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Today I learned that Miriam-Webster spells "thumbs-up" with a hyphen, which feels weird to me.

I went to the definition to try to figure out why, even when it's just one thumb, we say "thumbs," but there was no information there. I wonder if it was originally "thumb's up."

21/10/26, 2:29 pm0 reposts1 like

Efrex

@efrex.bsky.social

Wonder if there’s a parallel in “heads up”…

David Levy

@itsdlevy.me

They do also style that with a hyphen. But I've always understood "heads up" to originate as a command to everyone in earshot to lift up their heads, so it's not quite the same. Thumbs up comes from the 19th century, though, so maybe the original gesture always involved two thumbs.