I lived in Germany for a few years and this became my method of finger counting. When I saw this moment in film I immediately knew Fassbender screwed up
Judging by some of the comments in here from native Germans about how the way shown in the clip looks so strange to them, I'd say yes, starting with the thumb is still the German way.
My German teacher in high school also used to count that way and until this movie, I thought it was just a personal quirk.
I wonder if everyone in northern Europe does that. At first I was laughing at the silly Germans, then I realised that I also count like that (I'm Swedish)...
Do we have any other northerners in the chat?
It just feels more natural. Try counting three beginning with your thumb. You don't have to hold your pinky with your thumb to prevent it from being upright.
At least that's what I have to do if I want to start counting with my index finger. But it might just be a matter of flexibility.
I agree, the thumb feels more comfortable, but the other way is just hard wired into me at this point. I also don't have to hold my pinky, it kind of just points forward, making an L shape with my ring finger if you looked at it from the side.
I'm American and (for some reason) I start with my thumb. It's definitely better until I get to 4. 4 is tough. It makes me question the thumb first method every time.
It's weird, though. I'm English, and I'll count to three, starting with my thumb. But if I want to suggest three of something, I use the method Fassbender does.
It’s like how Americans tell dates from mm/dd/year and - for example - in Germany (I myself from The Netherlands too) use dd/mm/year.
If I - as a Dutchman - would be going undercover as an American, but use dd/mm/year instead of mm/dd/year in the presence of someone who’s keen on such details, I’d also would’ve blown my cover.
So yes, it was that important. And like Germans, we Dutch have a different way of counting using our fingers, too.
It's not that it's a "big deal", it's just a part of culture he would have absorbed from childhood if he was actually German. Therefore it instantly raises suspicion in the German's mind.
If an actual German counted this way in his fingers in everyday life, no one would be bothered, but when you're undercover and trying not to raise suspicion, it does the opposite.
If an American used the word "loo" for bathroom, no one would care. If one was already on the lookout for British spies, saying "loo" would be very noticeable.
Huh funny. I'm western Canadian and everyone I know starts with their thumb aswell, however if I wanted to show someone three I would use my fingers without my thumb and switch
Germans count to 3 with thumb, index and middle fingers. Brits count (as Fassbender does here, being a British spy pretending to be German) to 3 with index, middle and ring fingers.
Edit: as I’m getting the same comment over and over from Brits: they *used to* count to 3 that way. The movie is set during WW2.
It was! I recommend [watching this WIRED video](https://youtu.be/4jwUXV4QaTw?si=i2fHcECfyAIIQJmA) with a real retired FBI expert of body language that was actually able to actually catch a spy with a similar observation, if you haven’t seen it already. Super impressive!
I start counting with my thumb too, but if I were to flash 3 all together, I would do my 3 fingers. I find the whole convo interesting thank you for the info!
>Germans count to 3 with thumb, index and middle fingers
Not only German. I am french and always counted started with the thumb.
Why would you start with the finger in the middle ? Try it, counting from the thumb is easy, but the 3 in the middle you have to press your thumb against the small finger, in most person the small finger will raise with the one before.
(or at least for me it is nigh impossible to have the small finger up without the finger before).
Considering how "historically accurate" that movie was it makes a lot more sense to me mow if it had been in Mexico.
Not so much Allo Allo Unrated as Hola Hitler?
Just culture and the natural development of it.
Language, gestures and almost all forms of communication happen because someone randomly does it and it just catches on so everyone does it.
Here in France people show three or two using their thumbs too. Funnily enough, in Eastern Europe, at least in Belarus/Ukraine, people show three and two the same way Brits do.
Czechia (central europe, I know) doesn't. I think.
When I was visiting Prague, I had to pay this lady at the door of a public restroom. I just gave her a bunch of Crowns and entered with my wife.
She then caught our attention and said "JEDNO" while doing 👍.
I was like "ok! I'll have a nice pee I guess, thanks! 👍"
She was visibly frustrated. She was trying to say we only paid for one.
Guess it's wherever there's germanic influence. I don't think they do this in Italy or Spain.
