The Orogin of the F Word ???

[Skyryder]

Ya, my parents tried the soap thing, but my older brother got so used to the taste that he used to brush his teeth with it . After that they gave up on washing our months out with soap. Probably why f*ck is just another adjective to me. This was a quote by Rider in Black and it caught my attention. It just goes to show how the word has changed. In the correct context Fuck is a verb, a doing word but in the general use today it is used as a derogitory description of someone or something. But this was not always the case.

Some time ago I worked with a lexicographer. This is a person trained in the compilation of dictionaries. This was in my younger days and we were both working on a drilling rig. Why this guy was working on a rig I do not recall. Can not even remember his name so I will call him Lex. What he did not know about words was not worth knowing. Anyway to cut a long story short we had just come of a twelve hour shift and was due for a five day break. So we wandered off to the local. In no time the stories were flowing as much as the gin. Somewhere in this conversation the word fuck came up. Excuse the pun. That's both puns if you have not figured that out.

Lex being a fountain of knowledge gave us the orogin of the F word. Actualy there are two orogins but the second I have never been able to confirm.

It seems that in the Victorian era useing the word Carnal had as much the same sort of reputation as the word Fuck has today. Not the sort of word you want to go shouting out from the roof tops. Carnel was not printed in as much the same way as fuck is not printed today and for much the same reasons. So when someone was charged For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, it was printed in the paper as F.U.C.K.

The second orogin of the word and Lex informed us that this is correct that a fuck was a bag used in ancient times for sowing seed. Now there have been times when I have been tempted to ask a librarian if she (most librarians are women) knows the orogin of the word but at the risk of being tossed out of a library I have never been game, but if you think of it, men sowing there wild oates may have been something entirely different in ancient times than today. Not as much fun then as it is now.

Skyryder

[MD]

Never trust an oil rigger claiming to write dictionaries. I've heard a few good yarns about the origin of the F word. My favorite was that sometime back a few centuries, atleast, the poor peasants who couldn't afford a marriage needed the King's permission to breed. A permit of some kind would be fixed to their door/hut/barn whatever declaring that they could "Fornicate Under Consent of the King"
A similar one was Freedom to Use Carnal Knowledge. But who cares, its an unpleasant word no matter what it means and now its worthless even as a swear word because of overuse. With idiots using it in every sentence what do they expect its impact to be when they really want to swear at someone?

[MikeL]

Lots of amusing but spurious etymologies of this word doing the rounds. Any suggestion of an acronym (F- U- C- K- ) is a non-starter, as the word goes back to at least the 16th century. Probably connected indirectly with the Latin futuere (same meaning) as found in those poems of Catullus usually omitted from standard school anthologies. From futuere comes the French foutre which has almost completely lost its original meaning and is used colloquially like the English F word in phrases like "fous-moi le camp" -bugger off - but is not considered nearly as objectionable. To indicate the activity originally denoted by futuere, modern French uses enculer (which is considered rude) from the word "cul" - arse.
Coming back to F.U.C.K., it was a great game when I was in the 7th Form to write fictitious letters to the Editor about some moral or religious matter and sign them from the Secretary of the Foundation for the Unity of Christian Knowledge or some similar organisation. I always wondered why none were ever published...

[Yamahamaman]

Coming back to F.U.C.K., it was a great game when I was in the 7th Form to write fictitious letters to the Editor about some moral or religious matter and sign them from the Secretary of the Foundation for the Unity of Christian Knowledge or some similar organisation. I always wondered why none were ever published...
Would never have thought that there was a mis-spent youth in your past MikeL :buggerd:

[pete376403]

..From futuere comes the French foutre which has almost completely lost its original meaning and is used colloquially like the English F word in phrases like "fous-moi le camp" -bugger off - but is not considered nearly as objectionable. To indicate the activity originally denoted by futuere, modern French uses enculer (which is considered rude) from the word "cul" - arse...
You write as a scholar of languages. Do you recall the bawdy Kenneth Tynan play "Oh, Calcutta!" that came out quite a few years ago. I understand that came from "oh, quel enculer" or something like that.

[What?]

I understand that came from "oh, quel enculer" or something like that.
Yeah - went over most people at about 30,000 feet.
My reading suggests Mike is on to it - it comes from latin, alright. Probably via French and/or German (fricken).
Like the Oil Rig Lexicographer story though - it's more amusing than the real story... :bleh:

[Lou Girardin]

Va fan culo is Italian for 'Go fuck your arse' so it probably is Latin in origin.
Fuck can be quite eloquent; as the mechanic said, "Fuck the fucking fucker, the fucking fuckers fucked"
Lou

[MikeL]

You write as a scholar of languages. Do you recall the bawdy Kenneth Tynan play "Oh, Calcutta!" that came out quite a few years ago. I understand that came from "oh, quel enculer" or something like that.

