History lesson for the "thinkers"...finger this out
The History of the Middle Finger
Well, now......here's something I never knew before, and now that I know
it, I feel compelled to send it on to my more intelligent friends in the
hope that they, too, will feel edified. Isn't history more fun when you
know something about it?
Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory
over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured
English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw
the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of
fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native
English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as
'plucking the yew' (or 'pluck yew').
Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and
began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated
French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! Since 'pluck yew' is rather
difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has
gradually changed to a labiodentals fricative F', and thus the words often
used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute! It is also because of the
pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic
gesture is known as 'giving the bird.'
Member BS Pro-Staff and Billbob Pro-Staff
Proud Member of Team Geezer... authorized by: billbob and "G"