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

Tue Apr 28 18:39:23 UTC 2015

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

It goes back much farther than Agincourt.

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2010/03/middlefinger.pdf

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Laurence Horn
> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 1:29 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: The F-Icon - Agincourt, 1415?
> 
> ---------------------- 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 - =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-
> 3A__www.americandialect.=
> org&d=3DAwICaQ&c=3D-
> dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsS=
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> >=20
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-
> 3A__www.americandialect.=
> org&d=3DAwICaQ&c=3D-
> dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsS=
> xPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DNnl9_gfTWuuFKy017PjJbafsbeFH0zqRaY-
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> >=20
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - =
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-
> 3A__www.americandialect.=
> org&d=3DAwICaQ&c=3D-
> dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsS=
> xPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3DNnl9_gfTWuuFKy017PjJbafsbeFH0zqRaY-
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> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org