Etymology of a vulgar word?

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by Dinosaur, Apr 4, 2007.

  1. Vkothii Banned Banned

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    3,674
    In my opinion, the word derives from the same Germanic root as the word for "furrow", from plowing, or ploughing.
    There's the cognate "farrow", and the Latin word for "pig": porca, (the 'p' became an 'f') as well as the Germanic: furgh.
     
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  3. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    No, and that's the point. If we pronounce them as words, then they are acronyms. We pronounce NAFTA that way. Also NATO, radar, ANZAC, Fortran, UNESCO, SETI... there are lots of acronyms in American English. But if we pronounce them letter-by-letter, then they are just abbreviations. IBM, CIA, FBI, USA, G.I., EU, IRS. But people have been calling those "acronyms" for so long that the word has lost its precision.

    I have no idea what UNO is. Is that what you call the United Nations? We call it the U.N. and it's not an acronym.

    I hear some people pronouncing URL as a word.
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2008
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  5. darini Registered Senior Member

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    Yes. Don't you consider the word "Organization" after United Nations?

    cheers
     
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  7. Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    Back to the main topic of this thread.

    I am sure I read somewhere that those responible for the Oxford English Dictionary claim that the etymology was lost in a 150-200 year period when the word did not appear in any printed literature. I ssuppose that previous occurrences did not give a clue to the etymology.

    I always liked a suggested etymology which my father cliamed to have heard or read somwhere. There is a very old method of planting certain types of seeds using a pointed tool held in the hand. The tool is held in one hand and used to make a hole. Seeds are dropped into the hole using the other hand. Supposedly, this method was referred to as f**king.
     
  8. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    No. Never heard of it in America. It's just "the United Nations" or more usually "the U.N."
     

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