![]() The Oxford English Dictionary shows examples from as far back as 1568, and says the word is likely to be older but unattested because it has been “one of the English words most avoided as taboo.” Dictionaries avoided it, even the biggest and most comprehensive like the Oxford English Dictionary itself (before 1972) and the “Unabridged,” Webster’s New International Dictionary of 1961 that shocked reviewers for its supposed permissiveness. Hippie language too became dated, especially groovy as a synonym for cool.īut they had instigated a major change in the English language, bringing fuck and other four-letter words out of the closet.īy no means was fuck a new word. ![]() ![]() So how did fuck make the leap? In the text below, Metcalf traces the word’s emergence out of largely disreputable use into ever more mainstream contexts.Īs Boomers grew older, most of them left hippiedom behind, taking conventional jobs, dressing conventionally, leaving bell-bottom pants and tie-dyed shirts in the back of closets for their children to wonder about. It will be published next month by Oxford University Press, which describes it as “a lively look at the words that have come to define different generations in history” – including fuck.Įven major dictionaries declined to include fuck until quite recently, yet it now appears without fuss in an impressive range of cultural domains. We’re delighted to share an extract from the new book From Skedaddle to Selfie: Words of the Generations by Allan Metcalf.
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