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First things first: “Fuck” did not enter thelanguage as an acronym for “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.” The FWord's author, Jesse Sheidlower, an editor for the estimable OxfordEnglish Dictionary, easily dispatches that urban legend. He identifies theonce-unprintable word as Germanic in origin; it originally meant “to move backand forth” or “to strike.” Sheidlower doesn't consider the ramifications of thelatter etymology for sexual violence. The pocket history he provides includessome interesting anecdotes, but doesn't begin to address why the word wasshunned for so long. The detailed lexicon of the word's many uses and compoundsis fascinating (and also unexamined) for the nearly universal negativity of thedefinitions. An office “clusterfuck” is no party!
