I first met my friend Chris Shavor back in 1990. He and I worked together at a summer camp in the southern Sierras. During our training we would regularly give each other the finger in response to someone being especially harsh. Chris's form was outside of the regular form. Where others would flip people off using the traditional middle finger with accompanying folded digits, Chris used solely the middle finger. He explained it thusly: "When you use three fingers, its like 'fuck you', but when you just use the middle one, it becomes "fuck YOU!'"

I, for one, was somewhat skeptical. After all, using only one finger is considered using the juvenile form of the gesture. But I would come to appreciate his style which, while it resembled the juvenile form, was distinct and indeed more effective. This was partially due to the fact that Chris has unusually long, bony fingers and when he achieves full extension of his middle fingers, his bottom knuckle looks like part of his finger, exaggerating the effect.

Since then I've made it something of a mission to teach people the One True Way. I often encounter resistance, most often from people who mistakenly feel that the three-fingered approach is the only permissible way. Here, then, is a visual compendium of the various styles and how they differ.

	This is just awful. The thumb greatly detracts from the overall form and eclipses the most important digit. Besides, this looks too much like someone trying to make the "L" for loser sign.
	This is the form that most people feel is juvenile--only little kids flip people off like this. When one achieves the manual dexterity required to give the three-fingered version, most will move to that form. The resemblance to the One True Form is fairly similar: the prominence of the middle finger, the tucked thumb. The half-folded fingers are the chief difference here.
	This is the traditional form: pointer and ring fingers half folded and protruding. Many feel that this is the phallically correct version where the fingers resemble male genitalia in form. The problem here is that the extra fingers create "noise" and distract from the critical finger.
	There are really only three times when you are allowed to use this form: When you're in England If you are English (and no, Hilary, you don't count--you need to have a demonstrable accent) You have been offended by an English person.
	This here is the One True Form. It differs from the juvenile form in that all the fingers are folded back and the middle finger is extended to be as nearly as possible in a single plane as the back of the hand. This form does require some practice; some people may require a bit of stretching to get the middle finger limber enough to extend fully without the other fingers. Full arm extension and an upward thrusting motion heighten the effect and signal not only "fuck YOU" but "up yours" as well.