Liebe deutsche Brüder, is the three fingers thing in Inglorious Basterds a true fact of your peoples or, as in grand part of the movie, is it simply made up?

by Richard_DukeofYork

24 comments

  1. What was the three finger thing again? It has been a while since I have watched the movie

  2. I think what gave it away wasnt the fingers but Michael Fassbender’s accent.

  4. It’s true, we start counting fingers with the thumb. So a 3 would be thumb, index- and middlefinger

  5. thumb is one, counting upwards 2 would be index finger etcetera

  6. True, but also the “Piz Palü” accent excuse was not very credible

  9. I would cripple my hand by doing that 3 finger nonsens.

  10. Imagine not starting with the *first* finger on your hand when counting from one.

  11. It’s true. Back in the day I had some friends in cologne, including one who owned a bar. Whenever I would try to signal for beers to my friend behind the bar, I would invariably get one more than ordered until he explained it to me.

  12. Okay now I have to ask since everyone is adamant about starting with the thumb.. if you’re at a noisy bar and want to order one beer, do you really stick your thumb up when the bartender shouts “how many?” Or thumb and index finger when you want two? I do index finger (1), index + middle (2), thumb + index + middle (3), index + middle + ring + little (4) and now I’m wondering if I’m weird

  14. My fondest memory of that scene is that Til Schweiger catches one to the head.

  16. Load of bollocks, i do it the “german” way and im an Englishman

  17. Funny thing is I’m English and count the German way, I’m living in Germany now though so I fit right in. Didn’t get it at all when I seen it in the film.

  18. I tried doing it the Michael F. Assbender way, but I broke my thumb and pinkie. This is stupid.

  19. I don’t think this is a case of counting from the thumb. As most people I’ve met (including Barry) start counting From the thumb. But when asked to represent 3 with your fingers I’d say including the thumb isn’t something that makes sense on the British isles. I would like to ask hans if he makes a 2 with his hands do you essentially make a finger gun?

  22. Spent a year in Cambodia, they count from the other side starting from the little finger..

  23. They have a word for that i believe, for example our Dutch way of telling Germans apart from the Dutch in 1944 with Scheveningen

    Its called Shibboleth i think, which is Hebrew

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