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Home > Archive > Flight simulator > March 2005 > The Finger
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| Mitch_A 2005-03-31, 6:44 pm |
| Seeing how around here we all pretty much give the finger to everyone else I
thought I d share this short history of the Bird 
-------------------------------------------------------
Giving the finger 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 weapon 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! "PLUCK YEW!" Since
'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at
the
beginning has gradually hanged to a labiodental 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 everything!
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| James Calivar 2005-03-31, 6:44 pm |
| Sorry, bub - Urban legend!!
http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/pluckyew.htm
James
"Mitch_A" <naman@nospam.pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:aUV2e.1390$V62.1029@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
quote:
> Seeing how around here we all pretty much give the finger to everyone else
I
quote:
> thought I d share this short history of the Bird
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Giving the finger 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
quote:
> of fighting in the future. This famous weapon 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
quote:
> major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers
at
quote:
> the
> defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! "PLUCK YEW!" Since
> 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster
at
quote:
> the
> beginning has gradually hanged to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus
the
quote:
> 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 everything!
>
>
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