Given the presence of the butt, it seems more likely to have been intended as an illustration of the latter. They agreed with us that, in fact, it isnвЂ™t clear if the archer is holding up two fingers, or pointing at a butt вЂ“ a kind of mound with targets attached that was used for practice by archers in medieval England. The image it refers to is held by the British Library, whom the Forces Network contacted for more information. The Wikipedia page on the V-sign mentions WiltonвЂ™s book in its origin section, though also refers to a medieval document in which an English archer is depicted possibly making the gesture. From there, it almost certainly took on a life of its own once some people started taking it seriously.

вЂPluck yewвЂ™ is funny, and thus almost certainly, he concludes, started life as a mere joke. However, he also says it fits the description of how many such tall tales arise: through speculation, distorted facts, and jokes. Wilton acknowledges earlier in the book that the story of Agincourt and the two-finger salute is older than the internet.

In actual fact, the real episode of the show did not feature anything about вЂњplucking yewвЂќ and only said that another gesture (presumably the two-finger salute) might have originated at Agincourt. вЂњOver the years вЂ¦ Since вЂpluck yewвЂ™ is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative вЂfвЂ™, and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounterвЂќ. вЂњ вЂ¦ the middle finger, without which it is impossible to draw the renowned English longbow вЂ¦ Thus, when the victorious English waved their middle fingers at the defeated French, they said, вЂSee, we can still pluck yew! PLUCK YEW!вЂ™ Specifically, an inaccurate transcript of an NPR (National Public Radio, a US program) show called вЂCar TalkвЂ™ featured a story that answered the question of which body part the English archers waved at the French at Agincourt. It is doubtful that whoever came up with this howler meant for it to be taken seriouslyвЂќ.ДЄnd yet, it has spread, he says, thanks to the internet. вЂњDuring the Hundred YearsвЂ™ War the French would cut the middle finger off the hands of captured English archers so that they could no longer draw the strings of their deadly yew longbows (the type of wood from which they were made.) Because of this, English archers would taunt the French by raising their middle fingers and exclaiming that they could still вЂpluck yewвЂ™, hence the four-letter word (f**k.)вЂќДЇunny, though as Wilton goes on to explain, вЂњ вЂ¦ this is obviously (just) a joke, a pun. In his book вЂWord Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban LegendsвЂ™, David Wilton explores the origins of the V-sign in a section entitled вЂF**kвЂ™: So too does historian Craig Taylor in the National Geographic documentary вЂAgincourt: A Hundred Years of WarвЂ™. Medieval researcher and longbow expert Clive Bartlett claims in his book вЂEnglish Longbowman 1330-1515вЂ™ that it is. The two-fingered salute, or backwards victory or V-sign, made with the middle and index fingers, is said to have originated with English archers at Agincourt in 1415. While Americans вЂflip the birdвЂ™ with a single middle finger, the British have traditionally achieved the same with two.

A medieval manuscript page that appears to depict an archery instructor pointing at a butt, not doing a two-finger salute (image: The British Library, Add MS 42130, f.

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