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Extract digit

eshcar

Senior Member
Israel, Hebrew
In one of Nevil Shute's novels, a group of prisoners in an abandoned jap prison, who are waiting impatiantly to be released, write on one of the roofs "EXTRACT DIGIT". This is supposed to be a message to high command, and from what I could gather, a rather rude one.

The problem is, I have no idea what it means... 👁 Confused :confused:


Could someone please enlighten me?
There is an expression in English, when we want someone to hurry up, get a move on, where we tell them to 'pull your finger out'. It is 'rude', because the idea is, that instead of getting on with the job at hand, they are wasting time with the finger up their backside.

'extract' = take out
'digit' = a finger

Hence, very succinct equivalent of the expression, in comically 'polite' terms!

I'll see if if can track down the origin of this saying.
Last edited:
It probably means Take your thumb out of your ass and get busy and get us out of here. A thumb is one of your digits. Extract means to take out.

Jap is capitalized and it's generally considered derogatory -- personally, I prefer Japanese.
Seems everybody has a story about where it originated, from man-o'-war times, to wartime RAF, to "my mother..."

We all seem to just about agree on what it means; and whether finger, thumb or big toe, we agree from whence it should be extracted!
Jap is capitalized and it's generally considered derogatory -- personally, I prefer Japanese.

Sorry, was probably subconciously mimicking the style of the book itself...

As for all the answers, thanks very much. Actually, there is an identical expression in Hebrew, shame on me for not connecting the dots 👁 Smile :)
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