The Wag of the Finger is a Stephen Colbert signature move that signifies disapproval. Usually, it is the left index finger that is used for this signature move.
The Beginnings
The origins of finger wagging dates back to Pagan Rome when priests use it to express erotic temptation. When the country embraced Christianity as its religion, the finger wag was banned. The expression of ‘wagging thine finger’ was also banned and punishable by death during the Middle Ages. It wasn’t until the Enlightenment that the finger wag returned to legality.
Although people didn’t know what the finger wag originally meant, it was associated as a sign of anger since people before died for doing it. When you wag your finger at somebody means that you want the person dead. Over time, the finger wag’s meaning slowly waned until it only signified into slight anger.
Trivia
- When you receive the finger wag, you’re an un-American, Karl Marx follower, truth hater, and a liberal bear;
- Dr. Colbert’s left index finger is composed of red licorice!
- If you wag your fingers at Dr. Colbert, you’ll get a kick in the butt!
The Wags of the Finger
- To Chicago for on its foie gras ban in restaurants;
- To Fox News commentator who called George Bush a tool;
- To drug dealers who manufacture;
- To cellular phones that kill bees hence the diminishing supply of honey that forced bears to eat the next best thing to honey: BABIES!
- To Thomas Friedman for suggesting ‘green debates’ for presidential candidates;
- To bilk – Japan’s beer and milk concoction;
- To Taco Bell for infecting their customers with E. coli;
- To Katie Holmes for her pregnancy out of wedlock;
- To Arizona for offering that $1 million bribe to vote.
The Colbert Report
The Colbert Report was started by Dr. Stephen Colbert in 2005. He needed something to symbolize his anger for the liberals. His enlightenment came when he visited the local church’s nuns and they wagged their fingers at him because he was inappropriately dressed in the house of God. From then, the Wag of the Finger was born and was used to symbolize Dr. Colbert’s anger for the liberals.