Posted: Aug 24, 2008, 8:47 AM CST
jpunk wrote:love the thread, love stuff like this! another one for you; F. U. C. K. = Fornication Under Consent of the King
False etymologies
One reason that the word fuck is so hard to trace etymologically is that it was used far more extensively in common speech than in easily traceable written forms.
There are several urban-legend false etymologies postulating an acronymic origin for the word. None of these acronyms was ever heard before the 1960s, according to the authoritative lexicographical work, The F-Word, and thus are backronyms. In any event, the word fuck has been in use far too long for some of these supposed origins to be possible. Some of these urban legends are:
* That the word fuck came from Irish law. If a couple were caught committing adultery, they would be punished "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge In the Nude", with "FUCKIN" written on the stocks above them to denote the crime.
* That it came from any of:
o "Fornication Under Carnal/Cardinal Knowledge"
o "Fornication Under [the] Control/Consent/Command of the King"
o "Fornication Under the Christian King"
o "False Use of Carnal Knowledge"
o "Felonious Use of Carnal Knowledge"
o "Felonious Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
o "Full-On Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
o "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
o "Found Under Carnal Knowledge"
o "Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge", referring to the crime of rape.
There are unproved stories that fuck arose as an abbreviation of one of the versions containing "unlawful":
* In armed forces log books, when reporting courts martial of men accused of homosexual intercourse.[citation needed]
* On tombstones around English cemeteries, referring to being put to death for crimes against the state and the church.[citation needed] No such tombstone has been provably found.
Some more interesting reading where this came from!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck
Manure... An interesting fact : click here to read the entire thread »