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The real explanation is much simpler (and less interesting) than some offered above.

You learn dactylonomy—finger-counting—when you're an infant. Little Archie Hickox learned it from his Irish parents, who passed the art on, unchanged, from their own infancy, und so weiter, und so weiter.

As soon as you can do basic arithmetic, finger-counting becomes pretty irrelevant to your life, unless you order a lot of beers or work with a lot of trauma patients. You could theoretically go your whole adult life without ever counting on your fingers...

...until you have kids of your own. Then you enact the same, indelibly-rehearsed motor actions your parents instilled in you.

Archibald Hickox grew to be a fine fellow and a better-than-average linguist. His love of German caused him to spend no end of time among no shortage of native speakers.

He could have spent a thousand years in the company of his echt German friends; it would have helped him shake off the Irish accent, to be sure, but it probably wouldn't have had any influence on his dactylonomic habits. After all:

1. he was hanging out with them to improve his German
2. he already knew how to count on his fingers and, as a grown man, it wouldn't have occurred to him that he had to re-learn a skill associated with babies
3. anyway, finger-counting cultures are mutually intelligible. Note that the gesture was perfectly effective: just before Hellstrom leveled his pistol at Hickox' Eier, the bartender delivered exactly 3 glasses to the table.

The ScheiBe hit the fan because Hickox violated what linguists call an ethonomathematical shibboleth.

If Hickox had learned his German in the context of training for espionage. Any decent instructor would have drilled Hickox on the life-or-death importance of dactylonomic and other shibboleths, particularly because these are somewhat quicker and easier to master than a clean foreign accent.

But you have to know that you HAVE to master them. And we can't expect someone who's not a professional spy to have thought of these things.

The real explanation is much simpler (and less interesting) than some offered above.

You learn dactylonomy—finger-counting—when you're an infant, and you don't re-learn it as an adult unless there's a good reason to do so. It doesn't matter how thoroughly a British person immerses himself in a Continental culture, or vice versa, he/she is unlikely (and has no need) to switch dactylonomic codes, especially when the two systems are mutually intelligible.

Little Archie Hickox learned to count with his fingers on the knee of his Irish mother or father, who passed the art on, unchanged, from their own infancy, und so weiter, und so weiter.

As soon as you can do basic arithmetic, finger-counting becomes pretty irrelevant to your life, unless you order a lot of beers or work with a lot of trauma patients. You could theoretically go your whole adult life without ever counting on your fingers...

...until you have kids of your own. Then you enact the same, indelibly-rehearsed motor actions your parents instilled in you.

As a young man, Archibald Hickox' interest in German probably caused him to spend no end of time among no shortage of native speakers.

He could have spent 1000 years in the company of his echt German friends; it would have helped him shake off the Irish accent, to be sure, but it probably wouldn't have had any influence on his dactylonomic habits. After all:

1. he was hanging out with them to improve his German
2. he already knew how to count on his fingers
3. nobody at his Ye Olde Bavarian Beer Hall, be they echt Bavarians or just students dressed up in Lederhosen und so weiter, ever seemed to have difficulty understanding how many glasses he wanted when he signaled for zwei, drei, vier or fünf Gläser*. Even in Occupied France his gestures worked fine: note that, just before Hellstrom leveled a pistol at Hickox' Eier, the bartender delivered exactly 3 glasses to the table.

The ScheiBe hit the fan because Hickox violated what linguists call an ethonomathematical shibboleth.

Unfortunately Hickox was a film critic, not a professional spy. Any espionage instructor worth her salt would have drilled Hickox on the life-or-death importance of dactylonomic and other shibboleths, particularly because these are somewhat quicker and easier to master than a clean foreign accent.

But you have to know that you HAVE to master them. And we can't expect someone who's not a professional spy to have thought of these things.

The answers thus far are so thoughtful and elegant that it almost feels like a shame to give the real explanation, which is much simpler (and less interesting). But here goes.

The ScheiBe hit the fan, with fatal results, when Hickox (inadvertently and unwittingly) violated what linguists call an ethonomathematical shibboleth. It was a subtle mistake, which eluded everyone but Hellstrom, and as somebody mentions above it wouldn't have been conclusive in itself: some Germans really do count upwards from their index finger = 1, with their thumb = 5, à la Hickox. But the unusual gesture was presumably the straw that broke the camel's back: Hickox was already in (inadvertent but conscious) violation of an accent shibboleth every time he opened his mouth.

