[spikedriver]

Although not Canadian it involves battles between the French and English


HISTORY OF THE 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 labiodental 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 everything!

[The Hoser]

I thought that origonally they cut off the middle finger and one index finger, so they would give a backwards peace sign instead of just the middle finger. =

[Jaime_Souviens]

spikedriver spikedriver:

...

Finger, maybe, but doubtful.

'Pluck yew'? F'k is a much older word, with variations in all Germanic languages.





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[Blue_Nose]

Is the cutting off of the middle finger part true? I can't imagine it being too hard to learn to use another finger...

[The Hoser]

blue_nose blue_nose:

Is the cutting off of the middle finger part true? I can't imagine it being too hard to learn to use another finger...

You need to use at least two fingers to pull back a long bow, in the day pulling back a bowstring with enough force to kill a man was nearly equivilant to lifting a full-grown man over your head, not somthing that can be accomplished with one finger.

[Blue_Nose]

The Hoser The Hoser:

You need to use at least two fingers to pull back a long bow, in the day pulling back a bowstring with enough force to kill a man was nearly equivilant to lifting a full-grown man over your head, not somthing that can be accomplished with one finger.

No, I know that... I've shot a shortbow (as opposed to a longbow? I don't know how it's termed) and needed two fingers... but cutting off the middle still leaves three... albeit, the pinky's a shoddy excuse for a digit.

[The Hoser]

blue_nose blue_nose:

The Hoser The Hoser:

You need to use at least two fingers to pull back a long bow, in the day pulling back a bowstring with enough force to kill a man was nearly equivilant to lifting a full-grown man over your head, not somthing that can be accomplished with one finger.

No, I know that... I've shot a shortbow (as opposed to a longbow? I don't know how it's termed) and needed two fingers... but cutting off the middle still leaves three... albeit, the pinky's a shoddy excuse for a digit.

A Longbow was considerably harder to pull back than a short bow, so there is no way to pull it back without your middle finger and, more importantly, nearly impossible to have the level of percision needed to be an excellent archer.

[Tman1]

The Longbow was made from some special tree in Wales and thus the type of wood used required much strength and skill to properly shoot it. Your Index and Middle finger are your 2 most prominent fingers is it not?

[The Hoser]

I remember being told that the French cut off the middle and index fingers, making it impossible to ever wield a bow with any skill.

[Blue_Nose]

Tman1 Tman1:

The Longbow was made from some special tree in Wales and thus the type of wood used required much strength and skill to properly shoot it. Your Index and Middle finger are your 2 most prominent fingers is it not?

My ring finger's right up there.... has the 3rd most recognized ring in the world around it

My question was whether this actually happened... were middle fingers chopped off prisoners?

[Blue_Nose]

The Hoser The Hoser:

I remember being told that the French cut off the middle and index fingers, making it impossible to ever wield a bow with any skill.

cool cool... Cutting off the head didn't lend itself to archery skill either

[The Hoser]

blue_nose blue_nose:

Tman1 Tman1:

The Longbow was made from some special tree in Wales and thus the type of wood used required much strength and skill to properly shoot it. Your Index and Middle finger are your 2 most prominent fingers is it not?

My ring finger's right up there.... has the 3rd most recognized ring in the world around it

My question was whether this actually happened... were middle fingers chopped off prisoners?

Yes, they were without a doubt. Then again, so were heads, hands, and even entire arms...

[Jaime_Souviens]

The French will eat anything...






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[Blue_Nose]

lily lily:

Are you a Mason?

Or the Pope?

I didn't know about Masons.... Pope's is #1, though

[Blue_Nose]

Jaime_Souviens Jaime_Souviens:

The French will eat anything....