prick or thumb?

A friend watched some French movie and asked me the meaning of “by the pricking of my thumb”. He said that there’s something more to that phrase but he couldn’t remember it. He then tried explaining the movie but it was a lost cause on me.

Under the circumstances, I first thought it was a French phrase which was directly translated into English.

He then tells me it is an Agatha Christie movie in French.

Errr… Me no French Miss Marple.

We decided that we weren’t intellectual enough to decipher the meaning of that half phrase.

He then told me that he couldn’t get around to grasping it because he thought “prick” in this context refers to you know… phallus. The male copulation organ.

My reaction: WHATTT?!!

(yeah I have odd friends…)

How on earth is ANYONE supposed to make sense out of that phrase if you think prick = penis.

What would the thumb do to the prick? But if it is so, then shouldn’t the phrase be “by the thumbing of my prick”. Oh no. Disastrous! Rather, should it be the other way around then? But why would anyone want to be prick-ing his own thumb?

I fussed about it and to (I suspect) shut me up he said he finds it confusing when words have a few meanings.

Righttt.

I think males just generally take the easier way out and think with their pricks. What else is new. Hahahaa…

ANYWAY. I looked it up and discovered that it is taken from Macbeth; some witches’ chant. The full phrase is “by the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes”.

The phrase means (no, no penises/penes(?) involved guys, sorry) the tingling of the thumb is taken to be a premonition of something about to happen. And no, NOT wicked Ali G style but wicked bad. Btw, I never took English lit and never read/watched Macbeth so please feel free to correct me if I’m mistaken.

But I’m extremely certain it has nothing to do with any phallic eroticism ;)