The "F" word came into existance, in the English language in 1872, according to Whitely's Oxford Dictionary of Swearwords and Expletives.
It is a Police charge sheet abreiviation and stands for "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" which one would be charged with if caught with one's pants down in a brothel during a police raid.
The offence came onto the statute books in the UK in 1872, as part of the government's on going moral campaign to stamp out prostitutution in the UK.
Until then, patrons of brothels were allowed to go free and uncharged during a police raid.
Prisoners in the cells would ask each other what they were in for and one could be in jail, awaiting trail, for f**king.
Its use in films and plays set before this date are historical language errors, in the same way as the Sherif Of Nottingham, in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood film, telling someone to come and see him at 12:30.
There are many urban myths about the word's origin, this is the true origin.
Last edited by Panzergranate; 02-03-2010 at 03:25 AM.
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02-03-2010, 03:22 AM
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