The Bird and the French.......?

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.



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!

The Bird and the French.......?
I liked it. it made me laugh and that makes my day go by faster. thanks.
Reply:Thanks for the info, but where's the question in that? o_O
Reply:Holy Canoli! It sounds totally feasable. Thanks for that!!!!
Reply:This sounds interesting! Except i don't believe it to be the appropriate salute for anyone.

I wonder where you found this info? I want to validate it.