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The history of the word ‘fuck’

Even though fuck is still technically classified as vulgar slang, the word itself has made its way into casual conversation. 

Is fuck a bad word for real? You probably remember growing up thinking that fuck is a bad word, one of the worst words – the infamous F word – but as you reached adulthood you realised this term is thrown around as commonly as the word ‘and’. 

According to fuck definition online, the term fuck can be used as a noun, a verb and an exclamation, that’s not to mention the conjugation fucking which is also used as an adjective and adverb. Turns out fuck meaning has a lot of variety. 

fuck off
Credits: Pexels @postiglioni / Radikal Neon

For the full breadth of the flexibility and usage of the term, nothing quite beats Osho’s infamous you tube fuck video on the history of the f word and its range of applications:swear

Why is fuck a bad word though? Well, while the word often refers to sex, it can also mean to damage or ruin something. Traditionally when people said fucking as an adjective, it would emphasise annoyance or surprise with something but nowadays it’s used so often it feels like a meaningless filler word. We sure do love to throw swear words around in the most casual manner, but if that scares you, you may need to ask drake kraken for protection.

The English language can be so creative. At some point, we all just decided it wasn’t enough to call someone a fuck, now you call them a fucker or even a fucket (which is short for fuck bucket lol). If English isn’t your first language this may be a little hard to follow. Kind of like looking at a 720p food background for two hours. 

fucket
Credits: Pexels @karolina-grabowska and @cottonbro

Although the F word sometimes means to have sex, the term fucker has almost entirely negative connotations, you wouldn’t call someone a fucker and intend to say they have heaps of sex, or at least wish they did, which is why they have a fuck music playlist ready to go on their Spotify.  

The same goes for calling someone a fuckwit, fucked or fucket respectively. Most of these words tend to lean more towards the second meaning of the word ‘fuck’, which is to ruin or damage something. This means if you called someone a fuckwit or fucked it’s because you think they’re an idiot who ruins or damages things. If you come across such people, you could also tell them to fuck off meaning ‘get lost’ basically. 

Credit: noblegasindustries.com

So where did the word fuck come from and why is it so naughty?

How old is the f word though? Well, let’s talk about fuck origin now. There was a rumour going around for a while that the F word arose at a time when sex was outlawed unless it was permitted by the king. People who wanted to get down needed to have Fornication Under Consent of the King (F.U.C.K.) displayed on their door. This is a load of shit so don’t repeat it when discussing the origin of fuck with your friends. But when was the word fuck invented specifically?

As far as when was the word fuck first used goes, it was actually a difficult word to trace until recently as the Oxford English Dictionary had omitted it for being too taboo.

‘Fuck’ had also been excluded from other English language dictionaries from 1795 to 1965 when it was then added to The Penguin Dictionary.

Credits: kibrispdr.org / Pexels @eduardasantos2019

Soon after in 1969 as culture became even edgier, Houghton Mifflin followed suit, adding ‘fuck’ into The American Heritage Dictionary. Mifflin also published a Clean Green edition without the word to ensure it would be sold to the public high school market.

The earliest known appearance of the word in its current spelling it 1533 in Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits by Sir David Lyndesay  who wrote: “Bischops … may fuck thair fill and be vnmaryit”

It’s safe to assume the word was said a lot more often and a lot earlier than in that text but it’s not the kind of thing that would be written in texts that have survived from Old English to Middle English.

Literature experts believe the word was hinted at in a 15th-century poem titled Flen Flyys, which was written in bastardised Latin and Middle English. The line reads:

“Non sun in cell
quia fuccant uuiuys of hell”

Which translates to They [the monks] are not in heaven because they fuck the wives of [the town of] Ely.

The earliest examples of the word are Scottish and suggest Scandinavian origin which could be related to the Norwegian word ‘fukka’ which means ‘copulate’ or the Swedish word ‘focka’, also meaning ‘copulate’ as well as ‘strike’ or ‘push’. 

Because of the rude nature of the word, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where it came from but one thing that has been hilariously well documented is the original meaning of the phrase ‘flying fuck’. As in when one doesn’t give a flying fuck.

According to the OED, the phrase first attested in 1800 in a broadside ballad titled New Feats of Horsemanship and it meant “sex had on horseback”.

As for how the search goes for the meaning of the word fuck, fuck it. Or should I say fucket instead? 

Actually, apparently, amongst other things a fucket is a bucket that is used in sex. How you ask? We have no clue, and girl get fucket with this nonsense! In other news, the term fucket is making its way into animated porn for some reason, with such famous videos as rapunzel fucket which we would not advise you to look up!