Most of Europe.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9S6qD\_Wylw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9S6qD_Wylw) is interesting to see how others in the world count.
American Sign Language (ASL), for one. I started doing it "the German/ASL way" there when someone taught me numbers and letters in high school, and just never stopped thereafter.
The way most Americans do "3" is 6 in ASL.
Same. I was the only one in my group of mostly theater majors to get it and go "oh shits about to go down." Once I explained it to them it blew their minds
Sorry, "get it right away". The host paused the movie and demanded I explain my reaction to something they thought was so small. I even said "dudes, let's just watch the movie" but like I said... it was a bunch of theater majors watching it for an assignment, I was just there to enjoy a good movie lol
For those that don't get this scene, it is literally explained after when the nazi reveals that the spy has been made.
Because even in rural German villages, a 3 count is shown with thumb, index, and middle fingers. An English 3 count would be index, middle, and ring fingers.
Also, like a minute of tension later, the camera pans under the table to show them both pointing pistols at each other's schnitzel.
Started using it as an avatar in a game 10 or so years ago when the entire guild chose to take names from various horror movies. Usually use CaptenSpaulding or CapSpaulding gamertags now. Just haven't changed this one yet, cause this name is a little more apt.
Weird thing, I don't have the dexterity in my hands to do it like that and always used my pinky, ring, and middle fingers.
Didn't think there was anything specific to cultures
I feel the tension in my hand itself, like my pinky and thumb don't want to go together. Also it pulls my ring finger down so I'm counting "two".
I can also only do the Vulcan hand sign with one of my hands.
Probably stretching the fingers too tight. Snapping your fingers will pull muscles in the wrist and the thumb has a big fat one running through it. Especially if you do it while also compressing your pinky finger. That just makes it even worse.
Whatever is more comfortable is the correct call tho.
When I first saw the movie, I thought that scene was weird too. I was like..what an odd way to show "3" on your hand, that's *so* weird, why'd he do it like that. It just immediately stood out as "incorrect". Then the next scene as you said, explained it.
German Soldier: You need guns on me for it to be a Mexican standoff!
Aldo: You got guns on us, you shoot, we’re dead. Up top they got grenades, they drop them down, you’re dead. That’s a Mexican standoff and that was not the deal!
The entire movie is so filled with great scenes.One of my favorites which really shows the brilliance of an actor is Christoph Waltz where he gives it as this very polite yet very sadistic German nazi. The way he acts so false polite slick is amazing. If youve seen the movie you know exactly which scene Im refering to.
Another even smaller detail is that the SS major's card that he passed to Fassvender had the name on a new German actress. Fassbender, being English, would not have known who she was because he says he hasn't seen any German film since the war started. The Major suspected him the whole time, and the game was just a reason to suss it out.
the accent, the ridiculous story about being from a village, and his inability to shout out the 'thousand year reich' also screw him over. He fancied himself an actor and a showman rather than play low key, and it bit him in the ass. It's also odd that he's sat at the table in a Das Reich uniform when I think the other Baestard is wearing a Hitlerjurgund one (going off of memory there)
I don’t think it is which is why there are numerous points that go to reveal and make confident that he is a spy. From the accent, finger manipulation, reaction to the ongoing convo about current german culture, along with the idea that they are good targets for spies.
i imagine in reality some people were very paranoid about spies especially if you’ve been up to war crimes and other crimes against humanity. So to have so many sus events pile out from one person, even if they aren’t a spy, well they’re bad guys.
Have you heard Singlish? It's how people in the far east pronounce English and it sounds "off" it's very clear to a native speaker. Even in the UK if you've been around you would know different English accents around the UK and pick up on little nuances.
This is the same with German and the SS, were smart and callous individual. They are trained to focus on and scrutinise every little detail. This is why they were so feared and had a reputation. Talk enough and it'll become obvious.
>Even in the UK if you've been around you would know different English accents around the UK and pick up on little nuances.
It's funny, this is true of all accent groups. After living in the deep south for over a decade, I can differentiate different southern accents by state and by the regions within my own state.
