@ParadeGrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org
Post #2581856
2026-03-26 13:27 UTC
@fitheach@mstdn.io @mhd@tilde.zone
I heard it presented as follows:
- English (and Welsh?) archers were so much faster than French crossbows, French soldiers would cut their fingers off if they were captured.
- Because of this, English archers would show these fingers to French troops to signify "I was never captured, up yours!" or something.
The whole explanation made sense, and now I am very disappointed that it is not true... ☹️
Replies (2)
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@fitheach@mstdn.io 2026-03-26 13:39
@ParadeGrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org Yup! Explanations made-up after the event often do make sense. 😃 I'm frequently amazed/disappointed that origin stories are apocryphal. @mhd@tilde.zone
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@mhd@tilde.zone 2026-03-26 13:41
@ParadeGrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org @fitheach@mstdn.io It's a great story, especially the "pluck yew" variant ;) IIRC those kind of gestures are very hard to trace, as polite society didn't talk or write about it, and painters and sculptors weren't much into that, either. But even there you find the "thumbing one's nose / long nose" gesture a lot, so either the reverse V is (in its popularity at least) quite new, or just way too rude even back then.