Thumbing one's nose explained

Thumbing one's nose, also known as cocking a snook,^[1] is a sign of derision, contempt, or defiance, made by putting the thumb on the nose, holding the palm open and perpendicular to the face, and wiggling the remaining fingers.^{[2] [3]} It is used mostly by schoolchildren. It is also known as thumbing the nose, Anne's Fan or Queen Anne's Fan.^{[4] [5]}

The phrase "cocking a snook" can be used figuratively: the Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1938 usage "The Rome–Berlin axis...cocked the biggest snook yet at the League of Nations idea" by Eric Ambler in his Cause for Alarm.^[6]

See also

• I've got your nose
• reverse V sign
• the finger

Notes and References

1. Book: Cambridge University Press . Cambridge Idioms Dictionary . 2006 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 2nd . 0-521-86037-7.
2. Book: McNeill, David. 1992. Hand and Mind: What Gestures Reveal About Thought. Chicago. University of Chicago Press.
3. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/cock-a-snook.html 'Cock a snook' – the meaning and origin of this phrase
4. Book: Shipley, Joseph Twadell . The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots . reprint . 2001 . JHU Press . Baltimore . 0-8018-6784-3 . 302 . 8 August 2009. (- no explicit connection to one specific Queen Anne in this source.)
5. "The British also call it "Queen Anne's fan" because it became popular during her reign, of 1702-1714." Cocking a snook at a bender, Chris Lloyd for The Northern Echo, Darlington, 6 Sep 2018, accessed 11 Oct 2021.
6. Book: Oxford English Dictionary . http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/183398?redirectedFrom=cock+a+snook#eid21847963. 1 January 2018 . Snook, n.3 . subscription.