3 ms·

A brief history of the word "fuck"

38 points by tintinnabula 2y ago

Doctor_Fegg 2y ago
In the 1990s, the British musical press (NME etc.) decided it couldn't possibly print "fuck", but "fook" was fine. So whenever they interviewed Blur (from London) it would be f--- this and f--- that, but Oasis (from Manchester) were given the full fooking treatment.
- jjulius 2y ago
  I'm so confused by this thread. I saw this comment days ago, but here it is, in this thread with a timestamp of "1 hour ago" while the whole thread itself is from "2 hours ago". But if I look at this user's comments, the comment is from three days ago and links back to this thread that, as we've established, claims it is from "2 hours ago". To add to the fun, if I Google the comment enclosed in quotes, Google says the comment is from two days ago, but if I remove the quote, it says it's from five days ago. What's happening?
  - fuzztester 2y ago
    fuck
  - brudgers 2y ago
    Maybe it was in the second chance pool? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998308 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998308
  - alwayslikethis 2y ago
    HN has this thing called the second chance pool. Mods give some old submissions a second chance and timestamps are changed to make it look like a new post.
type_enthusiast 2y ago
An interesting article, but I have to point out a more (in my opinion) entertaining take. As the pandemic dragged on and began to seem interminable, Netflix released a somewhat under-the-radar series called "History of Swear Words". Each episode has Nicolas Cage hosting a documentary of a swear word in exactly the over-the-top fashion you'd expect. The word covered by the article is episode 1. This series gave me some much-needed laughs at the time (YMMV).
stonesthrowaway 2y ago
What's in a name. "... concerning a man named Roger Fuckebythenavele ... " "As authorities tried to apprehend him, his name entered the records several times over the course of many months, showing that this was a real name rather than a one-off joke." Or it could have been a one-off joke that stuck.
- bitwize 2y ago
  Was he picked up on Gropecunt Lane?
modzu 2y ago
perhaps one of the most interesting words of the english language today: https://archive.org/details/JackWagnerattr.MontyPythontheWordFuck https://archive.org/details/JackWagnerattr.MontyPythontheWor...
hujun 2y ago
This reminds me an interesting netflix doc series, History of Swear words: https://www.netflix.com/title/81305757 https://www.netflix.com/title/81305757 hosted by Nicolas Cage
rurban 2y ago
He forgot to say that it derives from the German word ficken, which derived probably from the Greek θήκη ("fiki") - th changed to f - or the Italian ficare.
- fsckboy 2y ago
  that cannot be attested. wiktionary says "The interjectional use is probably a semantic loan from English fuck"
- adamredwoods 2y ago
  Those swiving historians! https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/fuck https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/fuck
- galdre 2y ago
  I like going to the Online Etymology Dictionary for this kind of thing: https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=fuck https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=fuck
fuzztester 2y ago
Osho on the word fuck. https://youtu.be/6D7rWLzloOI https://youtu.be/6D7rWLzloOI If it says 'sign in' in youtube web, just click open app. works there.
instig007 2y ago
George Carlin was spot on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnDUqof1KoM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnDUqof1KoM
sourcepluck 2y ago
What are the HN regulations regarding swear terms? Also - Forget Underperforming Chronic Klondike-players! Forego Unnatural, Calibrated Kangaroos. Freely Use Cuckold Kinship; Follow Unified Crab Killers.
smitty1e 2y ago
> superficially similar words in other languages—Latin futuere I was hoping for a facere[1] tie-in. That would be most 'effective'. [1] http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/verb:facere http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/verb:facere
- sevensor 2y ago
  If you like cursing in Latin, Catullus has you covered: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16
bassrattle 2y ago
The subject of a well done doc from 2005 (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0486585/trivia/?item=tr1027526 https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0486585/trivia/?item=tr1027526), which included Penn Jilette, Pat Boone, Ron Jeremy, Hunter S Thompson's final appearance, and more.
clauderoux 2y ago
As a French speaker, what is quite surprising is how close the use of "fuck" mirrors the use of "foutre" in French. However, in French, the word has become pretty weak as an expletive. Nobody would be shocked if you say: "je m'en fous", which could be translated either as "I don't give a fuck" or "I don't give a damn". The original sexual meaning of the word is lost on most people now, except when it is used as a noun. For instances, in French movies in the 1930, people would use the verb in a pretty casual way, without any real problems, which means that it had already lost its vulgar side. I guess "fuck" is following the same parallel trend.

