24/07/2024
Did You Know? The History of the Middle Finger...
Well, now...,.. here's something I never knew before, and now that I know it, I feel compelled to share with my intelligent friends in the hopes that they too, will feel blessed in having gained more knowledge. History is way more fun when you know more about it, don’t you agree?
Before a battle a long long time ago, one side, anticipating victory over the other , proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous longbow was made of the Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as 'plucking the yew' (or 'pluck yew'), Much to the bewilderment of onlookers, the victors won a major upset and began mocking the others by waving their middle fingers at the defeated side, saying, See, we can still pluck yew!
Over the decades folks have since changed up the words , the 'pluck yew' is now "f**K you" and 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.' And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing.
Folk tale from a grandpaw yall…
To the folks who find this post funny, y’all are my kind of people. JS
Marvin “Popcorn”Sutton
B: October 5, 1946
Maggie Valley, North Carolina, U.S.
D: March 16, 2009 (aged 62)
Parrottsville, Tennessee, U.S.
Photo credit : Ray Snader
