[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Subject:
History of Middle Finger
History
of 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?
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 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 everything.
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And why would a Christian, taught to love his enemy, need to know this?
Terry
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