Where did it originate from? and why is it considered an inapporiate behavior socially?
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Others have explained how it may have originated, but all language and gestures are arbitrary. There’s no reason we chose the middle finger as an insult and a thumb up as a postive, other than that’s what someone started doing and others followed until it became the norm.
To explain, let’s assume the opposite, that you went to a foreign land where it’s the opposite. An angry person holds their thumb up at you in anger, while another person puts up their middle finger while congratulating you.
It’s the other context clues that tell you what the gesture means, their anger and yelling tells you that this gesture is a pejorative insult, their congratulations tell you the other is a postive affirmation.
Words and gestures don’t have any meaning on their own, and that meaning can change depending on context.
In the same vein, any word can be an insult if it’s clear there’s hate behind it, or conversely, some groups have even had success taking back a slang word by using it positively (e.g., queer).
Words and gestures are just a vehicle for us to communicate. It’s arbitrary because it’s up to us what we find acceptable or offensive.
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