anime

In Afghanistan, Iran and parts of Italy, the gesture is regarded as an obscene insult equivalent to what the middle finger signifies in most of Europe, especially when combined with a sweep of the arms. In these places, it roughly means "Sit on my phallus" and carries the same stigma as does raising the middle finger in the west. The sign has a similarly pejorative meaning in parts of West Africa, South America, Iran and Sardinia, according to Roger E. Axtell's book Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World." In southern Sardinia, where this gesture is noted for being particularly obscene, a hitchhiker would be well advised not to wave his thumb in the air expecting a car to pick him up, or he may find himself under the wheels of a large truck.