38 points by tintinnabula 2y ago

In the 1990s, the British musical press (NME etc.) decided it couldn't possibly print "fuck", but "fook" was fine. So whenever they interviewed Blur (from London) it would be f--- this and f--- that, but Oasis (from Manchester) were given the full fooking treatment.

jjulius 2y ago
I'm so confused by this thread. I saw this comment days ago, but here it is, in this thread with a timestamp of "1 hour ago" while the whole thread itself is from "2 hours ago". But if I look at this user's comments, the comment is from three days ago and links back to this thread that, as we've established, claims it is from "2 hours ago". To add to the fun, if I Google the comment enclosed in quotes, Google says the comment is from two days ago, but if I remove the quote, it says it's from five days ago. What's happening?
- fuzztester 2y ago
  fuck
- brudgers 2y ago
  Maybe it was in the second chance pool? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998308 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998308
- alwayslikethis 2y ago
  HN has this thing called the second chance pool. Mods give some old submissions a second chance and timestamps are changed to make it look like a new post.

type_enthusiast 2y ago

An interesting article, but I have to point out a more (in my opinion) entertaining take. As the pandemic dragged on and began to seem interminable, Netflix released a somewhat under-the-radar series called "History of Swear Words". Each episode has Nicolas Cage hosting a documentary of a swear word in exactly the over-the-top fashion you'd expect. The word covered by the article is episode 1. This series gave me some much-needed laughs at the time (YMMV).

stonesthrowaway 2y ago

What's in a name. "... concerning a man named Roger Fuckebythenavele ... " "As authorities tried to apprehend him, his name entered the records several times over the course of many months, showing that this was a real name rather than a one-off joke." Or it could have been a one-off joke that stuck.

bitwize 2y ago
Was he picked up on Gropecunt Lane?

modzu 2y ago

perhaps one of the most interesting words of the english language today: https://archive.org/details/JackWagnerattr.MontyPythontheWordFuck https://archive.org/details/JackWagnerattr.MontyPythontheWor...

hujun 2y ago

This reminds me an interesting netflix doc series, History of Swear words: https://www.netflix.com/title/81305757 https://www.netflix.com/title/81305757 hosted by Nicolas Cage

rurban 2y ago

He forgot to say that it derives from the German word ficken, which derived probably from the Greek θήκη ("fiki") - th changed to f - or the Italian ficare.

fsckboy 2y ago
that cannot be attested. wiktionary says "The interjectional use is probably a semantic loan from English fuck"
adamredwoods 2y ago
Those swiving historians! https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/fuck https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/fuck
galdre 2y ago
I like going to the Online Etymology Dictionary for this kind of thing: https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=fuck https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=fuck

fuzztester 2y ago

Osho on the word fuck. https://youtu.be/6D7rWLzloOI https://youtu.be/6D7rWLzloOI If it says 'sign in' in youtube web, just click open app. works there.

instig007 2y ago

George Carlin was spot on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnDUqof1KoM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnDUqof1KoM

sourcepluck 2y ago

What are the HN regulations regarding swear terms? Also - Forget Underperforming Chronic Klondike-players! Forego Unnatural, Calibrated Kangaroos. Freely Use Cuckold Kinship; Follow Unified Crab Killers.

smitty1e 2y ago

> superficially similar words in other languages—Latin futuere I was hoping for a facere[1] tie-in. That would be most 'effective'. [1] http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/verb:facere http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/verb:facere

sevensor 2y ago
If you like cursing in Latin, Catullus has you covered: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16

bassrattle 2y ago

The subject of a well done doc from 2005 (https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0486585/trivia/?item=tr1027526 https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0486585/trivia/?item=tr1027526), which included Penn Jilette, Pat Boone, Ron Jeremy, Hunter S Thompson's final appearance, and more.

clauderoux 2y ago

As a French speaker, what is quite surprising is how close the use of "fuck" mirrors the use of "foutre" in French. However, in French, the word has become pretty weak as an expletive. Nobody would be shocked if you say: "je m'en fous", which could be translated either as "I don't give a fuck" or "I don't give a damn". The original sexual meaning of the word is lost on most people now, except when it is used as a noun. For instances, in French movies in the 1930, people would use the verb in a pretty casual way, without any real problems, which means that it had already lost its vulgar side. I guess "fuck" is following the same parallel trend.