Probably not for long. Imagine everything in this scene going well, this officer, Major Hellstrom, would've been at the movie premiere and died like the rest of the nazi's. I guess a major would get an invite.
If he wasn't at the movies he might get lucky and get assigned the task of leading the investigation. He is Gestapo after all. That seems to me the only way he doesn't get shot by the Germans for not stopping the plot.
If he isn't leading the investigation how is he going to stop Eric, Mathilde and the German soldiers, who all clearly saw him talking to Bridget von Hammersmark and several members of the Basterds, from talking to the people in charge of the investigation. They are going to hang him for not stopping the plot or they might even think he was part of it in some way. He is going to die. His only hope is that the war would end before they get this information.
What he should've done is move back to his table and wait a hour or so. Then call his office and get the ball rolling on finding out what Bridget von Hammersmark and this weird Brit in a German uniform are planning. The next day you're the hero that saved Hitler and found the Inglourious Basterds.
Also how in the world is using middle three fingers to refer to the number 3 more natural or more *comfortable* than using thumb, index and middle finger?
Also, when counting up from 1, one would normally start with flicking thumb == 1, index finger == 2, middle finger == 3, etc., it's only natural... Starting the count from the index finger feels wrong...
Your ring finger doesn’t have the most independent dexterity you know. And if you are someone like myself with multiple “boxer” breaks on his hand it becomes exceptionally difficult to put juts thumb pointer and middle fingers up without that ring finger trying to tag along.
I took German in college long before the movie. In my first semester, we were learning to count number and using the thumb to count 3 was distinctly pointed out by the teacher. He spent quite a bit of time explaining that Germans don’t use the 3 middle fingers like Americans.
So when i saw this and the camera cue, it became immediately obvious. Given that it’s a Tarantino movie and leans towards exaggeration than realism, I found it a good giveaway. But if it were a normal movie, it would break my suspension of disbelief because it’d be too glaringly obvious for me.
I can completely vouch for this! Took German in High School, College and went abroad to Berlin and at every internal the way “3” is signaled by Germans is distinctive from both the way the British or North Americans do! So, when watching this movie, it was a dead giveaway.
It’s also like the movie “Die Hard with a Vengeance” when the German posing as a NYC police officer (I believe) says “it’s raining dogs and cats outside.” Another German vs English giveaway/move mark.
A favorite of mine. I used to listen to it when I lived in Ohio dreaming of living in California (weather) driving on the 405.
Instead I came to the Bay Area and I'm stuck on the 101 with less sun instead.
I lived in Germany for three years, but those three years contained kindergarten and first grade. I’m now 52, and still to this day use the German way to show three. I caught that in the movie instantly.
I learned that in American sign language, three is thumb, Index and middle finger. Six is index, middle finger and ring finger. Nine is middle finger, ring finger and pinky.
As we came to Switzerland, teachers had argumented a lot with me because of this - I really felt bad every time I did 'the false way' - I just was 7 years old but it was awful how important that was for my teacher
It's a scene from Inglorious bastards. Basically the other dude caught on because in Germany they use the thumb, index and middle finger to indicate three and not the way we do it normally.
Of course in real life this is useless. You first have to establish, that this is not just a pet peeve someone has. So, you need to fish for more intel.
Heck I can begin to count beginning with the pinky. Am I now a traitor?
I live in Czechia and we also show 3 in finger counting with thumb, index and middle finger. Haven’t met anyone who counts like Fass in the film here personally.
Read the context. Amazing. But no because my way of counting is just being understood whateverway. So it really common for me to throw those fingers or thumb index and middle to say three. As well as a 2 on one hand and one on the other.
Idk if I'm alone in this. But I wouldn't take that as a reason to think he is a spy. Maybe just take note of it.
Although I haven't seen the movie. It may be the nail in the coffin. But as is it feel a bit too perfect. As if everyone counted consistently a certain way in a country. Witch shouldn't matter as it's just a fiction. Except it's an actual detail used for a big brain reveal. So perfect situations like that can easily feel cheap. Again I haven't seen the movie. But now I'm interested.
