My son was a Legal Assistant in the USMC for 5 years & was assigned to one of the top Lawyers in the Corps. He was told that the word is an acronym for "Felonius Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" - to file in the "for what it's worth" Dept. Diane in TX ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sunshine49" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 9:09 AM Subject: [VA-HIST] origin of the eff-word More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure, but a friend went on a tear and had to find out how old the word was (someone had told her it was strictly 20th Century)... Nancy > The term's origin is likely Germanic, even though no one can as yet point > to the precise word it came down to us from out of all the possible > candidates. Further, a few scholars hold differing pet theories outside > of the Germanic origin one, theories which appear to have some holes in > them. > > 'F*ck' is an old word, even if it's been an almost taboo term for most of > its existence. It was around and has been recorded in English since the > 15th Century; it just wasn't used in common speech all that much, let > alone written down and saved for posterity. Likely its meaning > contributed to its precise origin becoming lost in the mists of time — > scholars of old would have been in no hurry to catalogue the growth of > this word, and by the time it forced its way into even the most > respectable of dictionaries, its parentage was long forgotten. > > The earliest cite in The Oxford English Dictionary dates from 1503. John > Ayto, in his Dictionary of Word Origins cites a proper name (probably a > joke or parody name) of 'John le F*cker' from 1250, quite possibly proof > the word we casually toss about today was being similarly tossed about > 750 years ago. To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html