fuck
a difficult word to trace, in part because it was
taboo to the editors of the original OED when the "F" volume was
compiled, 1893-97. Written form only attested from early 16c. OED 2nd
edition cites 1503, in the form fukkit; earliest appearance of current spelling is 1535 -- "Bischops ... may fuck thair fill and be vnmaryit" [Sir David Lyndesay, "Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits"],
but presumably it is a much more ancient word than that, simply one
that wasn't likely to be written in the kind of texts that have
survived from O.E. and M.E. Buck cites proper name John le Fucker from 1278. The word apparently is hinted at in a scurrilous 15c. poem, titled "Flen flyys," written in bastard L. and M.E. The relevant line reads:Non sunt in celi
quia fuccant uuiuys of heli
"They [the monks] are not in heaven because they fuck the wives of Ely." Fuccant
is pseudo-L., and in the original it is written in cipher. The earliest
examples of the word otherwise are from Scottish, which suggests a
Scandinavian origin, perhaps from a word akin to Norw. dial. fukka "copulate," or Swedish dial. focka "copulate, strike, push," and fock "penis." Another theory traces it to M.E. fkye, fike "move restlessly, fidget," which also meant "dally, flirt," and probably is from a general North Sea Gmc. word, cf. M.Du. fokken, Ger. ficken
"fuck," earlier "make quick movements to and fro, flick," still earlier
"itch, scratch;" the vulgar sense attested from 16c. This would
parallel in sense the usual M.E. slang term for "have sexual
intercourse," swive, from O.E. swifan "to move lightly over, sweep" (see
swivel). Chronology and phonology rule out Shipley's attempt to derive it from M.E. firk "to press hard, beat." As a noun, it dates from 1680. French foutre and Italian fottere look like the Eng. word but are unrelated, derived rather from L. futuere, which is perhaps from PIE base *bhau(t)-
"knock, strike off," extended via a figurative use "from the sexual
application of violent action" [Shipley; cf. the sexual slang use of bang, etc.]. Popular and Internet derivations from acronyms (and the "pluck yew" fable) are merely
ingenious trifling. The O.E. word was hæman, from ham "dwelling, home," with a sense of "take home, co-habit." Fuck
was outlawed in print in England (by the Obscene Publications Act,
1857) and the U.S. (by the Comstock Act, 1873). The word may have been
shunned in print, but it continued in conversation, especially among
soldiers during WWI."It became so common that an effective
way for the soldier to express this emotion was to omit this word. Thus
if a sergeant said, 'Get your ----ing rifles!' it was understood as a
matter of routine. But if he said 'Get your rifles!' there was an
immediate implication of urgency and danger." [John Brophy, "Songs and
Slang of the British Soldier: 1914-1918," pub. 1930]
The
legal barriers broke down in the 20th century, with the "Ulysses"
decision (U.S., 1933) and "Lady Chatterley's Lover" (U.S., 1959; U.K.,
1960). Johnson excluded the word, and fuck
wasn't in a single English language dictionary from 1795 to 1965. "The
Penguin Dictionary" broke the taboo in the latter year. Houghton
Mifflin followed, in 1969, with "The American Heritage Dictionary," but
it also published a "Clean Green" edition without the word, to assure
itself access to the lucrative public high school market. The
abbreviation F (or eff)
probably began as euphemistic, but by 1943 it was being used as a cuss
word, too. In 1948, the publishers of "The Naked and the Dead"
persuaded Norman Mailer to use the euphemism fug
instead. When Mailer later was introduced to Dorothy Parker, she
greeted him with, "So you're the man who can't spell 'fuck' " [The quip
sometimes is attributed to Tallulah Bankhead]. Hemingway used muck
in "For whom the Bell Tolls" (1940). The major breakthrough in
publication was James Jones' "From Here to Eternity" (1950), with 50 fucks
(down from 258 in the original manuscript). Egyptian legal agreements
from the 23rd Dynasty (749-21 B.C.E.) frequently include the phrase,
"If you do not obey this decree, may a donkey copulate with you!"
[Reinhold Aman, "Maledicta," Summer 1977]. Intensive form mother-fucker suggested from 1928; motherfucking is from 1933. Fuck-all "nothing" first recorded 1960. Verbal phrase fuck up "to ruin, spoil, destroy" first attested c.1916. A widespread group of Slavic words (cf. Pol. pierdolić) can mean both "fornicate" and "make a mistake." Flying fuck
originally meant "have sex on horseback" and is first attested c.1800
in broadside ballad "New Feats of Horsemanship." For the unkillable
urban legend that this word is an acronym of some sort (an Internet
fiction traceable to 1995) see
here, and also
here. Just ordered
Dermo!,
Hide This Spanish Book, and
Doll vol 3 from Barnes&Noble. Teeheehee! XD =D