Monday, July 16, 2007

Fuck: The History

Flen flyys and freris
The usually accepted first known occurrence is in code in a poem in a mixture of Latin and English composed some time before 1500. The poem, which satirizes the Carmelite friars of Cambridge, England, takes its title, "Flen flyys", from the first words of its opening line, "Flen, flyys, and freris" (= "Fleas, flies, and friars"). The line that contains fuck reads "Non sunt in coeli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk". Removing the substitution cipher on the phrase "gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk" yields "non sunt in coeli, quia fvccant vvivys of heli", which translated means "they are not in heaven because they fuck wives of Ely". The phrase was coded likely because it accused some Church personnel of misbehaving; it is uncertain to what extent the word "fuck" was considered acceptable at the time.

Anglo-Saxon
An Anglo-Saxon charter granted by Offa, king of Mercia, dated A.D.772, granting land at Bexhill, Sussex to a bishop, includes the text:

Þonne syndon þa gauolland þas utlandes into Bexlea in hiis locis qui appellantur hiis nominibus: on Berna hornan .iii. hida, on Wyrtlesham .i., on Ibbanhyrste .i., on Croghyrste .viii., on Hrigce .i., on Gyllingan .ii., on Fuccerham 7 and on Blacanbrocan .i., on Ikelesham .iii.;

Then the tax-lands of the outland belonging to Bexley are in these places which are called by these names: atBarnhorne 3 hides, at Wyrtlesham 1, at Ibbanhyrst 1, at Crowhurst 8, at Rye 1, at Gillingham 2, at Fuccerham and at Blackbrook 1, at Icklesham 3.

The placename Fuccerham looks like either "the home (hām) of the fucker" or "the enclosed pasture (hamm) of the fucker", who may have been a once-notorious man, or a locally well-known stud male animal.

The Word in Entertainment

Perhaps the earliest usage of the word in popular music was the 1938 Eddy Duchin release of the Louis Armstrong song "Ol' Man Mose". The words created a scandal at the time, resulting in sales of 170,000 copies during the Great Depression years when sales of 20,000 were considered blockbuster. The verse reads:

He kicked the bucket,

Yeah man, buck-buck-bucket,

He kicked the bucket and ol' man mose is dead,

Ahh, fuck it!

Buck-buck-bucket,

He kicked the bucket and ol' man mose is dead.

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger featured an early use of fuck you in print. First published in the United States in 1951, the novel remains controversial to this day due to its use of the word, and offers a blunt portrayal of the main character's reaction to the word, and all that it means.

One of the earliest mainstream movies to use the word fuck was director Robert Altman's irreverent antiwar film, MASH, released in 1970 at the height of the Vietnam War. During the football game sequence about three-quarters of the way through the film, one of the MASH linemen says to an 8063rd offensive player, "All right, bud, your fuckin' head is coming right off."

Use in Politics

Fuck is not widely used in politics, and because of this, any use by notable politicians tends to produce controversy. Some events of this nature include:

During a 1971 debate in the House of Commons, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau mouthed the words "fuck off" under his breath at Conservative MP John Lundrigan, while Lundrigan made some comments about unemployment. Afterward, when asked by a television reporter what he said, Mr. Trudeau famously replied "Oh, I don't know... fuddle duddle, or something like that". "Fuddle duddle" consequently became a catchphrase in Canadian media associated with Trudeau.

In late 2003, US presidential candidate Senator John Kerry used the word fuck in an interview with Rolling Stone. Referring to his vote in favor of the resolution authorizing President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq, Senator John Kerry stated, "I voted for what I thought was best for the country. Did I expect Howard Dean to go off to the left and say, 'I'm against everything'? Sure. Did I expect George Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did."

In June 2004, US Vice President Dick Cheney told Senator Patrick Leahy to either "fuck off" or "go fuck yourself" during an exchange on the floor of the Senate, to which Patrick Leahy cried foul.

In February 2006 (Australia), New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma, while awaiting the start of a COAG media conference in Canberra, was chatting to Victorian Premier Steve Bracks. Not realizing cameras were operating he was recorded as saying "Today? This fuckwit who's the new CEO of the Cross City Tunnel has ... been saying what controversy? There is no controversy." The exchange referred to the newly appointed CEO of a recently-opened toll road within Sydney.

Use in Marketing
In April 1997, clothing retailer French Connection began branding their clothes "fcuk" . Though they insisted it was an acronym for French Connection United Kingdom, its similarity to the word "fuck" caused controversy. French Connection fully exploited this and produced an extremely popular range of t-shirts with messages such as "fcuk this", "hot as fcuk", "mile high fcuk", "fcuk me", "too busy to fcuk", "fcuk football", "fcuk fashion", "fcuk fear", "fcuk on the beach", etc. The company recently announced that the "fcuk" label is to be phased out.

Freedom of Speech
In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the mere public display of fuck is protected under the First and Fourteenth Amendments and cannot be made a criminal offense. In 1968, Paul Robert Cohen had been convicted of "disturbing the peace" for wearing a jacket with "FUCK THE DRAFT" on it. The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals and overturned by the Supreme Court.

Reference: Wikipedia