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 hanged 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."