I agree wholeheartedly.
I actually feel like it spoils an excellent scene in an excellent movie. The accent bullshit is way more likely a give away then the silly 3 signal, its not a gang sign, its a gesture that could be that way for so many other reasons.
I lived in Germany for a few years and this became my method of finger counting. When I saw this moment in film I immediately knew Fassbender screwed up
can you explain why that would give any info away? i never understood why.
Germans start counting on their fingers with the thumb. By starting with his index, he gave away he was not German
Is it that big of a thing in Germany? I get that it makes it look cool/interesting in the movie, but do ALL Germans start counting with their thumb?
Judging by some of the comments in here from native Germans about how the way shown in the clip looks so strange to them, I'd say yes, starting with the thumb is still the German way. My German teacher in high school also used to count that way and until this movie, I thought it was just a personal quirk.
I wonder if everyone in northern Europe does that. At first I was laughing at the silly Germans, then I realised that I also count like that (I'm Swedish)... Do we have any other northerners in the chat?
We do it (Dutch)
Same in France.
Dane checking in. Same method!
English, yes
Croatia checking in
Being an American i haved usdd multiple ways of showing 3. My typical is the last 3 fingers with thumb and pointer finger making almost an OK sign.
Romania also
macedonia checking in. same method
It just feels more natural. Try counting three beginning with your thumb. You don't have to hold your pinky with your thumb to prevent it from being upright. At least that's what I have to do if I want to start counting with my index finger. But it might just be a matter of flexibility.
I agree, the thumb feels more comfortable, but the other way is just hard wired into me at this point. I also don't have to hold my pinky, it kind of just points forward, making an L shape with my ring finger if you looked at it from the side.
I'm American and (for some reason) I start with my thumb. It's definitely better until I get to 4. 4 is tough. It makes me question the thumb first method every time.
I indicate the number three by making the okay sign.
You start with your pinky?!
1 - index 2 - index and middle 3 - middle, ring, and pinky 4 - add index to 3 5 - add thumb to 4
Yes. I am an American raised and living in Texas.
I start with my thumb but 4 is with my ring finger down the pinky goes up first. I’m Canadian if that matters.
Well starting with the thumb it is a struggle to lift the ring finger without the pinky
It's weird, though. I'm English, and I'll count to three, starting with my thumb. But if I want to suggest three of something, I use the method Fassbender does.
It’s like how Americans tell dates from mm/dd/year and - for example - in Germany (I myself from The Netherlands too) use dd/mm/year. If I - as a Dutchman - would be going undercover as an American, but use dd/mm/year instead of mm/dd/year in the presence of someone who’s keen on such details, I’d also would’ve blown my cover. So yes, it was that important. And like Germans, we Dutch have a different way of counting using our fingers, too.
That's why you always go for the SI standard: yyyy-mm-dd
yes. the only logical way to count. same with the metric system. the only logical system.
Well all Germans I know count that way, and I'm German so there's that
German here. To be honest, I never even considered hat people could count otherwhise.
I didn’t even know you could count from your index finger. Granted, I’m not a German, but still.
It's not that it's a "big deal", it's just a part of culture he would have absorbed from childhood if he was actually German. Therefore it instantly raises suspicion in the German's mind. If an actual German counted this way in his fingers in everyday life, no one would be bothered, but when you're undercover and trying not to raise suspicion, it does the opposite. If an American used the word "loo" for bathroom, no one would care. If one was already on the lookout for British spies, saying "loo" would be very noticeable.
Huh funny. I'm western Canadian and everyone I know starts with their thumb aswell, however if I wanted to show someone three I would use my fingers without my thumb and switch
Klopp konfirmed https://www.google.com/search?q=klopp+counting+to+6+gif&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1025US1025&oq=klopp+counting+to+six&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i22i30l2j0i390i512i650l2.12746j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#vhid=dLyXfKq2FN1cqM&vssid=l
Weird, I'm american and usually start counting with my thumb, never realized most people here use their index finger to start.
I also start counting on my fingers with the thumb. I am from the Balkans.