The question, then, is why he made the fatal mistake at all, given his knowledge of German and Germans.

You learn dactylonomy—finger-counting—when you're an infant. Little Archie Hickox learned it from his Irish parents, who passed the art on, unchanged, from their own infancy, und so weiter, und so weiter.

As soon as you can do basic arithmetic, finger-counting becomes pretty irrelevant to your life, unless you order a lot of beers or work with a lot of trauma patients. You could theoretically go your whole adult life without ever counting on your fingers...

...until you have kids of your own. Kids are innumerate by default. So you kick off their mathematical education by re-enacting the same, indelibly-practiced motor routines your parents instilled in you.

(Notice the memetic, cf. genetic, transmission going on.)

Archibald Hickox grew to be a fine fellow and a better-than-average linguist. His love of German caused him to spend no end of time among no shortage of native speakers.

But he could have spent a thousand years in the company of his native German friends. It would have helped him shake off the Irish accent, to be sure, but it probably wouldn't have had any influence on his dactylonomic habits. After all:

1. he was hanging out with them to improve his German
2. he already knew how to count on his fingers and, as a grown man, it wouldn't have occurred to him that he had to re-learn a skill associated with babies
3. besides, British and German finger-counting cultures are mutually intelligible. If Hellstrom hadn't leveled his pistol at Hickox' Eier, usw. usw., the bartender would eventually have brought exactly 3 drinks to the table (even without the verbal cue 'drei'), and at no point would Hickox have had reason to think there was anything deficient in his communicative skill-set

Tragically, as someone points out above, Hickox didn't get his German in the context of training for espionage. Any decent instructor would have drilled him on the life-or-death importance of dactylonomic and other shibboleths, particularly because these are somewhat quicker and easier to master than a clean foreign accent.

But you have to know that you HAVE to master them. And we can't really expect someone who's not a professional spy to have thought of these things.

The real explanation is much simpler (and less interesting) than some offered above.

You learn dactylonomy—finger-counting—when you're an infant. Little Archie Hickox learned it from his Irish parents, who passed the art on, unchanged, from their own infancy, und so weiter, und so weiter.

As soon as you can do basic arithmetic, finger-counting becomes pretty irrelevant to your life, unless you order a lot of beers or work with a lot of trauma patients. You could theoretically go your whole adult life without ever counting on your fingers...

...until you have kids of your own. Then you enact the same, indelibly-rehearsed motor actions your parents instilled in you.

Archibald Hickox grew to be a fine fellow and a better-than-average linguist. His love of German caused him to spend no end of time among no shortage of native speakers.

He could have spent a thousand years in the company of his echt German friends; it would have helped him shake off the Irish accent, to be sure, but it probably wouldn't have had any influence on his dactylonomic habits. After all:

1. he was hanging out with them to improve his German
2. he already knew how to count on his fingers and, as a grown man, it wouldn't have occurred to him that he had to re-learn a skill associated with babies
3. anyway, finger-counting cultures are mutually intelligible. Note that the gesture was perfectly effective: just before Hellstrom leveled his pistol at Hickox' Eier, the bartender delivered exactly 3 glasses to the table.

The ScheiBe hit the fan because Hickox violated what linguists call an ethonomathematical shibboleth.

If Hickox had learned his German in the context of training for espionage. Any decent instructor would have drilled Hickox on the life-or-death importance of dactylonomic and other shibboleths, particularly because these are somewhat quicker and easier to master than a clean foreign accent.

But you have to know that you HAVE to master them. And we can't expect someone who's not a professional spy to have thought of these things.

The answers thus far are so thoughtful and elegant that it almost feels like a shame to mention the real explanation, which is much simpler (and less interesting). But here goes.

The ScheiBe hit the fan, with fatal results, when Hickox (inadvertently and unwittingly) violated what linguists call an ethonomathematical shibboleth. It was a fairly subtle mistake, which apparently eluded everyone but Hellstrom, and as somebody mentions above it wasn't conclusive in itself: some Germans really do count upwards from their index finger (1), with their thumb representing 5, à la Hickox. But the unusual gesture was likely the straw that broke the camel's back: he was already in (inadvertent but conscious) violation of an accent shibboleth every time he opened his mouth.

The question, then, is why he made the fatal mistake at all, given his knowledge of German and Germans.

