a fuck is an amorphous unit of measure who's quantity can apparently be modifided with colorful descriptions:

the fuck in i don't give a flying fuck carries more weight than in i don't give a fuck. Be careful not to fall into the trap of trying to lighten it too much by simply saying i don't fuck, because that'll just make you look silly and potentially lose dates.

The exception to this rule is whan one has only the time or the patience or controll to utter nothing but the all-powerful Fuck You.

Actually, it's commonly (although incorrectly) assumed that 'Fuck' is an acronym meaning either "Fornication Under Consent of the King" or "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge." These are not the case.

Tracing the history of the word 'Fuck' has proven difficult over the years, as it has been a taboo for most of its existance. Citations are also quite rare. According to "American Heritage", the earliest known use predates the year 1500. It is used in a poem written in both English and Latin called "Flen flyys."

"Non sunt in celi quia fuccant uuiuys of heli."

Translates to:

"They (the monks) are not in heaven because they fuck the wives of Ely (a town near Cambridge)."

(Fuccant is a pseudo-Latin word.)

The earliest citation of its current spelling is from 1535.

The root of the word is almost definitely Germanic. Proof of this lies in the fact that it has cognates in other Northern European languages - for example, Middle Dutch fokken meaning to thrust, to copulate with; dialectical Norwegian fukka meaning to copulate; and dialectical Swedish focka meaning to strike, push, and copulate, as well as fock meaning penis. French has the word foutre, while Italian has fottere - both of which are derived from the Latin word futuere.

The definition of the word aside, fuck is also the name of a game of cards. It is of course possible that the name was altered by juvenile kids being that I learnt the game from in high school, but nonetheless...


Rules:
The game requires a single deck of cards and two to four players. You could play it with more players or a second deck shuffled in, but it would alter the game's odds.

The objective of the game is to collect four of a kind (four aces, twos, threes... etc). No hand beats another, instead the first person to gather the set first wins (usually, see further.)

Gameplay:
A dealer deals everyone including himself 4 cards and then sets the deck in front of himself. When the game begins, everyone must choose 1 card from their hand and pass it to the left. The person to the dealers right does not pass it to the dealer but rather places it in a dead pile. The players take the card that was passed to them and add it to their hand; the dealer takes a new card from the deck. At no time should any player have more than 4 cards in their hands.

The players continue in this fashion again until someone collects 4 of a kind. If no cards remain in the deck, the dealer can reshuffle the dead pile and use it as the deck. When someone does manage to collect 4 of a kind, they must place their hand on the dead pile (the cards that the 4th person discards). When this happens, everyone else must place his or her hand on the pile as well, the last person who touches it loses the round.

Being a Bastard:
As stated, the last person to place their hand in the center at the end of the round is out, however, it is possible for the person who has collected 4 of a kind to lose. If the other players notice that someone is going to tap the dead pile, they can themselves tap it first. This can leave the person who actually collected 4 of a kind the loser. There is a caveat however: If someone taps the center and no one has collected 4 of a kind, that person is automatically declared the loser. This can lead to deceptive strategies to make others believe you have a set, thus, being a bastard as the section would imply.

Application:
The rounds in this game can play out very quickly, yet it can be played with little strategy, thus making it a great drinking game. For those of the youth persuasion or those who prefer not to drink, it makes a pretty good platform for truth-or-dare. Varying the amount of rounds it takes to drink/dare or whatnot is nice as well. 4 rounds, one for each letter (F U C K) works quite nicely.

Fuck are an Indie band originally formed in Oakland, California, but now living in San Francisco (though their singer lives in New York City). Their first release was the single, "Monkey Beauty Shotgun", which was followed by a string of compilations and other singles, until their first album, "Pretty...Slow", released in 1996. Their second album was released the same year under the name "Baby Loves a Funny Bunny". Their best album, in my opinion and others', was the third, "Pardon My French", released in 1997. "Conduct" their fourth album was released in 1998, and this year, 2001, they released "Cupid's Cactus". Despite their name, Fuck are very mellow rather than punky. Also in contrast to their name, they are not a joke band or a piss-about band, but write serious and jokey good songs about stuff. If anything, check out Pardon My French, which has a hand-drawn cover of the word "fuck" in big pink letters on rolling green meadows surrounded by lots of different things. These include a happy tiger on a tricycle, an unhappy gingerbread man, a walking saw, a mouse having sex with a turtle, a unicorn, a dish running away with a spoon, a happy crucified monkey, actually far too many things to list. Brilliant album.

Fuck 101

(or: killing myths about the history behind a naughty word describing our all-time favourite pastime)

The word's fucking meaning today.

Fuck means many things. Primarily it is describing the act of copulation, or sex, if you like. However, it has gained a multitude of other uses over the years, all of which are considered rude and indecent by the majority of those people who believe using swearwords is indecent.

A famous comedian whose name I cannot recall has written a show about the uses of the word fuck (George Carlin and Monty Python have been suggested, but nobody seems to know who did the thing.. strange.). To not break his copyright (although an extract is available here on E2), I have paraphrased some of them here:

The word Fuck can be used as:

• exclamation: Fuck! It is late, and I need to go. (meaning: "Oh, no!")
• adjective: it is fucking hot in here (meaning: "very")
• noun: The fucker needs to go (meaning: person, gender neutral)
• noun: What the fuck? (expressing disbelief)
• transitive verb: John fucks Marlene** (meaning: sexual intercouse)
• intransitive verb: John fucks (meaning: sexual intercourse)
• adverb: This car is too fucking expensive (strenghens the adverb)
• insult: Fuck you*

*) This is probably a well known usage of the word fuck, but does usually not imply a desire for sexual intercourse with the person this is said to.