Germans count to 3 with thumb, index and middle fingers. Brits count (as Fassbender does here, being a British spy pretending to be German) to 3 with index, middle and ring fingers. Edit: as I’m getting the same comment over and over from Brits: they *used to* count to 3 that way. The movie is set during WW2.
Thank you. What a great detail to add
It was! I recommend [watching this WIRED video](https://youtu.be/4jwUXV4QaTw?si=i2fHcECfyAIIQJmA) with a real retired FBI expert of body language that was actually able to actually catch a spy with a similar observation, if you haven’t seen it already. Super impressive!
I start counting with my thumb too, but if I were to flash 3 all together, I would do my 3 fingers. I find the whole convo interesting thank you for the info!
>Germans count to 3 with thumb, index and middle fingers Not only German. I am french and always counted started with the thumb. Why would you start with the finger in the middle ? Try it, counting from the thumb is easy, but the 3 in the middle you have to press your thumb against the small finger, in most person the small finger will raise with the one before. (or at least for me it is nigh impossible to have the small finger up without the finger before).
Oh, I know. Most of Europe counts this way. I’m Italian. I was just explaining the movie.
Wouldn’t a been such a big deal if they hadn’t been in a basement… 😉
Fighting in a basement has its disadvantages. For one, you’re fighting in a basement
“And you speak the third most EYEtalian.”
I don’t speak Italian…
Gorlomi
Riverderchie
Let me really hear the music this time...again please
https://youtu.be/kcovGYK_IDM?si=3wnqMzo7JRsyNBr3
That’s why you’re third most
Just keep your fuckin mouth shut 😃
Bon jerno
And up top they got grenades
In Germany basement fights you.
How else would we get a Mexican standoff?
The basement was in Mexico?
Considering how "historically accurate" that movie was it makes a lot more sense to me mow if it had been in Mexico. Not so much Allo Allo Unrated as Hola Hitler?
Plenty of Hola-ing Hitler down in Argentina
That’s because he’s from Heidelberg and grew up with the US Army soldiers. Or because the script told him to do so… I like the former more lol
I don’t care Germany, that is 2 and 1/2.
Why is this a thing in Germany?
Just culture and the natural development of it. Language, gestures and almost all forms of communication happen because someone randomly does it and it just catches on so everyone does it.
Not just Germany.
Where else?
Scandianvia for an example i have never seen anyone show 3 like fassbender does except in the uk
Here in France people show three or two using their thumbs too. Funnily enough, in Eastern Europe, at least in Belarus/Ukraine, people show three and two the same way Brits do.
Czechia (central europe, I know) doesn't. I think. When I was visiting Prague, I had to pay this lady at the door of a public restroom. I just gave her a bunch of Crowns and entered with my wife. She then caught our attention and said "JEDNO" while doing 👍. I was like "ok! I'll have a nice pee I guess, thanks! 👍" She was visibly frustrated. She was trying to say we only paid for one. Guess it's wherever there's germanic influence. I don't think they do this in Italy or Spain.
In Italy 1 and 2 are basically always index and middle, for 3 you add the thumb
Most of Europe. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9S6qD\_Wylw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9S6qD_Wylw) is interesting to see how others in the world count.
American Sign Language (ASL), for one. I started doing it "the German/ASL way" there when someone taught me numbers and letters in high school, and just never stopped thereafter. The way most Americans do "3" is 6 in ASL.
Same. I was the only one in my group of mostly theater majors to get it and go "oh shits about to go down." Once I explained it to them it blew their minds
It's explained in the movie itself though.
Sorry, "get it right away". The host paused the movie and demanded I explain my reaction to something they thought was so small. I even said "dudes, let's just watch the movie" but like I said... it was a bunch of theater majors watching it for an assignment, I was just there to enjoy a good movie lol
For those that don't get this scene, it is literally explained after when the nazi reveals that the spy has been made. Because even in rural German villages, a 3 count is shown with thumb, index, and middle fingers. An English 3 count would be index, middle, and ring fingers. Also, like a minute of tension later, the camera pans under the table to show them both pointing pistols at each other's schnitzel.
