

So, when they failed to do so they started mocking the Frenchmen and showing the finger and yelling that look we can still pluck yew, over the time, Pluck yew became the now used fuck you along with the finger. The French threatened to cut Englishmen’s fingers so that they could not Pluck their yew. The derogatory remark ‘Fuck you’, is also said to have started from this Battle of Agincourt. The derogatory remark ‘Fuck You’, that often accompanies the gesture, originally came from the word ‘Pluck Yew’.

For quite some time, this gesture had lost its popularity a little bit but this Battle again made the gesture popular. Though many people have many different stories but it is commonly believed that in order to win the war the French soldiers threatened the Englishmen that they would cut off the two fingers so that they cannot shoot their arrows. In the Battle of Agincourt, the French threatened the English Soldiers that they would cut off their fingers and when they failed the Englishmen mocked them by showing their fingers. Thus originally the “v” was a symbolic indication for two penises. You might be quite surprised to know that the two fingers were used to double the insult. The famous ‘V’ hand gesture, that we today use as a sign of victory of triumph, actually originated from the derogatory middle finger gesture. 📣 Follow Storypick on Instagram! Click here to follow unlike the standard version where you have the middle finger pointed up, the Arabs used this gesture by pointing the middle finger downwards. But everybody’s version was a little different. Though Aristophanes was the first person to use the finger gesture in a play but this derogatory gesture was popular throughout the world. Not just Greeks but even the Arabs had their own version of the gesture. People consider that it was his style of telling everybody that he is superior and rest all are inferiors.

It was common custom for people to kiss the king’s ring or hand but Caligula, known for his perversion, had some different ideas. Infamous Roman Emperor Caligula used to humiliate his citizens by forcing them to kiss his middle finger instead of his hand. It is believed that Romans acquired this gesture from the Greeks. The finger stood symbolically for the penis, while the two fingers on the either side represented the testicles. The ancient Romans called the middle finger the digitus impudicus or indecent finger. Interestingly, the ancient Romans used this gesture to mimic the penis and the testicles. Even back then, the Romans used to consider this gesture as rude and indecent. In the play, Socrates was shown the middle finger by Strepsiades. Image sourceĮven in the play, it was used as a derogatory gesture. The first recorded version of this gesture was used by famous ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes in his play, The Clouds. Though the gesture seems quite contemporary yet you might be surprised to know that it is one of the most ancient hand gestures known to us. It is used as an abusive gesture, often to insult or mock the other individual. Today, showing the middle finger is considered as a derogatory sign. The derogatory gesture is almost 2500 years old Image source
