Middle finger history

[Ranger Ron]

You'll love this! -


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!

[rgrokelley]

I know, I know... its in the good humor zone.... however...

ACK!!! Its also bullshit!

On a historical note, the middle finger gesture is recorded first during the Roman Empire.

"Fuck" is a derivative of an ancient Germanic term that means to push.

[Slowpoke]

Nothing fucks up a good story like some fuckin' historian with facts.

[Lefty]

....and all this time I thought it was because of that Chinese guy working for the Greek merchant who made fun of the Chinese guy's problem saying "fried rice", so the Chinese guy practiced and practiced until he stopped saying "flied lice"., so when the Greek merchant challenged the Chinese guy, he said "It's FRIED RICE, so pluck you, you Gleek plick!!"

[RangerX]

Is that like historian tourrettes?

[rgrokelley]

Nothing fucks up a good story like some fuckin' historian with facts.

Never, ever, watch a war movie with one of us. It would be like watching Blackhawk Down with some Rangers who were there

[CloakAndDagger]

You'll love this! -


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!

Actually, the British "2-finger salute"/"reverse Peace Sign"/"reverse V for Victory" can be traced to this history. And the term "fuck" is a British Naval acronym for a certain violation: "Fornication & Unnatural Carnal Knowledge", which was then readily adopted by the foreign nationals they constripted into their service.

[Baseplate]

Fuck you guys

[cams]

Nothing fucks up a good story like some fuckin' historian with facts.

No shit.

I still enjoyed it Ron. Thanks brother.

[rgrokelley]

Actually, the British "2-finger salute"/"reverse Peace Sign"/"reverse V for Victory" can be traced to this history. And the term "fuck" is a British Naval acronym for a certain violation: "Fornication & Unnatural Carnal Knowledge", which was then readily adopted by the foreign nationals they constripted into their service.

Sigh

Nope. Fuck does not come from that. Nor does it mean "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge", nor does it mean "Fornication under Consent of the King". Fuck is most likely Germanic/Dutch and not English, but it is so old, pre-dating the British Navy, that no one knows where it came from exactly. The first time it is written down in an English book is from 1503 Oxford Dictionary, which doesn't mention any acronym whatsoever (which is a more modern thing and not used back then).