The History of the Middle Finger

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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 they 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.'

The Battle of Agincourt (720p) VIDEO [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5C0avWFUjA&feature=youtu.be ] (12:01 minutes) – a James Nystrom film (slow to start, but worth the wait).

A funny story, yes, but in reality “In Ancient Greece it was known as the κατάπυγον (katapugon, from kata - κατά, "downwards"and pugē - πυγή, "rump, buttocks") and reference is made to using the finger in ancient Greek comedy to insult another person, where the term katapugon also meant "a male (or a female, katapugaina) who submits to anal penetration". It is identified as the digitus impudicus (impudent finger) in Ancient Roman writings and the widespread usage of the finger in many cultures is likely due to the geographical influence of the Roman Empire and Greco-Roman civilization. Another possible origin of this gesture can be found in the first-century Mediterranean world, where extending the finger was one of many methods used to divert the ever-present threat of the evil eye offense.” - Wikipedia

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing.