SR - Fw: Fwd: Fw: betcha' dint know that

[Gary Koehler]

just a cute forward i thought i'd pass on to the list

Lady Annora VK
-----Original Message-----
Date: Tuesday, March 23, 1999 12:54 PM
Subject: Fwd: Fwd: Fw: betcha' dint know that


>>> Little history lesson for you... History of 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!"
>>>
>>> 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
>>> are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate
>>> encounter.
>>>
>>> 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!
>>>
>>>
>>
>>


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