Analysis: Having consulted the definitive reference work on this subject (yes, there is such a thing: The F-Word by Jesse Sheidlower, published by Random House in 1999), I feel confident in dismissing all the claims above as imaginative bunk.

The word fuck did not originate as an acronym. It crept, fully formed, into the English language from Dutch or Low German around the 15th century (it's impossible to say precisely when because so little documentary evidence exists, probably due to the fact that the word was so taboo throughout its early history that people were afraid to write it down). The American Heritage Dictionary says its first known occurrence in English literature was in the satirical poem "Flen, Flyss" (c.1500), where it was not only disguised as a Latin word but encrypted — gxddbov — which has been deciphered as fuccant, pseudo-Latin for "they fuck."

According to Sheidlower, the earliest claims in print of supposed acronymic origins for the F-word appeared during the 1960s. An underground newspaper called the East Village Other published this version in 1967:

It's not commonly known that the word "fuck" originated as a medical diagnostic notation on the documests of soldiers in the British Imperial Army. When a soldier reported sick and was found to have V.D., the abbreviation F.U.C.K. was stamped on his documents. It was short for "Found Under Carnal Knowledge."

Two more variants appeared in a letter published in Playboy magazine in 1970:

My friend claims that the word fuck originated in the 15th Century, when a married couple needed permission from the king to procreate. Hence, Fornication Under Consent of the King. I maintain that it's an acronym of a law term used in the 1500s that referred to rape as Forced Unnatural Carnal Knowledge."

Undoubtedly the most famous use of this etymological travesty was as the title of the 1991 Van Halen album, "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge."

Proclivities
(Carrboro, NC)

Posted: Jul 03, 2011 - 20:03

Cynaera wrote:

Y'know, I think "fucked up" is a relative term. Your "fucked up" might be far more tolerable than MY "fucked up." And my "fucked up" might be far more bearable than someone else's life. (And I just used the F-bomb four times in three sentences.) Where else but RP could we get away with this? And when will the Word-Police come winging in to ban this place because we use a word that has legitimate origins? (Not kidding - FUCK stands for "Fornication Under Consent of the King." I'm foggy on the research, but some deity or other wanted virgin wives, so he hired someone to "test" the virgins to make sure that they were, in fact, virgins. Hence, the F.U.C.K. )

Shutting up now.

WonderLizard
(2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise)

Posted: Jun 02, 2011 - 04:50

Cynaera wrote:

"If you see Kay..." —James Joyce, Ulysses

DD rabbi_phil
(beach)

Posted: Feb 27, 2011 - 17:25

The world is a better place with these guys in it. So many incredible songs on this album but the best: Groove Thing,Soul for every Cowboy, and Circle never get any RP airplay. Senor Bill,por favor, could you hook us up?