Dear Daniel,
I'm so happy to be one of the sources of enlightenment for you on this forum . . .
You remind me, with the permission of the Administrator, of the anthropological study we did of the "f" word in university . . .
Apparently, some behavioural genius came up with the notion that the word is descended from "fox" related to the domesticated animal that we know as dogs.
And since what is close to humans, such as domesticated animals, becomes the inevitable substance for nasty swear words, thus . . .
There are other explanations, as my sociological colleagues invariably tell me . . .
But the one that most readily comes to mind has to do with medieval battles between the English and the French.
The English, as the Scots found out, were great marksmen with long-bows. The English Yew produced a very strong and pliable wood that made the best long-bows ever - just ask Robin Hood.
And one always drew one's bow-string with the middle finger.
The practice of pulling the bow-string back before "loosing" it on the enemy was called "pluck Yew."
And to do so successfully in battle was brought about only by means of a strong middle finger.
I think I'll stop the story there . . .
It gets better . . .
Alex