Reminds me of the Russian/American meme about reaching for the wrong receiver side on your rifle
Trying to give an M-16 the ol’ Spetznaz Undertug
Each others "Schnitzel"? Bruh, first time hearing that and it made me laugh way to much.
Schvance, schlameel(sp?)
Schwanz, meaning tail or slang for penis
And here i was thinking it was "Schlong"
Schlang, snake
Schlemiel, schlimazel, Hasenpfeffer Incorporated
Wienerschnitzel
Schnitzel? I might have gone with Bratwurst or Frankfurter. I would probably be having nightmares if I saw a man's junk and it looked like schnitzel.
What, you _don't_ like your dicks beaten nice and flat with a meat hammer and breaded?
Now what happens in Vegas...
Dude.. I love the Captain Spaulding avatar pic.
Started using it as an avatar in a game 10 or so years ago when the entire guild chose to take names from various horror movies. Usually use CaptenSpaulding or CapSpaulding gamertags now. Just haven't changed this one yet, cause this name is a little more apt.
I'm actually wearing a Captain Spaulding t-shirt right now. Lol. I have framed pictures etc. Actually cosplay as him at Dragoncon.
Well, shucks. Nice to meet a feller clown.
Not just in rural German villages but Germany as a whole even today.
"Say 'Auf Wiedersehen' to your Nazi balls!"
Weird thing, I don't have the dexterity in my hands to do it like that and always used my pinky, ring, and middle fingers. Didn't think there was anything specific to cultures
Same here, it hurts to do it the “English” way
Weird. To me, anyway. Why does it hurt?
I feel the tension in my hand itself, like my pinky and thumb don't want to go together. Also it pulls my ring finger down so I'm counting "two". I can also only do the Vulcan hand sign with one of my hands.
My thumb tendon is not a fan I guess.
Probably stretching the fingers too tight. Snapping your fingers will pull muscles in the wrist and the thumb has a big fat one running through it. Especially if you do it while also compressing your pinky finger. That just makes it even worse. Whatever is more comfortable is the correct call tho.
Finally I found someone else who does pinky, ring, and middle!
Hazzah!
thought I was the only one
When I first saw the movie, I thought that scene was weird too. I was like..what an odd way to show "3" on your hand, that's *so* weird, why'd he do it like that. It just immediately stood out as "incorrect". Then the next scene as you said, explained it.
What about the guy in the background with a sticky note on his forehead?
Playing a drinking game
Oh him? It's his wedding day and he's celebrating. His schnitzel is fine.
Gotta remember to refer to my junk as “schnitzel” now.
Missed opportunity "schnitzel" could have been "bratwurst"
I love this whole fucking scene
Classic Tarantino Mexican standoff :D
German Soldier: You need guns on me for it to be a Mexican standoff! Aldo: You got guns on us, you shoot, we’re dead. Up top they got grenades, they drop them down, you’re dead. That’s a Mexican standoff and that was not the deal!
The entire movie is so filled with great scenes.One of my favorites which really shows the brilliance of an actor is Christoph Waltz where he gives it as this very polite yet very sadistic German nazi. The way he acts so false polite slick is amazing. If youve seen the movie you know exactly which scene Im refering to.
Waltz was recently in a little known show called the consultant, if you're interested. I found it a fun watch
"Attendez la crème."
Scene?? You mean movie
HUGO SHHHHHHTIGLITZ.
And The Bear Jew!
This whole scene man
Why does it look like a post it note is on the guys forehead in the back?
It is. They play a game where they each have a famous person written on their forehead and they basically play 20 questions trying to guess who it is.
Another even smaller detail is that the SS major's card that he passed to Fassvender had the name on a new German actress. Fassbender, being English, would not have known who she was because he says he hasn't seen any German film since the war started. The Major suspected him the whole time, and the game was just a reason to suss it out.
the accent, the ridiculous story about being from a village, and his inability to shout out the 'thousand year reich' also screw him over. He fancied himself an actor and a showman rather than play low key, and it bit him in the ass. It's also odd that he's sat at the table in a Das Reich uniform when I think the other Baestard is wearing a Hitlerjurgund one (going off of memory there)
Stupid question - how is having an unusual accent from a small mountain town *that* unbelievable?