I remember it well. Probably meant to be a pun on O quel cul t'as
(Oh what an arse you've got).

[Skyryder]

Well I do try and educate and entertain. Think I wrote that somewhere here.

Had a quick look on the net and found this site.
http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/fuck.htm

Seems the orogin is Germanic. Now I wonder where sowing your wild oates came from?? Lex was emphatic about the seed bag. :ride:


Skyryder

[RiderInBlack]

Well, f*cken thanks for that Skyryder:niceone: I've been told it is now one of the most commonly used English swear words used internationally:rolleyes: .

How the hell did a biker site start on this trip down literary memory lane:innocent::o

PS:"Coming back to F.U.C.K., it was a great game when I was in the 7th Form to write fictitious letters to the Editor about some moral or religious matter and sign them from the Secretary of the Foundation for the Unity of Christian Knowledge or some similar organisation. I always wondered why none were ever published..."
MikeL, didn't know you were religious:Pokey: (just yanking you chain Mike). Probably thought you articles were too much of a religiously bias nature:msn-wink:

[wkid_one]

okay then - for those who are interested in the F*CK and C*NT words - check this out - it is an ad for BBC 4 - and you won't believe the people saying these words

www.updater.co.uk (http://www.updater.co.uk)

[expat bj]

okay then - for those who are interested in the F*CK and C*NT words - check this out - it is an ad for BBC 4 - and you won't believe the people saying these words

www.updater.co.uk (http://www.updater.co.uk)

I haven't seen that on BBC 4 over here yet, maybe on after 10pm :2thumbsup

[bungbung]

I think while this was made for BBC4, it is the version made for cinema release, but banned before release.

[wkid_one]

Doesn't make it any less funny

[Goddess of Goof]

Doesn't make it any less funny
True, very true.

I heard a talk on the radio (again) about World War 1 songs, and that old favourite -

Bless 'em All
Bless 'em All,
the Long and the Short and the Tall -
You'll get no promotion
This side of the ocean
So cheer up m'lads,
Bless 'em all !

Wouldn't yeh guess ? it was FUCK 'EM ALL !!

Of course the wounded troopers bawled this song out as loudly as
they could on the trains heading back to the coast from the front lines.

Their Officers couldn't stop the singing, so ignored it. ......
The War was over for those guys, if they survived their injuries.

A damn fine piece of cathartic song-writing that one....

[Eurodave]

AS my mate Witi Reparte' once said "When I saw FUCK on all the farnau's longdrops I thought it was 'For Us Coloured Kids' au" :motu:

[Eurodave]

What word starts with an F & ends in UCK?









FiretrUCK

[StoneChucker]

Nice comedic origin of the word fuck.
(Volume is a little soft)

[Pixie]

Both explanations that attribute the origin of the word Fuck to acronyms are totally fictitious.
Philologists have shown that the word's roots (no pun intended) can be traced back to primitive Indo-european.

[Rainbow Wizard]

Any suggestion of an acronym (F- U- C- K- ) is a non-starter, as the word goes back to at least the 16th century. Probably connected indirectly with the Latin futuere. From futuere comes the French foutre which has almost completely lost its original meaning and is used colloquially like the English F word in phrases like "fous-moi le camp" -bugger off - but is not considered nearly as objectionable. To indicate the activity originally denoted by futuere, modern French uses enculer (which is considered rude) from the word "cul" - arse.
Fecund basically means ready to produce progeny. Way back in the dim darks blokes would get together for a few beers after work and the ones who had lined up a willing moisty would say......
"I'm going on a fecund date tonight" :motu: (say it fast for best effect) http://www.voxanclubdefrance.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/new_color_.gif

[jazbug5]

Um. Germanic/Saxon via Sanskrit, then?

My dear old ma is very into her languages (studied Old English as a mature student) and I distinctly recall her saying there were some examples of it used in very old Viking graffiti at old religious sites. The example she used was something along the lines of "If you're ever in Stockholm go and see Helga the whore. She's the best f*ck in all of Sweden".
I think it's often referred to as 'Saxon language'; but then again, it's silly o'clock in the morning, and I've been at the beer...