Originally Posted by
megan
In my near eight decades never heard of it I'm afraid, not someone having a lend of you, or do I need to get out more? Middle finger on the other hand....
Could have been someone having a loan of a new chum, but there are famous cultural incompatibilities. My favourite, relevant to the context, concerns the Australian colloquial expression for a minor greebie (and this is one I've heard people using IRL). Australian woman goes to London for working holiday, catches a bad cold, rings the office to call in sick and, in total innocence, says "I can't come to work today, I'm in bed with a wog." Also a once common Australian brand of adhesive tape which caused similar problems when approaching UK stationery departments: Durex.
My info on hand signs was NSW, '60s, where the middle finger was only known to people with an interest in Americana.
Edited to add: Quora thread
Thumbs up in Australia suggests that my memory of a long time ago is perhaps accurate, though maybe it was only used in such coarse places as the NSW country.