[Vigilanteman]

One leftover legend from Agincourt is that the French threatened to cut off the middle finger of every English longbowman, the essential finger for guiding the arrow to its target. The famous English longbows were made from the Yew tree and without this finger, the English would no longer be able to pluck their bows.

After the battle was over, the English gave the French the finger and told them they could still pluck Yew. In the foggy air of Agincourt and to the French ear, unfortunately, the "pl" sounded like "F" and, thus, we are left with that crude expression and gesture even today.

[bad company]

One leftover legend from Agincourt is that the French threatened to cut off the middle finger of every English longbowman, the essential finger for guiding the arrow to its target. The famous English longbows were made from the Yew tree and without this finger, the English would no longer be able to pluck their bows. After the battle was over, the English gave the French the finger and told them they could still pluck Yew. In the foggy air of Agincourt and to the French ear, unfortunately, the "pl" sounded like "F" and, thus, we are left with that crude expression and gesture even today.

You're so bad.

[struwwelpeter]

Believe it or not, the kids in my apartment building in Kyiv thought that this was how you spelled that well-known insult.

[FreedomPoster]

I don't know if that's true or not, but it certainly ought to be.

[Enchante]

This internet legend is debunked at Snopes.com

http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/pluckyew.htm

One implausible aspect which Snopes does not mention is that this supposed origin of "F--- You" depends upon the aural perception and interpretation of the FRENCH survivors of Agincourt -- but why on earth would the ENGLISH language come to absorb a phrase supposedly mis-remembered by the French???

[Da_Shrimp]

One leftover legend from Agincourt is that the French threatened to cut off the middle finger of every English longbowman, the essential finger for guiding the arrow to its target. The famous English longbows were made from the Yew tree and without this finger, the English would no longer be able to pluck their bows. After the battle was over, the English gave the French the finger and told them they could still pluck Yew. In the foggy air of Agincourt and to the French ear, unfortunately, the "pl" sounded like "F" and, thus, we are left with that crude expression and gesture even today.

A common misconception. It was actually two fingers the French cut off, hence in England the 'pluck yew' insult is made with the two fingers in a v-shape, knuckles toward the person you intend to insult (ie, the opposite way to a victory sign.