OFF: Swearing

[Peter Sondergeld]

At 10:35 AM 3/12/97 +0000, you wrote:
>In article <2188424.3090067106 at cea20.joh.cam.ac.uk>, "Carl E. Anderson"
><cea20 at CUS.CAM.AC.UK> writes
>>     Well, it undoubtedly predates Wallace, though whether anyone might
>>have used it in that context is debateable.  It's earliest recorded use is
>>borrowed into Latin to describe the impious conduct of some monks--at Ely,
>>I think, actually.
>>     It might have been there used not so much as an obscenity in the
>>modern sense, but as a secular word to underline the improperly secular
>>activity of the monks.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Carl
>
>I was led to believe it was circa 13thC and was an acronym for Fornicate
>Under Command of the King.
>--
>Jon Browne

I heard a long time ago, typical schoolyard sex education I suppose, that it
was an acronym to describe the criminal charge For Underage Carnal
Knowledge. Then again, I heard a lot of things in the schoolyard... I found
the following book here at work and the author says that the word itself in
its current form is only traceable to 1503, though his explanation of its
possible origins goes on at length about various modern and ancient
languages - too long to summarize here.
Pete.
(who has finally got a permanent Librarian position after five years of
contracts, secondments and disappointments)

Hughes, Geoffrey, 1939-. Swearing : a social history of foul language,
     oaths, and profanity in English. - Oxford, UK ; Cambridge, Mass., USA :
     Blackwell, 1991 [ISBN: 0631165932]

ObCD: Budgie - If I Were Britannia I'd Waive the Rules



**************************
Peter Sondergeld
p.sondergeld at qut.edu.au

"I'm no stranger to hard work - more of a nodding acquaintance"   - D.G. Harris