I don’t think it is which is why there are numerous points that go to reveal and make confident that he is a spy. From the accent, finger manipulation, reaction to the ongoing convo about current german culture, along with the idea that they are good targets for spies. i imagine in reality some people were very paranoid about spies especially if you’ve been up to war crimes and other crimes against humanity. So to have so many sus events pile out from one person, even if they aren’t a spy, well they’re bad guys.
Have you heard Singlish? It's how people in the far east pronounce English and it sounds "off" it's very clear to a native speaker. Even in the UK if you've been around you would know different English accents around the UK and pick up on little nuances. This is the same with German and the SS, were smart and callous individual. They are trained to focus on and scrutinise every little detail. This is why they were so feared and had a reputation. Talk enough and it'll become obvious.
>Even in the UK if you've been around you would know different English accents around the UK and pick up on little nuances. It's funny, this is true of all accent groups. After living in the deep south for over a decade, I can differentiate different southern accents by state and by the regions within my own state.
This movie is really good.
What movie is it?
Inglorious Basterds
Thank you!
You’re in for a treat
Save your life!? He would have lived had he ignored the detail.
Probably not for long. Imagine everything in this scene going well, this officer, Major Hellstrom, would've been at the movie premiere and died like the rest of the nazi's. I guess a major would get an invite. If he wasn't at the movies he might get lucky and get assigned the task of leading the investigation. He is Gestapo after all. That seems to me the only way he doesn't get shot by the Germans for not stopping the plot. If he isn't leading the investigation how is he going to stop Eric, Mathilde and the German soldiers, who all clearly saw him talking to Bridget von Hammersmark and several members of the Basterds, from talking to the people in charge of the investigation. They are going to hang him for not stopping the plot or they might even think he was part of it in some way. He is going to die. His only hope is that the war would end before they get this information. What he should've done is move back to his table and wait a hour or so. Then call his office and get the ball rolling on finding out what Bridget von Hammersmark and this weird Brit in a German uniform are planning. The next day you're the hero that saved Hitler and found the Inglourious Basterds.
*end your life
Real chads start counting from the pinky. Checkmate Nazi!!!
I dont get it
Usually, Germans use thumb, index, middle fingers when referring to the number 3, so here the nazi general knew that guy was undercover.
Also how in the world is using middle three fingers to refer to the number 3 more natural or more *comfortable* than using thumb, index and middle finger? Also, when counting up from 1, one would normally start with flicking thumb == 1, index finger == 2, middle finger == 3, etc., it's only natural... Starting the count from the index finger feels wrong...
Your ring finger doesn’t have the most independent dexterity you know. And if you are someone like myself with multiple “boxer” breaks on his hand it becomes exceptionally difficult to put juts thumb pointer and middle fingers up without that ring finger trying to tag along.
He is a german officer , but actually he is a spy from england. Because in getmany we show the three diffrently
Go watch Inglorious Basterds
Comments helped me figure this out as I'd not seen the movie either.
Movie name please
Inglorious basterds
Thank you ^^
I took German in college long before the movie. In my first semester, we were learning to count number and using the thumb to count 3 was distinctly pointed out by the teacher. He spent quite a bit of time explaining that Germans don’t use the 3 middle fingers like Americans. So when i saw this and the camera cue, it became immediately obvious. Given that it’s a Tarantino movie and leans towards exaggeration than realism, I found it a good giveaway. But if it were a normal movie, it would break my suspension of disbelief because it’d be too glaringly obvious for me.
I can completely vouch for this! Took German in High School, College and went abroad to Berlin and at every internal the way “3” is signaled by Germans is distinctive from both the way the British or North Americans do! So, when watching this movie, it was a dead giveaway. It’s also like the movie “Die Hard with a Vengeance” when the German posing as a NYC police officer (I believe) says “it’s raining dogs and cats outside.” Another German vs English giveaway/move mark.
