The history of the middle finger

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as 'plucking the yew' (or 'pluck yew').
Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodentals fricative F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute! It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as 'giving the bird.'

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing

Ponderings

1. Is it good if a vacuum really sucks?

2. Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

3. If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?

4. If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?

5. Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?

6. Why does “slow down” and “slow up” mean the same thing?

7. Why does “fat chance” and “slim chance” mean the same thing?

8. Why do “tug” boats push their barges?

9. Why do we sing “Take me out to the ball game,” when we are already there?

10. Why are they called “stands” when they are made for sitting?

11. Why is it called “after dark” when it really is “after light”?

12. Doesn’t “expecting the unexpected” make the unexpected expected?

13. Why are a “wise man” and”wise guy” opposites?

14. Why do “overlook” and “oversee” mean opposite things?

15.. Why is “phonics” not spelled the way it sounds?

16. If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?

17.. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

18. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

19. If you are cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right?

20. Why is bra singular and panties plural?

21. Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?

22. Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?

23. How come abbreviated is such a long word?

24. Why do we wash bath towels? Aren’t we clean when we use them?

25. Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

26. Why do they call it a TV set when you only have one?

27. Christmas, what other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree, and eat candy out of your socks?

Italian Women are tough

An elderly Italian man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of
impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite ravioli
wafting up the stairs.

He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed.
Gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he leaned against the door
frame, gazing into the kitchen, where if not for death's agony, he would have
thought himself already in heaven, for there, spread out upon waxed paper
on the kitchen table were hundreds of his favorite ravioli.

Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of love from his wife of sixty years,
seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

He threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in a crumpled
posture. His parched lips parted, the wondrous taste of the ravioli was already in
his mouth.

With a trembling hand he reached up to the edge of the table, when
suddenly he was smacked with a wooden spoon by his wife.
"Don't touch!" she said. "These are for the people at the funeral."

A Generous Lawyer

A local United Way office realized that the organization had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer. The person in charge of contributions called him to persuade him to contribute.

"Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $500,000, you give not a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way?"

The lawyer mulled this over for a moment and replied, "First, did your research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness, and has medical bills that are several times her annual income?"

Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, "Um ... no."

The lawyer interrupts, "or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair?"

The stricken United Way rep began to stammer out an apology, but was interrupted again.

"or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident," the lawyer's voice rising in indignation, "leaving her penniless with three children?!"

The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, said simply, "I had no idea..."

On a roll, the lawyer cut him off once again, "So if I don't give any money to them, why should I give any to you?"

Punctuation realities

An English professor wrote the words:

'A woman without her man is nothing'

on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

All of the males in the class wrote:
'A woman, without her man , is nothing.'

All the females in the class wrote:
'A woman: without her , man is nothing.'

Neracar motorcycles or...scooters?

These classic NERACAR motorcycles of the 1920's were actually advertised as a simple car. WERE THEY THE INSPIRATION to the modern day Scooters we're familiar with and to the first Piaggio VESPAS that came out of Italy....?
The Neracar classics were designed by Carl Neracher, an American who had worked as a designer for clevland motorcycles and they were built (1922-1924)in Syracuse NY, not very far from Rouses point.

1921 model



1924 model

1924 Model (English model B)



Ner-A-Car (Blackburne)


1923 Model B


1924 English model B


1925 Model (English Model C)

Production of these beautiful machines all but stopped in 1924 in the USA and in 1926 in England due to lack of demand.
Price: They were advertised in those days at $ 225.00