[UAH] Fwd: The history of the middle finger

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gwokto La'Kitgum <gwokto15@yahoo.ca>
Date: Sun, Jun 16, 2013 at 10:46 AM
Subject: The history of the middle finger
To: "lakitgum@gmail.com" <lakitgum@gmail.com>

 

The history of  the middle finger

 

 

 

I  never knew this 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 archers. 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.'
IT IS STILL AN  APPROPRIATE SALUTE TO THE FRENCH TODAY!
And yew  thought yew knew every plucking thing