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