origins of the middle finger

[xemitg]

I did not know this and i thought it interesting... Perhaps you guys have seen this before though.
origins of middle finger

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

The two fingered salute existed probably before Agincourt as well. Most British Archers caught by the French were put to death, tortured first by having their two bow fingers cut off then killed. Men at arms would be ransomed as well as knights but Archers would have been killed.

The hatred came from the devastation the mounted Archers caused during the great raids or Chevauchees as huge areas of France were put to the torch by the English flying columns and their actions in bringing down the armoured Knight who saw themselves as Kings of the battle field and to see meer Archers effecting their battlefield presence saw them hating the men and their great warbows.

[Grey_Fox]

Just to prevent confusion, BKB does not mean that English archers fought on horseback, just that they moved around on horses. When they came across an enemy, they dismounted and fought on foot.

[Longshanks]

The middle finger gesture predates Agincourt by several centuries. The Romans used the same gesture as an insult, and it symbolized an erect penis.

According to a contributor on the always interesting Urban Legends Archive, the upright stab of the middle finger represents "phallic domination/hostility."

Despite the popular and widely circulated story that the gesture comes from the 1415 battle of Agincourt, this ultimate insult actually dates back as far as to ancient Greece and Rome. The first written record of someone "flipping the bird" comes from the writings of Aristophanes, who spoke of it in "The Clouds," a play from 423 B.C. The Romans even had a special name for the middle finger -- they called it digitus infamis (infamous finger) or digitus impudicus (indecent finger).


http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20030717.html

Roman soldiers probably gave the finger to their enemies long before the longbowmen at Agincourt.

[edyzmedieval]

Wow....

Interesting

I knew about the Agincourt 2 fingers. Not very insulting, in my opinion.

[Red Peasant]

Interesting

I knew about the Agincourt 2 fingers. Not very insulting, in my opinion.

Well, it means Incompatible language, which is quite insulting where I come from!

Just so people know, I was just explaining, not insulting anyone.