It is actually very common to use those three fingers when indicating the number three. To my understanding it is also the official way to count in ASL ( American Sign Language). So there is absolutely nothing odd about this whatsoever.
Yes, it was very intentional - to indicate the number three as in three million dollars.
It is most certainly not normal to say the number 1 and hold up your index finger. Then say the number 2, and add your middle finger. Then when you say the number 3, you put your index finger down, and raise your pinkie and ring finger to join the middle finger. Now, had he not raised his index and middle finger, then maybe. But not the way it happened.
If you try it out with your own hand, you will find it awkward to indicate a number three otherwise. For example, if you try to force the pinky down and show three with index, middle and ring finger, the ring finger won't extend, because the pinky is down. So, it is easier to do it like Jim is doing. It would look pretty weird to use the thumb in this equation also.
Do an image search. By far the most common 3 fingers to hold up are the index, middle, and ring. But even that is not the point. He started with the most common, and then switched to the pinkie, ring, and middle. This is very uncommon, and that is exactly why it was mentioned. It's easy to hold up any 3 fingers, but hard to start with 2 up, like he did, and then switch.
It is actually very common to use those three fingers when indicating the number three. To my understanding it is also the official way to count in ASL ( American Sign Language). So there is absolutely nothing odd about this whatsoever.
Yes, it was very intentional - to indicate the number three as in three million dollars.
It is most certainly not normal to say the number 1 and hold up your index finger. Then say the number 2, and add your middle finger. Then when you say the number 3, you put your index finger down, and raise your pinkie and ring finger to join the middle finger. Now, had he not raised his index and middle finger, then maybe. But not the way it happened.
If you try it out with your own hand, you will find it awkward to indicate a number three otherwise. For example, if you try to force the pinky down and show three with index, middle and ring finger, the ring finger won't extend, because the pinky is down. So, it is easier to do it like Jim is doing. It would look pretty weird to use the thumb in this equation also.
Do an image search. By far the most common 3 fingers to hold up are the index, middle, and ring. But even that is not the point. He started with the most common, and then switched to the pinkie, ring, and middle. This is very uncommon, and that is exactly why it was mentioned. It's easy to hold up any 3 fingers, but hard to start with 2 up, like he did, and then switch.