[Ads-l] The F-Icon - Agincourt, 1415?

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Mon Apr 27 20:08:34 UTC 2015


Just more pseudo-etymological wise-ass horsecrap.

http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/pluckyew.asp

For f-word etymology info, see OED, HDAS, e.g.

JL

On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 2:28 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: The F-Icon - Agincourt, 1415?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > On Apr 27, 2015, at 11:21 AM, GUY LETOURNEAU Owner =
> <guy1656 at CENTURYLINK.NET> wrote:
> >=20
> > "Deo Gracias Anglia! Redde pro Victoria..."
> >=20
> > Doesn't "the finger" date back to the practice of severing the index =
> fingers of captured enemy bowmen?
> > (who are then mocked with this gesture to indicate their lack of index =
> finger?)
> >=20
> > Therefor it's not sexual or 'obscene' at all.=20
> >=20
> > "Neener neener, you got bagged at Agincourt..."
> >=20
> > Or is this just a folk etymology?
> >=20
> > - GLL
>
> And since the middle finger was essential for drawing the longbow, which =
> was made of yew branches, the English shouted "pluck yew" as they mocked =
> the surviving French, which of course became corrupted to "fuck you" =
> over the centuries.  See e.g. http://anekdota.duckdns.org/1998/0835.html =
> for one version; I've come across others over the years, often in =
> compilations of the "true origins" of phrases circulated on the web.=20
>
> LH
> >=20
> >=20
> >=20
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Joel Berson" <berson at ATT.NET>
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 7:56:29 AM
> > Subject: Re: The F-Icon
> >=20
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header =
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: The F-Icon
> > =
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> -----
> >=20
> > My original question about the FCC was about how it might attach taboo =
> "lan=3D
> > guage" to a picture.=3DC2=3DA0 Can "utters ... language" be =
> interpreted as appl=3D
> > ying to an image?
> >=20
> > I suppose one could go back to the days when one "uttered" counterfeit =
> mone=3D
> > y:=3DC2=3DA0=3D20
> >=20
> > Sense 1.a., "To put (goods, wares, etc.) forth or upon the market; to =
> issue=3D
> > , offer, or expose for sale or barter; to dispose of by=3D20
> > way of trade; to vend, sell."
> > But that meaning, "In very frequent use from c1540 to c1655," last =
> used by =3D
> > Sir Walter Scott in the 1820s, long antedates "radio communication."
> > Or one could go to 2.c. "To issue by way of publication; to publish. =
> Now ar=3D
> > ch. rare."
> > Aha - here it is:=3DC2=3DA0 7.b, "To show, display; to bring to =
> LIGHT."=3DC2=3DA0 L=3D
> > ast used in 1582.=3DC2=3DA0 Clearly the original intent in the FCC =
> wording.
> > Joel
> >=20
> > ________________________________
> > From: "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=3D20
> > Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 12:23 AM
> > Subject: Re: [ADS-L] The F-Icon
> > =3D20
> >=20
> > I forgot that, for some odd reason, my contributions are garbled when =
> they =3D
> > are sent as replies.=3DC2=3DA0 I'll try again.
> >=20
> >=20
> > FCC regulation of taboo language is based on Title 18, Section 1464 of =
> the =3D
> > United States Code, which states in full:=3DC2=3DA0 "Whoever utters =
> any obscene=3D
> > , indecent, or profane language by means of radio communication shall =
> be fi=3D
> > ned under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."
> >=20
> > Note that broadcast television is a form of radio communication.=3DC2=3D=
> A0 Cabl=3D
> > e television and the Internet, of course, are not, although I suppose =
> the i=3D
> > ncreasing use of Wi-Fi might put that in doubt.=3DC2=3DA0 I can =
> appreciate a br=3D
> > oadcaster's concern that a gesture such as the digitus impudicus might =
> be v=3D
> > iewed as an utterance of obscene or indecent language.
> >=20
> > FCC administration of 18 U.S.C. 1464 is governed by an FCC policy =
> statement=3D
> > from 2001, available online at =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__transition.fcc.gov_e=
> b_Orders_2001_fc-3D&d=3DAwICaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB=
> 2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DNnl9_gfTWuuFKy017PjJbafsbeFH0zqRaY-0kH=
> xZjXY&s=3DoZ2tRqM7Hm9R6jxNO7FlYgjWLT7cAe_jeRwScn9fHG8&e=3D=20
> > c01090.html. =3DC2=3DA0 Connoisseurs of obscene, indecent, and profane =
> language=3D
> > will appreciate the many full-text examples in the FCC statement.
> >=20
> >=20
> > John Baker
> >=20
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - =
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