You learn dactylonomy—finger-counting—when you're an infant. Little Archie Hickox learned it from his Irish parents, who passed the art on, unchanged, from their own infancy, und so weiter, und so weiter.

As soon as you can do basic arithmetic, finger-counting becomes pretty irrelevant to your life, unless you order a lot of beer or work with a lot of trauma patients. You could theoretically go your whole adult life without ever counting on your fingers...

...until you have kids of your own. Then you enact the same, indelibly-rehearsed motor actions your parents instilled in you.

(Notice the memetic, cf. genetic, transmission going on.)

Archibald Hickox grew to be a fine fellow and a better-than-average linguist. His love of German caused him to spend no end of time among no shortage of native speakers.

He could have spent a thousand years in the company of his native German friends; it would have helped him shake off the Irish accent, to be sure, but it probably wouldn't have had any influence on his dactylonomic habits. After all:

1. he was hanging out with them to improve his German
2. he already knew how to count on his fingers and, as a grown man, it wouldn't have occurred to him that he had to re-learn a skill associated with babies
3. anyway, finger-counting cultures are mutually intelligible. If Hellstrom hadn't leveled his pistol at Hickox' Eier, usw. usw., the bartender would eventually have brought exactly 3 drinks to the table (even without the verbal cue 'drei'), and at no point would Hickox have had reason to think there was anything deficient in his communicative skill-set

An important qualification, mentioned by someone above, is that this explanation wouldn't really work (because no explanation would work!) if Hickox had learned his German in the context of training for espionage. Any decent instructor would have drilled Hickox on the life-or-death importance of dactylonomic and other shibboleths, particularly because these are somewhat quicker and easier to master than a clean foreign accent.

But you have to know that you HAVE to master them. And you can't expect someone who's not a professional spy to have thought of these things.

The answers thus far are so thoughtful and elegant that it almost feels like a shame to give the real explanation, which is much simpler (and less interesting). But here goes.

The ScheiBe hit the fan, with fatal results, when Hickox (inadvertently and unwittingly) violated what linguists call an ethonomathematical shibboleth. It was a subtle mistake, which eluded everyone but Hellstrom, and as somebody mentions above it wouldn't have been conclusive in itself: some Germans really do count upwards from their index finger = 1, with their thumb = 5, à la Hickox. But the unusual gesture was presumably the straw that broke the camel's back: Hickox was already in (inadvertent but conscious) violation of an accent shibboleth every time he opened his mouth.

The question, then, is why he made the fatal mistake at all, given his knowledge of German and Germans.

You learn dactylonomy—finger-counting—when you're an infant. Little Archie Hickox learned it from his Irish parents, who passed the art on, unchanged, from their own infancy, und so weiter, und so weiter.

As soon as you can do basic arithmetic, finger-counting becomes pretty irrelevant to your life, unless you order a lot of beers or work with a lot of trauma patients. You could theoretically go your whole adult life without ever counting on your fingers...

...until you have kids of your own. Kids are innumerate by default. So you kick off their mathematical education by re-enacting the same, indelibly-practiced motor routines your parents instilled in you.

(Notice the memetic, cf. genetic, transmission going on.)

Archibald Hickox grew to be a fine fellow and a better-than-average linguist. His love of German caused him to spend no end of time among no shortage of native speakers.

But he could have spent a thousand years in the company of his native German friends. It would have helped him shake off the Irish accent, to be sure, but it probably wouldn't have had any influence on his dactylonomic habits. After all:

1. he was hanging out with them to improve his German
2. he already knew how to count on his fingers and, as a grown man, it wouldn't have occurred to him that he had to re-learn a skill associated with babies
3. besides, British and German finger-counting cultures are mutually intelligible. If Hellstrom hadn't leveled his pistol at Hickox' Eier, usw. usw., the bartender would eventually have brought exactly 3 drinks to the table (even without the verbal cue 'drei'), and at no point would Hickox have had reason to think there was anything deficient in his communicative skill-set

Tragically, as someone points out above, Hickox didn't get his German in the context of training for espionage. Any decent instructor would have drilled him on the life-or-death importance of dactylonomic and other shibboleths, particularly because these are somewhat quicker and easier to master than a clean foreign accent.

But you have to know that you HAVE to master them. And we can't really expect someone who's not a professional spy to have thought of these things.