How did "obscenities" become obscene?
Angry Fruit Salad
01-01-2006, 20:31
Probably a pretty dumb question, but I'd like to know what you guys have discovered, like the roots of certain profanity, past usage, etc.
Weirdnameistan
01-01-2006, 20:33
I think "fuck" comes from some latin word, which probably meant something like what fuck means now.
Cheese penguins
01-01-2006, 20:34
all i know about profanity is if i say it in a church or infront of family i get hit...
The Metal Horde
01-01-2006, 20:40
I think "fuck" comes from some latin word, which probably meant something like what fuck means now.
fuck is from the time around the plague
the king (i forget which) in england had an order to repopulate. people went around tell people to Fornicate Under Command of the King or fuck
fuck is from the time around the plague
the king (i forget which) in england had an order to repopulate. people went around tell people to Fornicate Under Command of the King or fuck
That's been falsified more times than I can count.
"Fuck" comes from the German root word, "Fick", which means "to love" (I'm pretty sure, but I could be off on the meaning). This is a very old word, from about 550 A.D. Look it up.
Cheese penguins
01-01-2006, 20:45
fuck is from the time around the plague
the king (i forget which) in england had an order to repopulate. people went around tell people to Fornicate Under Command of the King or fuck
hence the meaning of Fuck is to Shag/sexual intercourse...
fuck is from the time around the plague
the king (i forget which) in england had an order to repopulate. people went around tell people to Fornicate Under Command of the King or fuck
No, actually fuck comes from an older Germanic word stem fuk-, which goes even farther back to Indo-European roots. Variants of this stem exist in all of the modern Germanic languages, and have similar meanings to fuck.
Ficken is the German word, which can be linked to English in this manner.
The Metal Horde
01-01-2006, 20:49
That's been falsified more times than I can count.
"Fuck" comes from the German root word, "Fick", which means "to love" (I'm pretty sure, but I could be off on the meaning). This is a very old word, from about 550 A.D. Look it up.
oh, thats just what i've been told. I'm not sure if I've ever looked it up or anything, anyway.
Randomlittleisland
01-01-2006, 20:49
Obscenities developed from basic bacteria with dis-combobulating mitocondria. They are semi-parasitic: draining the brain power of their host while using the host's vocal cords to reproduce.
*nods*
F.U.C.K.
Fornication under carnal knowledge.
hmm, 100 posts.
Smunkeeville
01-01-2006, 22:39
it's mostly a cultural thing, some words are offensive to some people and aren't to others, and then some are obscene and then become less so. Humbug, used to be obscene but now it's in children's Christmas programs.
As for the "F" word, it's not an acronym, no matter how funny or interesting people try to make them. Here (http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/fuck.htm) you go, and I hope I don't get in trouble for linking it.
now, as far as the cultural thing, there are things that my kids can say around us (their parents) that are considered vulgar around their grandparents, and even great grandparents such as "that sucks" and "crap" and "son of a monkey"
Free Mercantile States
01-01-2006, 22:40
I think "fuck" comes from some latin word, which probably meant something like what fuck means now.
It comes from the German word "frichen", which means "to strike".
"Fuck" comes from the German root word, "Fick", which means "to love" (I'm pretty sure, but I could be off on the meaning). This is a very old word, from about 550 A.D. Look it up.
It came into English through Dutch (probably from Dutch sailers staying in Eastern England), like many of our swear-words.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fuck
Neo Kervoskia
01-01-2006, 23:11
Shit is actually an acronym. It stands for Shouting of Horrendous, Infuriating Terms. It dates back as far as three minutes ago.
The Emperor Fenix
01-01-2006, 23:42
Shit means, as far as i can tell, Sail High In Transit... though i may well be wrong.
Shit means, as far as i can tell, Sail High In Transit... though i may well be wrong.Generally it just means excrement. As does it (or at least a related word) in most germanic languages (schijt, scheisse, etc), and in fact indoeuropean ones.
Interestingly enough, 'science' and 'shit' stem from a common proto-indoeuropean word.
I think "fuck" comes from some latin word, which probably meant something like what fuck means now.
Fuck (in it's current form) is from Anglo Saxon. I have no idea how members of prior societies reproduced. It became part of the English language when the Anglo saxons invaded England after the Romans went home, and has fuck all to do with the Dutch.
Kevlanakia
02-01-2006, 00:37
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fuc1.htm
More on "fuck"'s origin, for those who consider websites of any kind reliable sources.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fuc1.htm
More on "fuck"'s origin, for those who consider websites of any kind reliable sources.
I'm going by the OED, myself. If that says it's anglo saxon, then it's anglo saxon.