to be aristocracy
and failed miserably.
I see how a person might stick out a finger when they're
drinking from a ??teacup with a very small handle. Here in
North America coffee is more likely to be served in a mug
which allows space for at least three fingers... and I reckon
most people would probably tuck the fourth underneath the
handle for better balance.
You two have given me another idea, though. When I was growing up it was often believed the working class preferred to drink coffee while the middle class preferred to drink tea. This is an overgeneralization of course. But if Aunt Petunia was putting on airs she may have used a delicate china teacup, and in view of the way her companions were behaving I think Alexander's doubt as to her sobriety is justified. Many people used to think a person could "sober up" by drinking coffee... i.e. until somebody pointed out years ago that the effort was far more likely to result in a "wide awake drunk". :-Q
BTW, I read that there is no expression "give the thumb up", only "give the thumbs up". Do you use the latter one even if you use only one hand gesture?
An interesting evolution of the gesture meaning. It has acquired
quite a different connotation in Russia. Nobody I think can say why
it is, but a stuck out pinky in Russia is a sing of a great level
of alcohol intoxication, as if a person cannot control it in his
drunk condition.
Hi, Alexander! Recently you wrote in a message to All:
it is, but a stuck out pinky in Russia is a sing of a greatInteresting!
level of alcohol intoxication, as if a person cannot
control it in his drunk condition.
Since you brought it up, however, I went back through the
thread to see what I might have missed & noticed that
Alexander used the word "brilliant" as a noun meaning "a
diamond or other gemstone cut to sparkle brightly"
Was it unusual? My dictionary says that a brilliant is aIn my experience the word is used much more often as an
sparkling diamond.
Or here:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brilliant
adjective than as a noun... and it would seem the dictionary
writers agree because every one of the sources I consulted
lists it as an adjective first & some don't list it as a
noun at all. WRT the noun my OXFORD CANADIAN DICTIONARY lists
it as "a diamond cut with many facets" while my GAGE CANADIAN
DICTIONARY explains it as "a diamond or other gem cut to
sparkle brightly". Invoking THE FREE DICTIONARY I also see the
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY & COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY
list it as a reference to diamonds which may be expanded to
include other gemstones.... :-)
Modern dictionaries report what people actually say. However, the dictionaries most people tend to rely on are often limited as to space
& may or not include everything you've seen or heard.
I feel insulted, BTW, when I'm looking for something in particular and
a young shop assistant tells me "Nobody wants those any more".
I reckon as far as they're concerned I'm a nobody, but I'm not blaming you.... :-)
FWIW and IME(1), ""everyone"" these days uses online dictionaries...
some may be maintained via user input... some may be maintained by
the corporate entities that printed the dictionaries you and i grew
up with... you know, those nice hefty and thick ones that sit on the
shelf beside our costly, multi-volume, printed encyclopedias that we
always wished we could easiey update/ammend with the latest
information...
I feel insulted, BTW, when I'm looking for something in particular and
a young shop assistant tells me "Nobody wants those any more".
lucky you! at least they know what that thing is or was...
I reckon as far as they're concerned I'm a nobody, but I'm not blaming you.... :-)
i know that feeling... for me, it makes me sad that so many know
very little about anything they are selling...
PS; i just noticed the random tag line (starts wuth three dots) the
editor chose from the thousands it is configured to randomly choose
from... seems appropriate in some way LOL
"predicts"... the movie is supposedly a satire but... yeah...
"In my experience" for those that don't speak in acronyms like so
many youth (ie: <40yo) these days...
Good point. I remember being told, in a drug store (or a chemist's
shop to those who live in SomePlace Else), that roll-on deodorants
were "passe'"... in a condescending manner when we were both about
the same age. But I have learned over the years that many things
come back in fashion, if one lives long enough. Within the next
year or two aerosols were banned & roll-ons came back.
I reckon as far as they're concerned I'm a nobody, but I'm not
blaming you....
i know that feeling... for me, it makes me sad that so many know
very little about anything they are selling...
Another example: our daughter wanted some emery boards. I tried to
help out the guy whose English was marginal by explaining that
these things were like sandpaper people use to file their nails &
he recommended trying a hardware store, but he obviously didn't
know what I had in mind... (sigh).
On 2026 Oct 08 22:56:12, you wrote to Alexander Koryagin:
Modern dictionaries report what people actually say.
However, the dictionaries most people tend to rely on are
often limited as to space & may or not include everything
you've seen or heard.
FWIW and IME(1), ""everyone"" these days uses online
dictionaries... some may be maintained via user input... some
may be maintained by the corporate entities that printed the
dictionaries you and i grew up with... you know, those nice
hefty and thick ones that sit on the shelf beside our costly,
multi-volume, printed encyclopedias that we always wished we
could easiey update/ammend with the latest information...
I feel insulted, BTW, when I'm looking for something in
particular and a young shop assistant tells me "Nobody
wants those any more".
lucky you! at least they know what that thing is or was... IME
there are no or extremely few ""sales droids"", these days,
that know the first thing about what they are selling... sure,
they might be able to look it up on their phone and point you
to the aisle it should be located on or maybe tell you some
should be in on the next truck but ask if you can do XYZ with
it and they look at you with the most glassy glazed over
eyes...
I reckon as far as they're concerned I'm a nobody, but I'm
not blaming you.... :-)
i know that feeling... for me, it makes me sad that so many
know very little about anything they are selling... they can't
explain how to install it, set it up, or how to maybe use it
with something else... it almost seems like we are seeing the
movie /Idiocracy/ actually coming to life 500 years earlier
than the movie "predicts"... the movie is supposedly a satire
but... yeah...
PS; i just noticed the random tag line (starts wuth three dots)
the editor chose from the thousands it is configured to
randomly choose from... seems appropriate in some way LOL
1. IME == "In my experience" for those that don't speak in
acronyms like so many youth (ie: <40yo) these days...
)\/(ark
"The soul of a small kitten in the body of a mighty dragon.
Look on my majesty, ye mighty, and despair! Or bring me catnip.
Your choice. Oooh, a shiny thing!" ... We learn from experience
we never learn from experience. ---
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