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Ben Arown-Awile

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HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE 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 they would 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! 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."
 
In reading Desmond Morris I understood it to be a phalic/dominance gesture with the middle finger representing an erect penis...
 
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Apparently Desmond Morris wrote about "the finger" too, called it the digitus impudicus, which was apparently what the romans called back before the dark ages, in the roman age...
 
People usually assume that the term " frigging " is a mild slang word used alternatively because you can get away with it where you can't use the actual " F " word. Wrong.

In olden days the root of the term came from friggere, or frottage: a term used specifically for sexual rubbing. See the book Shakespeare's Bawdy, probably out of print now, forget the author but can be found if you look on Amazon.

Had a chewin', cussin', terbacky-spitting young blonde female social worker who used that word. After about a month I explained it's historical meaning to her and she turned red and never heard her use it again.

ROTFLMAO :D :D :D
 
Ben Arown-Awile said:
HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE 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 they would 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! 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."
Click to expand...
Actually, slightly wrong. English used two fingers, Both middle & index (one either side of arrow) & it was both fingers the french would cut off archers (if they were feeling particularly lenient, otherwise they'd just hang 'em). today the british still use the two finger salute, in lieu of the one finger version. (don't make a peace sign over here, they get very upset!). due to the number of foreigners over here, the one finger version is also understood, coming from the ancient roman penile sustitute derevation, it's fairly wide-spread overseas....

anyway, use the two finger version for the french, they're used to it....

the battle of agincourt is well worth study, a few thousand (about 6k inc. women & children) english, mostly archers were retreating to calais, impeded by 25,000 french knights, the 'creme' of french nobility (and a few more thousand peasant infantry which played little part), tired, sick with dysentry, out of food and starving, they were an easy mark for the french who did not take them seriously & so partied all night before the battle, and advanced against the pitiful handfull of english bifsteks the next day. the rest is history. a good archer could fire six aimed arrows in the time it took for the first to hit. the french would have had better luck against a maxim gun. didn't help that the field was muddy either & slowed down the frenchies... results on the days play, england about 10,000, france about 200.
 
Rusty said:
People usually assume that the term " frigging " is a mild slang word used alternatively because you can get away with it where you can't use the actual " F " word. Wrong.

In olden days the root of the term came from friggere, or frottage: a term used specifically for sexual rubbing. See the book Shakespeare's Bawdy, probably out of print now, forget the author but can be found if you look on Amazon.

Had a chewin', cussin', terbacky-spitting young blonde female social worker who used that word. After about a month I explained it's historical meaning to her and she turned red and never heard her use it again.

ROTFLMAO :D :D :D
Click to expand...

Well, frottage also has a more acceptable modern meaning, though it probably is worth noting that as far as I know the first person to use the term as a method of creating art was the surrealist Max Earnst, and I'm sure he knew what he was doing when he used the term in such a fashion so as to create acceptance for it.

SYLLABICATION: frot·tage
PRONUNCIATION: frô-täzh
NOUN:
1. The act of rubbing against the body of another person, as in a crowd, to attain sexual gratification. 2a. A method of making a design by placing a piece of paper on top of an object and then rubbing over it, as with a pencil or charcoal. b. A design so made.
ETYMOLOGY: French, from frotter, to rub, from Old French froter.

I began to use the terms bloody and Blimey in place of my usual profanities when a co-worker caused a ruckus (threatened lawsuit as a temporary part-time worker) that my language offended his Christian sensibilities (newly aquired along with a severe case of self-rightousness by the way due to his wooing of a particularly evangelical employee of the same company). When he began to use the terms liberally, I found it amusing to no end, and never did inform him as to the origin of the terms.

The British are really big on contractions.

As far as the "plucking" theory, some beg to differ--look up the term in question here (I know enough German to question the proposed etymology):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Cant post a direct link because of the plucking censor.

As already noted, I'd always heard about the two finger salute, in regards to the bowmen. Proper presentation is made with the back of the hand facing the addressee and the fingers pointed upwards. (Otherwise Churchhill's "V" for victory salute would have attracted some controversy--though the resemblance was probably not entirely accidental)

One that I'd like to know more about is "the fig", which is made by clenching the fist with the thumb protruding between the first and second fingers or the second and third fingers. The general meaning is supposed to be equivalent to the other two gestures under dicussion. Supposed to have been used in Italy at least in earlier times.

A town in Austria has borne the active form of the verb in question since 1070--but the term didn't exist with the current spelling at that time (or at all), and English was hardly the national language. A link to this detail as well as a long list of ammusing or unfortuate place names can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_interesting_or_unusual_place_names
 
You can make a peace sign (or victory V). It is when you do it with the back of your hand facing someone that it becomes an insult ( dubbed a Harvey Smith )
 
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