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(From www.thehumourarchives.com, I just thought it was funny!)
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In the current film, Titanic, the character Rose is shown giving the finger to her fiance's manservant (another character). Many people who have seen the film question whether "giving the finger" was really done around during the time of the Titanic disaster, or if it is a more recent gesture invented by some defiant seventh-grader.
And now you know the rest of the story... 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 'pluck yew' 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."
And yew all thought yew knew everything!
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In the current film, Titanic, the character Rose is shown giving the finger to her fiance's manservant (another character). Many people who have seen the film question whether "giving the finger" was really done around during the time of the Titanic disaster, or if it is a more recent gesture invented by some defiant seventh-grader.
And now you know the rest of the story... 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 'pluck yew' 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."
And yew all thought yew knew everything!
heh.
Great topic (even though you didn't write it)
Great topic (even though you didn't write it)
Urrm, I'm not sure, but I think that the ..Carnal Knowledge one is a load of old cobblers made up by some old dear in order to extort 20p from a tipsy teenager.
The origin of giving the finger is true (I think), but that bit about Pluck Yew is a bit suspect. I had a mate who was into linguistics and the history of words. This is what he told me. It could also be a load of cobblers, but there you go.
Apparently, the 'F' word originated around the time after the Norman conquest of Britain, and comes from an Anglo-Saxon word (which is similar, but I can't remember what it is). The reason it became considered as slang or uncouth was that all the new nobility of the conquered country were Normans, speaking French. So anyone speaking Anglo-Saxon was considered to be the conquered scum, so people avoided speaking Anglo-Saxon unless they particularly wanted to sound uncouth - hence the use of Anglo-Saxon derived words for swearing...
So there you go.
The origin of giving the finger is true (I think), but that bit about Pluck Yew is a bit suspect. I had a mate who was into linguistics and the history of words. This is what he told me. It could also be a load of cobblers, but there you go.
Apparently, the 'F' word originated around the time after the Norman conquest of Britain, and comes from an Anglo-Saxon word (which is similar, but I can't remember what it is). The reason it became considered as slang or uncouth was that all the new nobility of the conquered country were Normans, speaking French. So anyone speaking Anglo-Saxon was considered to be the conquered scum, so people avoided speaking Anglo-Saxon unless they particularly wanted to sound uncouth - hence the use of Anglo-Saxon derived words for swearing...
So there you go.
Bet you didn't know this......
When I was 15 I went to the Lakes and stayed at a campsite in Staveley. On the Sunday when we were there we went to the local pub and had a few beers. Being slightly drunk I said the F word, without thinking, in front of the lady behind the bar and she promptly charged me 20p for the swear box. Then she proceeded to tell me the origin of said word.
Apparently, the F word comes from young ladies being branded on their head if they were found to have done the deed outside of marriage. It stands for "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge."
Lord H, your guide to swear words.....:-)
When I was 15 I went to the Lakes and stayed at a campsite in Staveley. On the Sunday when we were there we went to the local pub and had a few beers. Being slightly drunk I said the F word, without thinking, in front of the lady behind the bar and she promptly charged me 20p for the swear box. Then she proceeded to tell me the origin of said word.
Apparently, the F word comes from young ladies being branded on their head if they were found to have done the deed outside of marriage. It stands for "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge."
Lord H, your guide to swear words.....:-)
I actually did know that but I thought it all started out with giving the two fingers (or the V sign) as those are the finges you use to pull back an arrow on a bow and as you said they were cut off to disable them from shooting so people would taunt them by giving them the two fingers.
A walla.
Pluw Yew though, that's new.
Well that's my new thing I've learnt today I'm off. :0)
A walla.
Pluw Yew though, that's new.
Well that's my new thing I've learnt today I'm off. :0)
(From www.thehumourarchives.com, I just thought it was funny!)
-----
In the current film, Titanic, the character Rose is shown giving the finger to her fiance's manservant (another character). Many people who have seen the film question whether "giving the finger" was really done around during the time of the Titanic disaster, or if it is a more recent gesture invented by some defiant seventh-grader.
And now you know the rest of the story... 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 'pluck yew' 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."
And yew all thought yew knew everything!
-----
In the current film, Titanic, the character Rose is shown giving the finger to her fiance's manservant (another character). Many people who have seen the film question whether "giving the finger" was really done around during the time of the Titanic disaster, or if it is a more recent gesture invented by some defiant seventh-grader.
And now you know the rest of the story... 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 'pluck yew' 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."
And yew all thought yew knew everything!