White Rhino Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 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." So in other words: PLUCK YEW ....................../´¯/) ....................,/¯../ .................../..../ ............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸ ........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\ ........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...') .........\.................'...../ ..........''...\.......... _.·´ ............\..............( ..............\.............\... Have a nice Friday!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunefreak Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 thanks for that tidbit of info, Paul! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertskyz Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 :fro: Hummm.... can you say BORED! How long did it take the type the finger? See how easy that was. Thanks for the history lesson. Cheese is gonna get mad thinkin' you might know more then him. :fart: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandBox_Kid Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 :fro: <---ambedextrous plucker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cheese Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 ....................../´¯/) ....................,/¯../ .................../..../ ............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸ ........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\ ........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...') .........\.................'...../ ..........''...\.......... _.·´ ............\..............( ..............\.............\... :fro: :fart: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefoot bob Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 ....................../´¯/) ....................,/¯../ .................../..../ ............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸ ........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\ ........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...') .........\.................'...../ ..........''...\.......... _.·´ ............\..............( ..............\.............\... richards having a meltdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Rhino Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 :fro: Hummm.... can you say BORED! How long did it take the type the finger? See how easy that was. Thanks for the history lesson. Cheese is gonna get mad thinkin' you might know more then him. :fart: Ok I cant wait 'till kick off weekend.... That is fo sure Plus I thought it was intersting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadracer Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Interesting info ..................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAGDOLL MX Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 any history about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerhouse Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 Hey Paul , your gonna get plucked, if you don't get your stuff in here soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duniemonkie Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Another piece of proof that the French are useless outside the kitchen or bedroom; if they had already captured the English soldiers, why didn't the execute them instead of cutting off thier finger? You can't pluck your yew when you're dead Here is some more interesting information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_finger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefoot bob Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Another piece of proof that the French are useless outside the kitchen or bedroom; if they had already captured the English soldiers, why didn't the execute them instead of cutting off thier finger? You can't pluck your yew when you're dead Here is some more interesting information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_finger what is that in your avatatar ??? :dance: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duniemonkie Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 Antennarius Pictus, aka Painted anglerfish, aka yellow frogfish. This photo was taken off of Wakatobi island. I have a beautiful black frogfish @ the museum here, no pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cheese Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 what is that in your avatatar ??? pollo asado :dance: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don29palms Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Here's one for the camel jockeys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefoot bob Posted September 27, 2007 Share Posted September 27, 2007 Here's one for the camel jockeys! that one rox don can i have some o those cookies ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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