Is this story true?(read on!)?

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?



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."



And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing.

Is this story true?(read on!)?
NO
Reply:or maby it was started because the middle finger is the longest and forplay was done with that finger



so get my drift?



the male would show the middle finger to the female as in saying i'm going to F**K YOU
Reply:Yew certainly plucked a long bow ~ We could use the source, of course, before the bird flies. 8o]
Reply:Whether it is true or not it is a good story and sounds like it could be true.
Reply:I understand what you are talking about... But it was not the English long bow that they were talking about it was the English cross bow... And like most cross bows of that day and age it could only be fired by your middle finger and that is the finger that the British use that as a sign to the french... Now if you were to close all of your fingers on your right hand except the middle finger you will now will know where that sign originated from.... For the English cross bow did bring the English a huge victory in that battle........ And it was not the French giving that sign it was the British giving the French that sign.....
Reply:actually they cut off the first two fingers which is why the british use a two fingered salute rather than the american one fingered salute which is merely a crude phallic symbol
Reply:i don't think its true ................but very funny!
Reply:The middle finger story is plausible enough, but the origin of the wordage is definitely in doubt.
Reply:it could be...
Reply:Interesting story, but I don't know if it's true.



The etymology of the F-word doesn't come from "pluck", though. It was used as least as far back as Shakespeare's time, I believe.



- P.

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