• PugJesus@lemmy.worldOPM
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    1 month ago

    Explanation: “V” is the Roman numeral for “5”. So by holding up two fingers in the form of a V, this fellow’s Roman classmate is trying to tell him “5” instead of “2”.

    • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org
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      1 month ago

      Well, axially, 🤓

      Roman Ⅴ was chosen as the letter best approximating the look of the 🖐️ gesture, while Ⅰ corresponds to ☝️ and Ⅹ to 🫲🫱.

      Edit: turns out this is a hypothesis. Romans probably used other hand counting systems anyway.

      • LarmyOfLone
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        1 month ago

        ✌ symbolizes bunny ears, mocking the stupid bird

        Alternatively the roman is just missing Ⅲ fingers from his 🖐️ and it’s abelism

      • egrets@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Got a source for that? My understanding was that the Romans based their numerals on the older Etruscan system, in which the V was upside-down and therefore even less hand-shaped.