The finger

:This article is about the vulgar gesture. For information on mammalian prehensile digits, see finger.

Folk Anecdotes & Tall tales

The Bowfinger legend, a popular but apocryphal story, derives it from the gestures of Welsh archers, fighting alongside the English at Agincourt. The myth claims that the French cut off fingers from archers, and that the 'finger' was a sign of defiance by those who retained their fingers. The same story also claims that 'fuck you' is a corruption of 'pluck yew' since bows were made of yew, or the phrase "I can still pluck yew!". While it has been debunked many times, this story still crops up. The confusion most likely comes about through people mis-remembering the story, which was in fact concerned with a rude gesture involving two fingers, and adding their own strange etymological justification.

Related Topics:
Apocrypha - Welsh - English - Agincourt - French - Archers

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Bowfinger is also the title of a Steve Martin comedy film. The film lampoons the people and instutions of the film industry. In this context, the title is generally interpreted as a friendly "screw you" to Hollywood and the movie industry.

Related Topics:
Bowfinger - Steve Martin

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