Word Origin and History for fuck
v.
The abbreviation F (or eff) probably began as euphemistic, but by 1943 itwas being used as a cuss word, too. In 1948, the publishers of "The Nakedand the Dead" persuaded Norman Mailer to use the euphemism fuginstead. When Mailer later was introduced to Dorothy Parker, she greetedhim with, "So you're the man who can't spell 'fuck' " [The quip sometimesis attributed to Tallulah Bankhead]. Hemingway used muck in "For whomthe Bell Tolls" (1940). The major breakthrough in publication was JamesJones' "From Here to Eternity" (1950), with 50 fucks (down from 258 inthe original manuscript). Egyptian legal agreements from the 23rdDynasty (749-21 B.C.E.) frequently include the phrase, "If you do notobey this decree, may a donkey copulate with you!" [Reinhold Aman,"Maledicta," Summer 1977]. Fuck-all "nothing" first recorded 1960.
Verbal phrase fuck up "to ruin, spoil, destroy" first attested c.1916. Awidespread group of Slavic words (cf. Polish pierdolić) can mean both"fornicate" and "make a mistake." Fuck off attested from 1929; as acommand to depart, by 1944. Flying fuck originally meant "have sex onhorseback" and is first attested c.1800 in broadside ballad "New Feats ofHorsemanship." For the unkillable urban legend that this word is anacronym of some sort (a fiction traceable on the Internet to 1995 butprobably predating that) see here, and also here. Related: Fucked ;fucking. Agent noun fucker attested from 1590s in literal sense; by 1893as a term of abuse (or admiration).
until recently a difficult word to trace, in part because it was taboo to theeditors of the original OED when the "F" volume was compiled, 1893-97.Written form only attested from early 16c. OED 2nd edition cites 1503, inthe 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 moreancient word than that, simply one that wasn't written in the kind of textsthat have survived from Old English and Middle English. Buck cites propername John le Fucker from 1278, but the surname could have otherexplanations. The word apparently is hinted at in a scurrilous 15c. poem,titled "Flen flyys," written in bastard Latin and Middle English. The relevantline reads:
Non sunt in celi"They [the monks] are not in heaven because they fuck the wives of [thetown of] Ely." Fuccant is pseudo-Latin, and in the original it is written incipher. The earliest examples of the word otherwise are from Scottish,which suggests a Scandinavian origin, perhaps from a word akin toNorwegian dialectal fukka "copulate," or Swedish dialectal focka "copulate,strike, push," and fock "penis." Another theory traces it to Middle Englishfyke, fike "move restlessly, fidget," which also meant "dally, flirt," andprobably is from a general North Sea Germanic word; cf. Middle Dutchfokken, German ficken "fuck," earlier "make quick movements to and fro,flick," still earlier "itch, scratch;" the vulgar sense attested from 16c. Thiswould parallel in sense the usual Middle English slang term for "havesexual intercourse," swive, from Old English swifan "to move lightly over,sweep" (see swivel ). But OED remarks these "cannot be shown to berelated" to the English word. Chronology and phonology rule out Shipley'sattempt to derive it from Middle English firk "to press hard, beat."
quia fuccant uuiuys of heli
Germanic words of similar form (f + vowel + consonant) andmeaning 'copulate' are numerous. One of them is G. ficken. Theyoften have additional senses, especially 'cheat,' but their basicmeaning is 'move back and forth.' ... Most probably, fuck is aborrowing from Low German and has no cognates outside Germanic.[Liberman]French foutre and Italian fottere look like the English word but areunrelated, derived rather from Latin futuere, which is perhaps from PIEroot *bhau(t)- "knock, strike off," extended via a figurative use "from thesexual application of violent action" [Shipley; cf. the sexual slang use ofbang, etc.]. Popular and Internet derivations from acronyms (and the"pluck yew" fable) are merely ingenious trifling. The Old English wordwas hæman, from ham "dwelling, home," with a sense of "take home, co-habit." Fuck was outlawed in print in England (by the Obscene PublicationsAct, 1857) and the U.S. (by the Comstock Act, 1873). As a noun, it datesfrom 1670s. The word may have been shunned in print, but it continued inconversation, especially among soldiers during World War I.
It became so common that an effective way for the soldier toexpress this emotion was to omit this word. Thus if a sergeant said,'Get your ----ing rifles!' it was understood as a matter of routine. Butif he said 'Get your rifles!' there was an immediate implication ofurgency and danger. [John Brophy, "Songs and Slang of the BritishSoldier: 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 Englishlanguage dictionary from 1795 to 1965. "The Penguin Dictionary" brokethe taboo in the latter year. Houghton Mifflin followed, in 1969, with "TheAmerican Heritage Dictionary," but it also published a "Clean Green"edition without the word, to assure itself access to the lucrative public highschool market.
The abbreviation F (or eff) probably began as euphemistic, but by 1943 itwas being used as a cuss word, too. In 1948, the publishers of "The Nakedand the Dead" persuaded Norman Mailer to use the euphemism fuginstead. When Mailer later was introduced to Dorothy Parker, she greetedhim with, "So you're the man who can't spell 'fuck' " [The quip sometimesis attributed to Tallulah Bankhead]. Hemingway used muck in "For whomthe Bell Tolls" (1940). The major breakthrough in publication was JamesJones' "From Here to Eternity" (1950), with 50 fucks (down from 258 inthe original manuscript). Egyptian legal agreements from the 23rdDynasty (749-21 B.C.E.) frequently include the phrase, "If you do notobey this decree, may a donkey copulate with you!" [Reinhold Aman,"Maledicta," Summer 1977]. Fuck-all "nothing" first recorded 1960.
Verbal phrase fuck up "to ruin, spoil, destroy" first attested c.1916. Awidespread group of Slavic words (cf. Polish pierdolić) can mean both"fornicate" and "make a mistake." Fuck off attested from 1929; as acommand to depart, by 1944. Flying fuck originally meant "have sex onhorseback" and is first attested c.1800 in broadside ballad "New Feats ofHorsemanship." For the unkillable urban legend that this word is anacronym of some sort (a fiction traceable on the Internet to 1995 butprobably predating that) see here, and also here. Related: Fucked ;fucking. Agent noun fucker attested from 1590s in literal sense; by 1893as a term of abuse (or admiration).
DUCK F-CK-R. The man who has the care of the poultry on board aſhip of war. ["Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1796]