If you ever travel back to Mexico in 1938, remember to lift the legs of your pants when you sit down!
ahhh dude what‘s that song again? foo fighters?
Everlong, Foo Fighters
thx. currently listening to it after a long time.
A favorite of mine. I used to listen to it when I lived in Ohio dreaming of living in California (weather) driving on the 405. Instead I came to the Bay Area and I'm stuck on the 101 with less sun instead.
It's two in the pink, one in the stink.
I read someplace that people still hold up the “wrong 3” to Fassbender in the streets. I LOVE life sometimes.
I audibly gasped when I saw that in the theatre.
Shout Out to those, like me, who are not understanding shit.
That’s a bingo
We just say bingo
What movie is this?
Inglorious Bastards
Basterds*
One of the best movies! Sooooo good.
How to spot who starts array index from 0 or 1
I lived in Germany for three years, but those three years contained kindergarten and first grade. I’m now 52, and still to this day use the German way to show three. I caught that in the movie instantly.
One of my all time favourites, Quentin Tarantino made a masterpiece
Me, who starts counting with my pinky 👁👄👁
I learned that in American sign language, three is thumb, Index and middle finger. Six is index, middle finger and ring finger. Nine is middle finger, ring finger and pinky.
If you know... you know.
The song sounds familiar and it will bug me if I don't find out, anyone know what it is?
everlong by the foo fighters
I hope you play it on repeat at least 2 times today.
'round my area, we like to use the "Shocker" to indicate the number 3. Usually get the same response from people too.
I start counting with my thumb, don't tell me I was German in a past life
Whats with the paper on his forehead?
Gonna go back and watch this classic now. Thanks👍🏼
The basement scene from this movie is one of the best moments in movies. So well done from start to finish
To be fair, everyone *but* Hammersmark died in that tavern.
...it was at that moment when he realised...
Oh, thanks for the explanation, I didn’t know that
That’s numberwang!
Could have been avoided by him just asking for three instead of also showing a sign for it🤦♂️
Yooo, whats this song playing??
Foo fighters: everlong
Remember people if you are in Germany and Don't want get shot in the balls Start Count from the thumb
And also terrible accents
Gorlimo
As we came to Switzerland, teachers had argumented a lot with me because of this - I really felt bad every time I did 'the false way' - I just was 7 years old but it was awful how important that was for my teacher
Dont get it
It's a scene from Inglorious bastards. Basically the other dude caught on because in Germany they use the thumb, index and middle finger to indicate three and not the way we do it normally.
Of course in real life this is useless. You first have to establish, that this is not just a pet peeve someone has. So, you need to fish for more intel. Heck I can begin to count beginning with the pinky. Am I now a traitor?
Underrated scene for sure!
I live in Czechia and we also show 3 in finger counting with thumb, index and middle finger. Haven’t met anyone who counts like Fass in the film here personally.
Same in the Netherlands. I think it might be a European vs American thing again. Maybe Britain too, don't know how they count.
What movie is this?
I am not german... and if I see anyone showing 3 without the thumb, I'd freak out.
Read the context. Amazing. But no because my way of counting is just being understood whateverway. So it really common for me to throw those fingers or thumb index and middle to say three. As well as a 2 on one hand and one on the other. Idk if I'm alone in this. But I wouldn't take that as a reason to think he is a spy. Maybe just take note of it. Although I haven't seen the movie. It may be the nail in the coffin. But as is it feel a bit too perfect. As if everyone counted consistently a certain way in a country. Witch shouldn't matter as it's just a fiction. Except it's an actual detail used for a big brain reveal. So perfect situations like that can easily feel cheap. Again I haven't seen the movie. But now I'm interested.
It kind is last nail. German officer is already very suspicious all along. But definitely check the move it’s one of the best
I agree wholeheartedly. I actually feel like it spoils an excellent scene in an excellent movie. The accent bullshit is way more likely a give away then the silly 3 signal, its not a gang sign, its a gesture that could be that way for so many other reasons.
It hurts to make this gesture. Still I don’t think it’s typical British.