大学英语六级阅读考前押题(34)附答案 The“V”Sign The palm-forward“V”sign, formed by raising andspreading the first two fingers1 ,has three differentmeanings in American culture.The most popularmeaning of the“V”sign was invented in 1941 by aBelgian, Victor De Lavalaye. Wanting a symbol forresistance to the Nazi2 occupation, he came upwith the single letter“V”, which stood not only for hisown first name3, but also for English victory, Flemish virijheid, and French victoire. Thesymbolism of the sign spread very quickly, and Winston Churchill4 used it constantly in publicappearance. Thus throughout the 1940 s and 1950 s, the gesture meant simply“victory”.Thesecond meaning came in the 1960 s. Because of its military implication, Americanantiwarprotestors used the sign sarcastically against the arms, so that it became known as the“ peacesign”. In the 1970s, the“V”sign , which had lost its military implication, was a commongreeting among freedom lovers, acid heads5, political radicals, and ultimately, young people ingeneral. So by about the middle of the 1970s, it ceased to give clue to the user’s philosophy.The third meaning is the oldest and least common. American children jokingly put “V”, whichresembles“ horns”, behind friends’heads in group snapshots. The are unknowingly reproducingsomething that southern Europeans would find highly offensive. This mischief, called“horns ofthe Devil”, is a variant of the European“ horns”gesture, which is obscene. Here the“V”signmeans“Your wife has been cheating on you ”or, when placed behind another’s head,“His wifehas been cheating on him”. In the United States, the gesture is typically given with the palmfacing the viewer. The British use both this version and ...