**) See the section on early roots

As explained in the earlier mentioned node, Fuck can be used to express dissatisfaction, dismissal, difficulty and trouble, among other things.

Where the fuck did this fucking word come from?

Eloquently stated question.

The etymology (roots of a word) of the word fuck are unknown. There are, however, several myths and truths to be found. The word (fuk) has alledgedly been around since around 1400. The earliest occurrence of the current spelling was recorded in 1535.

Early roots:

As noted above, the transitive verb of the word fuck is usually used about something a male does to a female, or another male. This could lead us to believe that some time in the past, the word "fuck" had a meaning of something that a male does to a female during intercourse.

Indeed, the root of the word "fuck" is believed to be the word "fokken", which is to beat something against something else, to thrust, to poke, or to push. All of which is relevant in the mentioned current meaning of the word fuck.

At the same time, it might be worth noting that "fokken" is a word that is currently in use in Dutch, meaning to raise pigs and other livestock. Therefore, in Dutch, "varkens fokken" is not fucking pigs, but rather raising pigs for sale on the market. However, the word "fokken" also implies the overseing of the act of the livestock's mating - again related to the current use of the word fuck.

It might not be of importance (I have not found this in any sources) but the old Dutch word for Jib (the front sail of a sailing boat) is called a "fok". Considering that this sail (on large boats) is often fixed on a protruding boom, and also considering that the golden age of sailing boats happened around the same time as the word fuck was first recorded, it might be a possible explanation. (as I mentioned, I cannot back this tidbit up - it is purely speculation)

Early meanings:

From multiple sources (among others the translated writings of De Sade, the french writer from whose name "sadism" is derived), it is believed that the word fuck once meant sperm / semen

Myths

As someone who speaks Norwegian fluently (and as confirmed by Nordicfrost), the word "fukka" is completely nonexistant in the Norwegian. I have not been able to trace it to any dialect, and it does not exist even in the largest dictionaries. There are no words that are closely related meaning the same thing, and according to a professor at UIO (Oslo University), Icelandic - the only true norse language still remaining - has no similar words either.

In most sources "dialectical Norwegian" is cited as the source for the word "fukka". Considering the language situation in Norway (see this WU), this could mean pretty much anything. It is, however, fair to assume that for the word to spread to the germanic languages, it would have to come from the areas around Bergen. This is because the time area in question is part of the Hansa trade period, involving shipping and trade, primarily witn Germany. In this area, however, the word (or similarities) have not been found.

The common "knowledge" of the word fuck being an acronym are most likely to be false, for a variety of reasons. The most prominent reason for this being false, is that the existance of the word would be dependant of the word replacing something naughty. "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (Carnal = "of the flesh") and "Fornication Under Consent of the King" (Fornication = sex). Neither of these two would be in need of a more innocent acronym, even in Victorian times.

Is this word overused in the language?

Most definitely. It is about time that people found a new word usable to shock and disturb moralists.

Why does it insult people?

Hard to tell. Some believe that the reason people are offended by the word is the trivialisation of sex. The word "fuck" has no emotional connotations whatsoever. At least not when it is used about copulation (it might have strong emotional connotations when used as a curse; "FUCK YOU", but that is, as mentioned, non-sexual).

-30-

"...This instance in particular proves that beneath all that cool pseudo-academic hogwash lurked a very passionate man who knew how important it was to say "fuck" now and then, and to say it loud too, relish its syllabic sweetness, its immigrant pride, a great American epic word really, starting at the lower lip, often the very front of the lower lip, before racing all the way to the back of the throat, where it finishes with a great blast, the concussive force of the K catching up then with the hush of the F already on its way, thus loading it with plenty of offense and edge and certainly ambiguity. FUCK. A great by-the-bootstrap prayer or curse if you prefer, depending on how you look at it, or use it, suited perfectly for hurling at the skies or at the world, or sometimes, if said just right, for uttering with enough love and fire, the woman beside you melts inside herself, immersed in all that word-heat.
Holy fuck, what was that all about?
"Love and fire"? "word-heat"?
Who the hell is thinking up this shit?" - Johnny Truant in Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves

By now you've mouthed this word, fuck, you've felt again its power, you have learnt anew its savage beauty. How many times have you said it before? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? And how many of those times did you relish the word and direct the force in a considered way? And how many was it nothing more than a random syllable, an interjection without meaning or a thoughtless modfier?

Is fuck overused? Fuck yes. Is this a bad thing? Perhaps not. The constant volley of "fuck"s whistling past us at every second armours us against a direct shot. And through continual use you find that fuck has become soft and rubbery, that not only will it bounce harmlessly off your ememy but that even its firing becomes a joke act, a clown's gun popping a harmless hand-drawn "FUCK!" - and you find that your aggression is inexpressible. And when we can't express something, we can't feel it¹. This is disarmament on a massive social level, blunting an innately deadly weapon we would use to attack each other - so that cogent debate, and not mindless word-violence, must be used to overcome our enemies, and so that rather than rail ineffectively against the forces and structures which constrain us, rather than whip the ocean, we must find ways to break through those constraints - to actually destroy and to actually build also.