F-word origin

[Karla Bruno <kbruno@SPIDER.BLAIR.WJCC.K12.VA.US>]

Johanna:

I fear you have been misguided as to the origin of our four-letter
friend. During a course on the history of English language which I took
at William and Mary, the professor gave an entire 45-minute lecture on
the F-word; it was indeed memorable!  Apparently the truth is that the
f-word has Germanic roots and has always meant what it means today, with
no abbreviations at all.  It has a long and durable history, to be sure.
And teens always think they have a copyright on it, yes?

Karla Kraynak Bruno
James Blair Middle School
Williamsburg, VA