The Origin of the F-Word

The Origin of the F-Word

Netlore Archive: In which we are asked to believe that the word "fuck" originated as the acronym of "Fornication Under Consent of the King," "Fornication Under Command of the King," "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge," or some other variation thereof.

Description: Folk etymology
Circulating since: The 1960s
Status: False (see details below)

Example #1:
Email contributed by T. McInnis, March 22, 2001:

In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.*.*.*. (Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that came from.

Example #2:
From a Usenet posting, Nov. 1, 1990:

The word fuck comes from colonial times, when someone would be punished for 'prostitution' It was an acronym for the words

'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge'

FUCK was written on the stocks that held these criminals because For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was too long to go on the stocks.

Example #3:
From a Usenet posting, Oct. 12, 1990:

I always heard that "F.U.C.K." originated in the 1800's in London, when they used to charge prostitutes "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". So officer got sick and tired of writing those, um, lessee, 26 characters, not including spaces, so it got abbreviated FUCK and stuck.

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.

Simply put, 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 published claims of a supposed acronymic origin for the F-word appeared during the 1960s. For example, an underground newspaper called the East Village Other printed 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 instance of this etymological travesty was its use as the title of the 1991 Van Halen album, "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge."

Source: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-f-word.htm

F.U.C.K.

This acronym never was. It is an attempt to make an acronym out of the word FUCK, which origins date back several centuries and has always had a meaning associated with the sexual act, and this is the reason that it was taboo to include it in printed books; which has only made it more difficult to get to the origin of the word. The word may have been derived from a man named: "John le Fucker", a scoundrel and a cad, possibly even a sexual predator, as early as 1278. From this, others were compared to this man, i.e.: "You're just another fucker.", and also the reason prostitutes refer to their clients as "Johns". Printed usage of the current spelling dates back to a 15th century poem. The poem, which satirizes the Carmelite friars of Cambridge, England, called "Flen flyys," written in a mixture of Bastard Latin and Middle English about some wayward Monks. The relevant line (in B.L.) reads: "Non sunt in celi quia fuccant uuiuys of heli", which translated means: "They the monks are not in heaven because they fuck the wives of Ely.". Monks were supposed to be celibate (not engaging in sexual relations), hence the reason they would not be in heaven as the poem states. Ely, the town referenced in the poem, is a small town near Cambridge, England. The best acronym I've ever heard for F.U.C.K. is shown below:

I was once taught that F.U.C.K. stood for "From Understanding Comes Kindness", which is another way of describing the tender act of lovemaking.

Fornication Under Consent of King

The origin of the word "fuck". Back when, in Britain, fornication required consent from the king, you had to obtain a permit. You would be presented with a sign to hang on the door that read "F.U.C.K." or "Fornication Under Consent of King".

Fuck

One of the most heard and used words in America. This magical word can basically describe any situation your in, and can put much emphasis on any sentence. One origin of the word fuck goes back hundreds of years back in Europe. It is said that Women wore chastity belts that read “Fornicate under consent of king”, or f.u.c.k. This word can be seen anywhere (like on this website), whether you see it on the internet, engraved into your desk at school, spray painted on walls, on tv, videogames, yada yada yada. Do I need to go on? I’m not wasting my time putting examples, there are many already created right here, on this page. Have a great fucking day. :)

Fuck

Fuck comes from the early 16th cent.: of Germanic origin (compare Swedish dialect focka and Dutch dialect fokkelen); possibly from an Indo-European root meaning strike, shared by Latin pugnus ‘fist.’

Despite the wideness and proliferation of its use in many sections of society, the word fuck remains (and has been for centuries) one of the most taboo words in English. Until relatively recently, it rarely appeared in print; even today, there are a number of euphemistic ways of referring to it in speech and writing, e.g., the F-word, f***, or f—k.

Fuck

The etymology of this term is said to have originated from many a possibility, including truth and farcity. The highest possibility is that of Germanic origin, being it is found in many a cognate throughout several Germanic languages. German- Ficken (to copulate). Dutch- Fokken (to breed). dialectical Norwegian- fukka (to copulate. dialectical Swedish- fucka (to strike, copulate) and fuck (penis). It also has possible Celtic, Greek, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon origins, most of which are based on situational absolutes.

Many farce etymologies of this term are of acronymic origin for the word, such as:

- Fornication Under Carnal/Cardinal Knowledge

- Fornication Under Control/consent/command (of the) King

- False Use (of) Carnal Knowledge

- Felonious Use (of) Carnal Knowledge

- Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (generaly used to refer to rape).

Today, in america and many other countries, this term has been morphed and twisted into a much more "useful" form of usage. It's current definition is that of many, all molding the term into explitive form. Commonly refered to as the F Bomb, it can be used to express many emotions, such as anger, frustration, excitement, arousal, anxiety, being overwhelmed, being surprised, etc. It's most common form is that of an interjection, similar to missuse of the terms "bloody" in the UK, or "bloomin" in Australia. Usually "the" preceeds this term, almost acting as a disclaimer of sorts. All in all, it's a word that is seemingly taboo and yet so commonly used today.

Common Examples Include:

"What the FUCK!"

(Exclamation)

"Why the fuck do you think you are?"

(somewhat interjective)

"Fuck me."

(Verb)

"I'm fuckin' awesome!"

(adverb)

"I don't give a flying fuck"

(noun)

"Oooooh fuck, baby..."

(seemingly meaningless, but somehow explains everything)

Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=origin%20of%20the%20word%20fuck