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

[Laurence Horn]

> On Apr 27, 2015, at 11:21 AM, GUY LETOURNEAU Owner <guy1656 at CENTURYLINK.NET> wrote:
> 
> "Deo Gracias Anglia! Redde pro Victoria..."
> 
> 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?)
> 
> Therefor it's not sexual or 'obscene' at all. 
> 
> "Neener neener, you got bagged at Agincourt..."
> 
> Or is this just a folk etymology?
> 
> - 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. 

LH
> 
> 
> 
> ----- 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
> 
> ---------------------- 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
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> My original question about the FCC was about how it might attach taboo "lan=
> guage" to a picture.=C2=A0 Can "utters ... language" be interpreted as appl=
> ying to an image?
> 
> I suppose one could go back to the days when one "uttered" counterfeit mone=
> y:=C2=A0=20
> 
> Sense 1.a., "To put (goods, wares, etc.) forth or upon the market; to issue=
> , offer, or expose for sale or barter; to dispose of by=20
> way of trade; to vend, sell."
> But that meaning, "In very frequent use from c1540 to c1655," last used by =
> 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=
> ch. rare."
> Aha - here it is:=C2=A0 7.b, "To show, display; to bring to LIGHT."=C2=A0 L=
> ast used in 1582.=C2=A0 Clearly the original intent in the FCC wording.
> Joel
> 
> ________________________________
> From: "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=20
> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 12:23 AM
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] The F-Icon
> =20
> 
> I forgot that, for some odd reason, my contributions are garbled when they =
> are sent as replies.=C2=A0 I'll try again.
> 
> 
> FCC regulation of taboo language is based on Title 18, Section 1464 of the =
> United States Code, which states in full:=C2=A0 "Whoever utters any obscene=
> , indecent, or profane language by means of radio communication shall be fi=
> ned under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."
> 
> Note that broadcast television is a form of radio communication.=C2=A0 Cabl=
> e television and the Internet, of course, are not, although I suppose the i=
> ncreasing use of Wi-Fi might put that in doubt.=C2=A0 I can appreciate a br=
> oadcaster's concern that a gesture such as the digitus impudicus might be v=
> iewed as an utterance of obscene or indecent language.
> 
> FCC administration of 18 U.S.C. 1464 is governed by an FCC policy statement=
> from 2001, available online at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__transition.fcc.gov_eb_Orders_2001_fc-3D&d=AwICaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=Nnl9_gfTWuuFKy017PjJbafsbeFH0zqRaY-0kHxZjXY&s=oZ2tRqM7Hm9R6jxNO7FlYgjWLT7cAe_jeRwScn9fHG8&e= 
> c01090.html. =C2=A0 Connoisseurs of obscene, indecent, and profane language=
> will appreciate the many full-text examples in the FCC statement.
> 
> 
> John Baker
> 
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> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=AwICaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=Nnl9_gfTWuuFKy017PjJbafsbeFH0zqRaY-0kHxZjXY&s=trDF4e24VCnZGQ6QfjQ90lyYhK7_1wpz2I0c9ZQ20oc&e= 

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