Profanity and spoken indecencies have existed since the birth of language. Across history and cultures, gestures, phrases, and single words have stirred controversy. Even today, such “bad language” is under continual scrutiny for censorship by governments and groups. Most would agree that they themselves, or other people in general, only utter expletives under extreme circumstances, e.g., pain, surprise, fear, anger, etc. Others use curse words as part of everyday speech, which may be common practice in the region they live or environment they work.
In America these word battles rage on, but there is absolutely no reason to fear or abhor the use of said “foul language.” Since when have certain words risen through the ranks to become taboo? Where did they originate? Have their meanings changed and evolved over time? To demonstrate the importance of why people need not fear the use and tolerance of such words, this short series aims to examine the etymology (history and origin of words) of bad language.
Let’s begin with what many consider the single worst curse word one can ever use: f – – –. (For the sake of this article, and to follow the submission rules of AC, the “F” word will be referenced to with censoring dashes).
First, we need to rediscover the denotations of the word itself. F – – – has been considered taboo since the earliest prints of dictionaries. In fact, the word was not present in a single printed English dictionary from 1795 to 1965. If ever there has been cause for exploring the word’s history and origin, as attested to its almost 200 year exclusion from our vernacular, it is now. Here is the now modern dictionary definition of the word and its many verb uses:
f – – –
Pronunciation Vulgar.
-verb (used with object)
1. to have sexual intercourse with.
2. Slang. to treat unfairly or harshly.
-verb (used without object)
3. to have sexual intercourse.
4. Slang. to meddle (usually fol. by around or with).
-interjection
5. Slang. (used to express anger, disgust, peremptory rejection, etc., often fol. by a pronoun, as you or it.)
-noun
6. an act of sexual intercourse.
7. a partner in sexual intercourse.
8. Slang. a person, esp. one who is annoying or contemptible.
9. the f – – -, Slang. (used as an intensifier, esp. with WH-questions, to express annoyance, impatience, etc.)
-Verb phrases
10. f – – – around, Slang.
a. to behave in a frivolous or meddlesome way.
b. to engage in promiscuous sex.
11. f – – – off, Slang.
a. to shirk one’s duty; malinger.
b. go away: used as an exclamation of impatience.
c. to waste time.
12. f – – – up, Slang.
a. to bungle or botch; ruin.
b. to act stupidly or carelessly; cause trouble; mess up.
-Idiom
13. give a f – – -, Slang. to care; be concerned.
It’s obvious that f – – – runs the gamut of many forms of English speech. For the sake of arguments and time, the safest way to define the word is to label it a blatant way of saying or engaging in sexual intercourse. It is also used to express a lack of concern, and in many eyes is a disparaging way of explaining one’s impatience or anger. So, we have the definition pertaining to sex, the act of sex, a title for someone stupid (dumb f – – -, f – – – er), and ways in which to express downtrodden emotions. The word is cut-and-dry yet remains controversial.
Before we attempt to navigate the very muddled past of the origin of f – – –, let’s discard many of the false etymological histories of the word. Many of you may have grown up hearing these tales and explanations. In a nutshell, none of them are correct. They are all urban legends. You may have heard or believe in:
* “Fornication Under Carnal/Cardinal Knowledge”
* “Fornication Under [the] Control/Consent/Command of the King”
* “Fornication Under the Christian King”
* “False Use of Carnal Knowledge”
* “Felonious Use of Carnal Knowledge”
* “Felonious Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”
* “Full-On Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”
* “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”
* “Found Under Carnal Knowledge”
* “Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”, referring to the crime of rape.
These acronyms have been used to describe the word’s use during feudal or medieval European centuries. Certain stories told about the word f – – – being placed above men in the stocks are untrue. Many people also claim that the word stemmed from a slang term for the word unlawful during war times. There have been no traces of evidence to support that these claims are legitimate.
Now that the myths are gone from eye and mind, where and when did f – – – originally show itself? Like stated, the history of the word’s use and origins are hard to trace in English. It has been linked to many other languages for origin and its eventual cross-over into our speech. Everything from outdated Norweigen fukka to Sweedish fock to French foutre are strong candidates for how the word emerged into English.
