Facts about the middle finger !!!!

Well now..heres something I never knew before, and now that I know it, I compelled to share with my friends in the hope that they too, will feel edified.Isnt history more fun and when u know more about it ??

Befire the Battle of Edincourt in 1415, the French,anticipating victory over the English, proceed to cut off the middle fingers of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow, therefore render them incapab;e of fighting in the future.

This famous English longbow was made out of the English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was knows as " Plucking the Yew " or " Pluck Yew".

Much to the bewildment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French shouting " See we can still pluck yew !! " Since pluck yew , 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 the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as 'giving the bird' . It is still appropriate salute to the French today.

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing !! Nah !!!