I got this in an email and thought the chatter would like it.

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 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.'

IT IS STILL AN APPROPRIATE SALUTE TO THE FRENCH TODAY!

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing!

http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/pluckyew.asp

Oh well.
Neat story.LOL

gorocks99;512019 wrote:http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/pluckyew.asp

Game, set, match.

Although that background sounds a lot like the origin of the V-sign (index and middle fingers with knuckles facing out) which is considered offensive in N Europe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/news/vote2001/hi/english/features/newsid_1344000/1344190.stm

Archery enemy

During the Hundred Years' War between France and England, the English longbow archers proved decisive.

So adept were they at decimating the enemy's ranks, that captured English archers supposedly had their index and middle fingers amputated to prevent them ever taking up their bows again.

On the battlefield, English archers responded to this custom by offering the French a jeering two-finger salute before employing their bow fingers to more deadly effect.

though given Keenan's response on Snopes I doubt that the archer's fingers were amputated

kind of a cool story

The middle finger actually goes back further that the OP. There are transcripts of plays from ancient Greece that includes the gesture as an insult. I believe I once read it was used in earlier times to ward off evil spirits and somehow it eventually developed its current meaning.

Crap another great story killed by Snopes! I wish those fkrs would mind their own business and let the web run wild with lies. I mean wasn't it much cooler to believe Mr. Rogers wore sweaters to cover up death count tatoos from his Navy SEAL days in Nam?

ccrunner609;512386 wrote:in a related story, Darkon will post a thousand titty picks in the boobs thread but has to abbreviate the "F word".

LOL. This made me laugh.