That “obscene” gesture made by Scalia to a Boston Herald reporter? My relatives taught it to me without ever really “translating” it—I just knew from the context that it wasn’t too fierce—but an Italian correspondent writes from Milan to tell me that in the old country all it means is “who gives a damn?” So it didn’t really attenuate when it came across the Atlantic; it just was never that strong a gesture to begin with. Flick away, Nino!