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.
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 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 they 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 labiodental fricative, F, and born were the words so often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute. Also, it is due to 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. Didn’t yew? Thank you, Mel Figoni, SI ’59, USF ’63. His dad owned Figoni Hardware in North Beach, SF.
3 Comments
Laura
11/14/2023 02:48:07 pm
Very instructive. Since I personally don’t find it difficult to pronounce the consonant cluster /pl/ can I use the phrase “pluck yew” as an insult that is not obscene? Hmm, I wonder?
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11/14/2023 03:34:31 pm
LOL still obscene. I called a cab driver who couldn't find me at Kaiser a stupid idiot and that's about as far as I go. As a patrol officer, however, the language amongst ourselves was filthy. We had good comradery, and it relieved tension.
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