F word

[Wendy Waloff <FRDSCHLIB@SHRSYS.HSLC.ORG>]

I have been told this acronym also from time to time, but I have a feeling
it is an urban legend.  The American Heritage Dictionary lists as teh
source of the word, the Middle English "fucken" which derived from
a Germanic verb which originally meant "to strike, move quickly,
penetrate," and which in turn may have been borrowed from the Middle
Dutch "fokken," to strike or copulate with.

A more interesting, at least to me, topic is why this word and others
(such as the s word) are taboo in our culture.  There are after all,
other words considered acceptable which mean the same things ( copulate
or defecate,for example).
I read an interesting piece in the NY Times last year, I think, written
by a professor of English somewhere, who said that when the Normans and
their Latinate language conquered England, they worked hard to make
Saxon words unacceptable in high class society.  I find this extremely
provocative and something that seems like it would be really
interesting to discuss in English classes.  There are some interesting
similarities to other cultures' words that we deem not "correct"
for instance, some aspects of Black English.

Wendy Waloff, librarian, Friends Select School, Philadelphiaio
frdschlib@hslc.org