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Fwd: a little history lesson

Greetings from James of Rutland, who just got the following and couldn't
resist passing it on.  With warmest regards, I might add, to the Archers of
Atlantia...

<< 
 The History of "Giving The Finger"
 
 In the current film, Titanic, the character Rose is shown giving the
 finger to Jack (another character).  Many people who have seen the film,
 question whether "giving the finger" was done around the time of the
 Titanic disaster, or was it a more recent gesture invented by some
 defiant teenager.
 
 According to research, here's the true story:
 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
 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!  Over the
 years
 some 'folk etymologies' have grown up around this symbolic gesture.
 
 Since 'pluckyew' is rather difficult to say (like "pleasant mother
 pheasant   plucker", which is who you had to go to for the feathers used
 on the arrows for the longbow), 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 are
 mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter.
 It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the
 symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird".
 
 
  >>

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The History of "Giving The Finger"

In the current film, Titanic, the character Rose is shown giving the
finger to Jack (another character).  Many people who have seen the film,
question whether "giving the finger" was done around the time of the
Titanic disaster, or was it a more recent gesture invented by some
defiant teenager.

According to research, here's the true story:
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
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!  Over the
years
some 'folk etymologies' have grown up around this symbolic gesture.

Since 'pluckyew' is rather difficult to say (like "pleasant mother
pheasant   plucker", which is who you had to go to for the feathers used
on the arrows for the longbow), 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 are
mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter.
It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the
symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird".






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