English Long Bow

[Raistlin]

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."

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".

[Boro Sera]

All perfectly plausible - but wrong !

[Raistlin]

All perfectly plausible - but wrong !

Top Marks

I wondered how long it would take for someone to reply with the truth :D