Most historians and etymologists trace its first written English use to a poem titled “Flyn flyys” written around 1475 AD. The poem was written to satirize Carmelite monks in the English county of Cambridgeshire. The poem’s title and opening line are proof positive of the work’s satiric jabs, as “Flyn, flyys and freris” translated pertains to “fleas, flies, and friars.” The lines of the poem that house the word are relevant as written below:
“Non sunt in celi,
quia fuccant uuiuys of heli”
This quote translated reads: “They [the monks] are not in heaven because they f – – – the wives of Ely.” Fuccant is a Middle English representation of the word f – – – as we know it today. However, the lines of the poem written above were not how they were originally scribed. The line was scrawled in a simple code, in which each letter written was replaced by the next letter in the alphabet (under rules of Middle English). The original print reads as thus:
“Non sunt in celi,
quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk.”
The code can be broken from “gxddbov” to “fuccant.” It is thought that the code was present to disguise the word from many readers who would be Church members.
While the poem holds a true written account of f – – – used as a sexually explicit verb, there are other theories to its origin in English. Around 1278 AD it is said that there was a man with the name or popular nickname of John le F – – – er, though there is small evidence of this. In 1503 AD, it appeared in a more modern form, as fukkit in the Oxford English Dictionary. It also appeared in another modern form written in the work, “Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits” by Sir David Lyndesay in 1535 AD. The line reads: “Bischops … may f – – – thair fill and be vnmaryit.” As well, William Shakespeare wrote many passages alluding to the word itself. As a famous example, in Henry VIII, the character Pistol threatens to firk (or strike) a soldier – firk being a euphemism for f – – –.
The word’s uses in these examples are all interpreted to be of the sexual act or the connotations thereof. It is only in the last 120 years that the word has garnered more definitions other than its original use – to describe the act of making love. Whether the word under this original context was considered vulgar and crass centuries ago is uncertain, but as the word f – – – is evidenced in so few examples from these times, experts believe no such obscene connection could likely have formed at the word’s earliest uses in English conversation and print. That has happened far more recently.
What we see strongly evidenced today is that the word has become known as vulgar, even “the Holy Mother of all bad words” as phrased by Ralphie in the film A Christmas Story. During the turn of the century, into the 1940s and 1950s, the word took a lot of heat from critics. Writers, stage performers, and musicians all became the first modern people to have such fierce censoring of their material for writing, speaking, or singing f – – –. People from Louis Armstrong, Norman Mailer, Eddie Duchin, James Joyce, J.D. Salinger, and C.S. Lewis were forced to edit the word out of written material, or substitute strange euphemisms in stead of the simple four-letter word. If they did manage to get away with using f – – –, one of two things happened: they either lost all of their public respect, or became very popular very fast. The former happened more frequently.
The many phrases we hear involving the “F” word also have varied recent histories. For instance, motherf – – – er has been traced to print in 1928, and mother-f – – – ing was recorded as first published in 1933. Even more interesting is the phrase flying f – – –, used today to express someone’s disinterest in how a situation resolves itself. The phrase was actually used around 1800 AD in the broadside ballad New Feats of Horsemanship. The term originally meant to have sex on the back a horse (on horseback), evidence that f – – – ‘s original meaning of sexual activity held true for some time before being targeted as a “bad word.”
In the more recent past, the use of f – – – has been targeted to performers of television and comedy stage routines. Comedian George Carlin and cast members of Saturday Night Live have all taken heat for uttering the word even once. Politicians today many times use slips of the word, ending any support for themselves, their party, or their rallies. Amazing and border-line sad that a single word like f – – – can make or break respectable peoples’ lives and careers.
From its earliest neutral beginnings to its now modern taboo within our fitful lexicon, f – – – has warped and molded from something very simple into something of such foul caliber that people are scared to use it – exactly what they should not feel in a country such as ours. Obviously, nothing certain people learn about the history and past usage of foul language, including f – – –, will convince them that it is only a word.
I’m not abdicating the use of hurtful words and phrases at all. I just hope that learning the true meaning and history of “bad language” will leave readers’ minds more open to why other people use it and continue to use it under the laws and rights that our country grants us. Think about it, after all – how can we and why do we let one word like f – – – define people, sway laws, and bring fear into what we say? There is no reason for that if we all know and respect the word’s history.
