![]() Needless to say, there is no shred of evidence to support this unlikely origin, but it is on its way to becoming entrenched in the popular mind and becoming folklore in itself. Bowmen who had not been thus disfigured took to holding up two fingers to taunt their cowardly foes. This story maintains that British archers were so effective and so feared by their enemy that when the French captured an archer they chopped off the two fingers he needed to draw a bow-string. ![]() In recent years an explanation for the origin of the V-sign dating it from the Battle of Agincourt has appeared. The history of the gesture is uncertain, and there is no evidence of its existence before the first decade of the 20th century. ![]() Nevertheless, most British people would still be careful, if they needed to signify the number two in a gesture to someone else, to make the sign with palm facing the recipient. If asked, most people would gloss the meaning as ‘F-you’ or something similar, and it was certainly a very potent offensive gesture until recent years when it seems to be losing its ability to offend. The quintessential British offensive gesture for most of the 20th century, formed by holding up a hand with the middle and index finger upright in a V shape, the thumb and other two fingers curled into the palm the palm facing towards the gesturer.
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