TMI Tuesday.....

A Mr. John 'Flip' Meehoff from Phuque Utah asks...

"Dear Mr. Knowitall...People of all ages seem to take great delight in making obscene hand gestures in my direction. One gesture in particular seems to be the predominate form of non-verbal communication. Do you know the origin of this very annoying Digital Display"?

Dear Flip....Of course I do!

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed cutting off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers!
Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the reknowned English longbow, and therefore would be incapable of fighting any future battles against France. The famous English longbow was made from the English Yew tree, and launching an arrow from it was known as 'Plucking the Yew' (Pluck Yew) !
Much to the chagrin of the French that day, the English pulled a major upset and defeated them. One of the main reasons for the English surprising victory, was the fact that they were outraged at the taunting by the French toward them during the battle. Cries of " Your Mother was a Hampster, and your Father smells of Eldeberries". And not to mention..."We Fart in your general direction", propelled the English into a fighting frenzy. When the battle was over, the English did a little taunting of their own. Raising their middle fingers toward the defeated French, the English archers screamed..."See, we can still pluck Yew"!
Over the years pluck Yew and a raise of the middle finger, became bastardized to the modern...Fuck You! In conjunction with this little insult, the fact that the English arrows were fletched with Pheasant feathers, an arrow in flight was known as giving the enemy ...'The Bird'!

Good Question Flip...Thanks a lot!

Mr. Knowitall grows weary....Peace!!!