English Idioms

Do you know where the coarse exclamation FUCK comes from?

AhQ ['a: kiu]

User since 2006
Posts: 2715

13 July 2007

Do you know where the coarse exclamation FUCK comes from?

8 comments

Silky
User since 2005
Posts: 113
16 July 2007

Hello you fucking lot!
How busy the King must have been!
As Gee (and certainly a lot of others) want(s) to know more about it,when I write it, I mean the origin of the word of course,I am sending you the address of a site where you may have different views on the subject:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_268b.html
If you read everything, you are likely to need a good night's SLEEP and that's that. Maybe Helen will come along with another explanation. We'll soon be experts!
Hello you fucking lot! How busy the King must have been! As Gee (and certainly a lot of others) want(s) to know more about it,when I write it, I mean the origin of the word of course,I am sending you the address of a site where you may have different views on the subject: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_268b.html If you read everything, you are likely to need a good night's SLEEP and that's that. Maybe Helen will come along with another explanation. We'll soon be experts!
Claude Buchet
User since 2007
Posts: 4
7 Aug. 2007

I am just surprised that it comes from was a contraceptive method in former times. I have supposed it was used others ways and probably more dramatic to controll the births.
I am just surprised that it comes from was a contraceptive method in former times. I have supposed it was used others ways and probably more dramatic to controll the births.
sasser
User since 2007
Posts: 2
1 Feb. 2008

Why the expresion Fuck you is so offensive to Engish people?
Why the expresion Fuck you is so offensive to Engish people?
sasser
User since 2007
Posts: 2
1 Feb. 2008

it was really good ,Learnig with fun!jajajajajajj
it was really good ,Learnig with fun!jajajajajajj
AhQ ['a: kiu]
User since 2006
Posts: 2715
14 July 2007

Hello Marc,

Here are some hints.
F goes for fornication.
U goes for under.
C goes for consent.
K goes for king.
The expression goes back to former times when kings wielded strong power.
In ancient Britany the rural people had to ask the royal clearance to have intercourse. At the time when contraceptive methods were still unknown it was a way for the king to control the grow of the population. When the couple had been granted with the king's clearance, they received a plaque to be hung outside their house door, showing F.U.C.K.
It meant: Fornication Under Consent of the King.

That's what I recently learnt. I wonder when and where precisely that habbit ruled.
Thanks in advance to anyone who could tell more about it.
Hello Marc, Here are some hints. F goes for fornication. U goes for under. C goes for consent. K goes for king. The expression goes back to former times when kings wielded strong power. In ancient Britany the rural people had to ask the royal clearance to have intercourse. At the time when contraceptive methods were still unknown it was a way for the king to control the grow of the population. When the couple had been granted with the king's clearance, they received a plaque to be hung outside their house door, showing F.U.C.K. It meant: Fornication Under Consent of the King. That's what I recently learnt. I wonder when and where precisely that habbit ruled. Thanks in advance to anyone who could tell more about it.
AhQ ['a: kiu]
User since 2006
Posts: 2715
13 July 2007

Do you know where the coarse exclamation FUCK comes from?
Do you know where the coarse exclamation FUCK comes from?
GymGlish Content
User since 2007
Posts: 86
26 July 2007

The Oxford English Dictionary (the only dictionary which counts, naturally) says it doesn't really know where 'fuck' comes from, although it offers a few possibilities. The most likely seems an Old English word meaning 'to hit' or 'to knock'.

Oh well, I think we'll never really get to the bottom of this one.
The Oxford English Dictionary (the only dictionary which counts, naturally) says it doesn't really know where 'fuck' comes from, although it offers a few possibilities. The most likely seems an Old English word meaning 'to hit' or 'to knock'. Oh well, I think we'll never really get to the bottom of this one.
GymGlish Content
User since 2007
Posts: 86
16 July 2007

I think we should take this explanation with a good pinch of salt. I'll look it up for you when I get home tonight!
I think we should take this explanation with a good pinch of salt. I'll look it up for you when I get home tonight!

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