A reference site about one word
fuck.
fuck /fʌk/ verb, noun, adjective, adverb, interjection, infix
- verb To have sexual intercourse (with). c. 1475
- verb To ruin, damage, cheat or treat badly: the printer's fucked; they fucked him over.
- verb, with off / up / about / with To go away; to fail badly; to waste time; to meddle.
- noun An act of intercourse; a contemptible person; the smallest unit of concern: I don't give a fuck.
- adjective / adverb (fucking) An intensifier with no literal meaning: fucking freezing. 1528
- interjection Pain, anger, surprise, delight.
Four letters, one syllable, at least seven centuries old, and still the word most English speakers reach for when the hammer hits the thumb. This site is the reference on where it came from, what it does to us, how the world uses it, and why it might be worth using a little less. Not the other kind of site.
Earliest solid record: a man named Roger Fuckebythenavele in a Chester court roll.
The year the Oxford English Dictionary finally printed the entry, in a supplement.
Roughly the share of everyday spoken words that are swear words, by Timothy Jay's estimate.
Number of kings who ever licensed fornication by consent. The acronym story is invented.
Definition
Every sense, every part of speech, inflections and pronunciation. The dictionary entry.
02History
Germanic roots, a coded monk's poem, and two hundred years of dictionaries pretending the word didn't exist.
03A to Z
Motherfucker to zero fucks: a glossary of every compound, phrase and abbreviation built on the word.
04Grammar
Verb, noun, adjective, adverb, interjection and, uniquely, infix.
05Around the world
Foutre, joder, ficken, kurwa, and how English fuck became a global loanword.
06Culture
Film, TV, music, books, comedy, politics, the press, the gesture, place names and the internet.
07Why we use it
Pain relief, venting, bonding and honesty. What the neuroscience and psychology actually say.
08Why we shouldn't
Dilution, audience, children, work and the law. The honest case for keeping it in reserve.
09The law
Is swearing illegal in the UK? Obscenity trials, the Public Order Act, Ofcom, the FCC and trademarks.
10Statistics
Who swears most, how often, what Ofcom found and which films hold the records.
11FAQ
Is it an acronym? Anglo-Saxon? Who said it first on TV? Short answers, with links to the long ones.
12Quiz
Fifteen questions. No prizes. Bragging rights only.