Singer Robbie Williams insults the viewer. An early recorded use of the 'two-fingered salute' is in the Macclesfield Psalter of c.1330 (in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge), being made by a glove in the psalter’s marginalia. To get the feathers for the longbow arrows, one would have gone to the village plucker with the introduction “pleasant person pheasant plucker.” The result was the change of the letter P to a labiodental fricative F. Or so it is told. 04/06/2010. [4][12] The story claims that the French claimed that they would cut off the arrow-shooting fingers of all the English longbowmen after they had won the battle at Agincourt. Indeed, there is no record of this explanation for the V sign before the 1970s. 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. Showing the V sign with the palm turned inwards has the same meaning as the middle finger sign, meaning fuck you. Also added through corrective correspondence: "It is an historic fact that the one finger salute was common among the soldiers of the Roman Empire.". The f-word itself is Germanic with early-medieval roots; the earliest attested use in English in an unambiguous sexual context is in a document from 1310. Without the middle finger it would be impossible for the English soldiers to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore incapable of fighting in the future. If the two-fingered salute comes from Agincourt, then at what point was it reduced to one finger in North America? Coronavirus lockdown, self-quarantine, self-isolation: you've been practicing for it, haven't you. 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. The Australians signaled the same back. 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. Indeed, there is no record of this explanation for the V sign before the 1970s. 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." Post script ... this correction was sent to us for the edification of our readers: An early recorded use of the 'two-fingered salute' is in the Macclesfield Psalter of c.1330 (in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge), being made by a glove in the psalter’s marginalia. It was preceded by the Siege of Harfleur - fascinating facts and interesting stories about people, places and history, with top lists and trivia facts © 2020. Isn't history more fun when you actually know a little more about it? This famous weapon was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew" (or "pluck yew"). 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.