AND NOW WE KNOW

[brnidokiegurl 0]

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. Isn't history more fun when you

> know something about it?

>

>

> 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 a ct 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! 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."

> IT IS STILL AN APPROPRIATE SALUTE TO THE FRENCH TODAY!

> And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing.

[Madame-Butterfly 0]

interesting

[almaty 19]

the Frenchies never get any respect