Talk:Crossed fingers

US / English-speaking world perspective

Lots of cultures don't use these gestures in these ways, or only use them in one or the other -- for instance, in Switzerland while crossed fingers are used to cancel a lie, for good luck people press their thumbs. For that matter, neither of the UK references mention crossing fingers for lying, only for good luck, so crossing them for lying might be a German custom that only arrived in the US in the 19th century. Chronodm (talk) 19:25, 5 June 2014 (UTC) Chronodm, I so agree with you. This article is very biased. The pagan wedding custom of handfasting was intended to indicate the idea of eternity and was continued in Scotland until just a few hundred years ago. --174.1.37.231 (talk) 19:57, 3 July 2014 (UTC)

2007-02-1 Automated pywikipediabot message

--CopyToWiktionaryBot 04:35, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

I've read…

…that a possible origin is that it mimics crossed legs, (historically) representing abstinence, the only way for a woman to guarentee not becoming pregnant, and therefore originally represents good luck for this reason. I can't seem to find the source, though. Anything to this? — Lenoxus 04:37, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm sure I have read a theory and a lot of comparative examples, from Sir James G. Frazer or from Robert Graves, relating crossing fingers, knots, etc. to magic attempts to "block" things from developing or un-developing. In this context, crossing fingers for luck could originally intend a charm to block unfavorable events, charms or spirits, invited by a recent event or saying.

Can anyone find this citation? I haven't been able so far looking in Frazer's Golden Bough or Folk-lore in the Old Testament. I may have read it instead in Robert Graves' Greek or Hebrew Myths or in his White Goddess or his many essays. As you may know, Graves has a less scientific attitude than Frazer, but his erudition in history of religions was immense.

In Frazer's Folk-lore in the Old Testament I can however find a whole chapter dedicated to how knots and rings are taboo for priests and medicine men in many primitive cultures all around the world and history. The explanation would again be, that knots or rings would prevent their charms from working.

I want to add just a short line on this, not a big deal, but I'd still want to find a good citation...

What Lenoxus mentions can also be interpreted in this light. I have to look better for this citation...

XavierAP (talk) 17:41, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Citation needed

"Another key use for crossed fingers is anal penetration, with sufficient lubrication it is one of the most common ways to stretch out ones sphincter."

I removed that part of the article, not only because it lacks any reference, but also because it is not relevant enough to warranty its presence on the article. Feel free to place it back with proper reference. There was a link purpotedly to be a reference, but turned out to be a broken link. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.132.73.47 (talk) 13:57, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Christian Source

This seems ludicrously questionable to me. The cross was already a powerful symbol in Europe pre-christianity and it seems far more likely that it was coopted, much like everything else christian. This article is extremely lacking. 122.149.59.153 (talk) 11:01, 26 April 2014 (UTC)

Right you are. See http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1801/whats-the-origin-of-keeping-your-fingers-crossed for example. I've made edits to the article to reflect this information. Please review them. Cerberus (talk) 21:28, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Oh, here comes the old Paganism-of-the-gaps again. I'm so glad that people are citing reputable sources like "straight dope" and vocalising their uninformed, unscholarly opinions in here. 2A00:23C8:6FD7:C801:99F1:5BB6:4E69:DC63 (talk) 18:32, 9 October 2024 (UTC)

Finger positions in common use of crossed fingers and supposed biblical use seems different

If you look at the index and middle finger relative positions in the last supper painting in this wiki page, its not at all the same as the title image of crossed fingers, the positions that is in common use today. In the biblical image, there is no "crossing", the middle finger is just curved and gives an illusion of a slight cross when you look at it from the side. Shiraz S (talk) 11:43, 23 November 2017 (UTC)

Agreed. I have removed the irrelevant image. --Macrakis (talk) 18:31, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Claim about judges

I have removed references which do talk about judges saying "may God have mercy on your soul" but don't mention crossed fingers. I will check more of them later.

As for the Darrow quote, he is not literally claiming that judges are making a gesture of crossed fingers. The exact quote is: "...with most punishments lawmakers and executioners do the best they can even to accomplish this end [to destroy the victim's soul]. When judges blithely and sonorously add to the sentence: 'And may God have mercy on your soul,' they have their fingers crossed", this is obviously just a figure of speech for saying that the judges don't really want mercy for the victim. I have left this in the article for now, but will remove it absent some convincing refutation. --Macrakis (talk) 18:31, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Removed. As quoted above, it is not a reference to ancient Jewish practice. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.29.36.217 (talk) 22:28, 10 February 2019 (UTC)

Engacho in Japanese

In Japan, crossing fingers and saying "engacho" is like saying "(you're) dirty!". It's used among kids when someone touches or does something disgusting. Among adults it's used in a somewhat discriminatory fashion. I'm not Japanese or an expert, which is why I didn't add this in the article itself. Can someone confirm this? 77.125.96.213 (talk) 19:30, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

AI generated tag

Hi -- I added the AI generated tag in response to this edit; it, and other edits by this user, display many signs of LLM output. This one seems to have been cut down a bit, nevertheless some issues with tone at least remain and factual accuracy may be an issue still. Gnomingstuff (talk) 20:22, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

Better evidence for origin?

The Origin section contains references, but it seems the sources just contain claims - not justifications for those claims. The article would be improved if someone could provide for example early mentions in literature or in art of the gesture. Mlewan (talk) 06:21, 19 May 2026 (UTC)