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the origin of swear/bad words

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AfrikaJamaika View Drop Down
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  Quote AfrikaJamaika Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: the origin of swear/bad words
    Posted: 12-Feb-2007 at 14:27
every time i look up the origin of swear/bad/curse words...I never find a site that tells me how they came to be just lists the words itself, and their meanings...Does anyone know how bad words came to be, where they first came from, and who exactly came to the decision that their are bad words in all languages?

I've been wanted to know this for the longest and i never could find any good information on it.....


Edited by AfrikaJamaika - 12-Feb-2007 at 14:28
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  Quote red clay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-Feb-2007 at 19:23
It can be cultural, or it can be a product of a societal shift.  Inappropriate language changes also, what was a swear word for one generation may become acceptable to another.  A good example is the word Jazz, its used everyday to describe a certain genre of music.  In the early 20's it was as unsavory as the word f**k.  The origin of that word, BTW, comes from the Old Bailey,  it was an abbreviation of "for unnatural carnal knowledge"
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-Feb-2007 at 23:35
^^
Not true. F**K had been around for a lot longer.
 
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  Quote Dan Carkner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12-Feb-2007 at 23:35
Often they reflect the taboo of the society.  For example in French... in France since the revolution all the cursing reflects sex, whereas in Canada since French Canadians lived in a theocracy for hundreds of years later, it is all catholic curses about Tabernacles, Hosts, Christ, Virgins,etc

Or do you just mean etymology (origin of individual words)?  In that case try to find an etymological dictionary :)
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  Quote red clay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Feb-2007 at 06:27
Originally posted by Sparten

^^
Not true. F**K had been around for a lot longer.
 
 
 
 
Not really, however the exact origin of the word is always disputed.  There is another version which says it originated in the 1500s as Fornication under consent of the king.  Etymologists insist the word is not an acronym but comes from blah blah etc. here, read this it makes as much sense as any.
 

f**k, which is sometimes described as an Anglo-Saxon word, is in fact not that old in its current form.  It does not appear in writing until the early 16th century.  However, there is a personal name which pops up in records from the late 13th century (according to John Ayto), John le f**ker, which indicates that the word was around at least at that early time in some form.  It's possible that it was not recorded in writing prior to the 16th century because it was in fact considered obscene. No matter what its written status, few etymologists disagree that the word is of Germanic origin, although no one can say precisely whence it came. The word first appeared in Scotland, perhaps indicative of a Scandinavian source; there is, after all, the Norwegian dialectical fukka "copulate" along with the Swedish dialectical focka "copulate, hit" and fock "penis".  Oh, and by the way, this word is simply not an acronym; the widely popular explanations that the word derives from Fornication Under Consent of the King or For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge are absolutely incorrect.

 


Edited by red clay - 13-Feb-2007 at 06:29
"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
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  Quote Constantine XI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Feb-2007 at 06:39
I have heard that the word "f**k" even appears in Shakespearean works, though I do not have a source on that.
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Feb-2007 at 13:44
In Dutch the verb 'fokken' means 'to breed', perhaps that word is related to the f-word as well.
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  Quote Aelfgifu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Feb-2007 at 15:43
A lot of Dutch swearwords are really simple to make: take any horrible deadly disease, link this to a less polite word for a male or female private part and presto: a swearword...

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  Quote Cywr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15-Feb-2007 at 19:40
The origin of that word, BTW, comes from the Old Bailey,  it was an abbreviation of "for unnatural carnal knowledge"


This claim is bollucks. As is the consent of the King one. it mostly likely derives from the Anglo-Saxon varient of what in Dutch is Fok (to breed or to copulate), fukka (Norwegian) and focka (Swedish).
Acronyms are a very modern fetish.

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  Quote Tar Szernd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Mar-2007 at 03:32
We have the word fka, too, but it means seal:-))
For the word f..k we have some dozen words in hungarian, and some hundreds of other different swearwords.  (like f.e. serbians, too)
We got lot of troubles during the time, maybe that is the reason for the big number of sw-s. If somebody ever want to learn hungarian, it's the best way to learn these for the first lessons:-))
 
TSZ


Edited by Tar Szernd - 08-Mar-2007 at 03:33
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  Quote Dan Carkner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Mar-2007 at 08:12
Originally posted by Tar Szernd

We have the word fka, too, but it means seal:-))


Same as in French:   Un Phoque.  People always find that funny..haha :(  It's not allowed to get that as a license plate in Canada, I'm pretty sure! haha.
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-Jun-2012 at 21:39
Originally posted by Cywr

The origin of that word, BTW, comes from the Old Bailey,  it was an abbreviation of "for unnatural carnal knowledge"


This claim is bollucks. As is the consent of the King one. it mostly likely derives from the Anglo-Saxon varient of what in Dutch is Fok (to breed or to copulate), fukka (Norwegian) and focka (Swedish).
Acronyms are a very modern fetish.


Perhaps the Normans turned the Saxon word "f**k" into an obscenity in an attempt to suppress English language and culture as vulgar?
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  Quote TITAN_ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23-Jun-2012 at 10:05
The story behind the word "idiot" is pretty much unknown to most people. Let's see who else knows it!
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