P3D Re: Plucking of Yew

[Dylan The Hippy Wabbit <spacey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

John Toeppen wrote:-

>Thank you for the Agincourt "Puzzler," which clears up some profound
>questions of etymology, folklore, and emotional symbolism. The body
>part which the French proposed to cut off of the English after
>defeating them was, of course, the middle finger, without which it is
>impossible to draw the renowned English longbow.
>This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and so the
>act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking yew." Thus, when the
>victorious English waved their middle fingers at the defeated French,
>they said, "See, we can still pluck yew! PLUCK YEW!"

Actually archers use the first two fingers to draw the bow, which is what
the French King threatened to remove.  And, yes, we english have been
raising two fingers to each other ever since.  That's not the same as
Churchill's famous V for Victory BTW, he held his hand the other way
round.  There's only so much he could get away with in 1940.

The one fingered salute has only recently arrived here, and it probably is
the phallic reference we all assumed it to be.

Is this another sphinx's nose?  ;-)

Dave Spacey

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Walk tall, walk straight,
Spit the world right in the eye.

-Kevin Godley and Lol Creme


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