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Origin

Posted by Masakim on January 18, 2002 at

In Reply to: Origin posted by Bob on January 17, 2002

: : I received this information from a fairly reliable friend of mine. In England during the Middle Ages, the nobles had to receive permission from the king to beget children, (and let's not forget the practice of Prima Nocte imposed on the commoners.) These four lovely letters represented Fornicating Under Consent of the King. An interesting idea anyway...

: Interesting, but like most folk etymologies (should we say f**k etymologies?) it's entirely fanciful.

From Urban Legends Reference Pages:

Claim: 'F**k' derives from an acronym, either 'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge' or 'Fornication Under Consent of the King.'
Status: False.
Variations:
The 'acronym' is variously rendered as:
Fornication Under Consent of the King
Fornication Under Charles the King
Fornication Under Crown of the King
Forbidden Under Charter of the King (a sign posted on brothels closed by the Crown)
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
File Under Carnal Knowledge (how Scotland Yard marked rape files).

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