The F-Word

by Jesse Sheidlower

b. (in variations implying especially cruel deception or brutalization).

  1945 in T. Shibutani Derelicts of Company K 115: We’d get fucked out of Saturday afternoon though.… In this place they always fuck you in the ass when they get a chance. 1965 in H.S. Thompson Shark Hunt 114: We read/a newspaper and saw where just about everybody/had been fucked in the face/or some other orifice or opening…/by the time the Chronicle went to press. 1974 R. Carter 16th Round 257: The cops knew that they were fucking me with a dry dick. 1977 E. Torres Q & A 75: You got ten big ones.… We will fuck Reilly in the ass. 1978 R. Price Ladies’ Man 106: Me? I went to [college]. I got fucked up the ass…I dropped out of school with six months to go. 1983 D. Mamet Glengarry Glen Ross 36: When they build your business…fuck them up the ass. 1991 “Ice Cube” No Vaseline (rap song): You’re gettin’ fucked out your green by a white boy, with no Vaseline. 1997 New Yorker (Sept. 8) 37: Gil didn’t understand how much firepower Steve had.… Steve is going to fuck Gil so hard his eardrums will pop. 2001 in L. Gottleib & J. Jacobs Inside the Cult of Kibu 245: The company was doomed.… They got fucked up the ass, hard, without lube.

  4.a. (used as an imprecation or oath); God damn; to hell with; curse. See also fuck it, below, and fuck you, below.

  1918 in E. Wilson Prelude 213: I’ve often seen a couple o’ chaps bringin’ back a wounded prisoner and they get tired of leadin’ ’im and one of ’em says: “Aw, fuck ’im, Jock! Let’s do ’im in,” and they shoot ’im and leave ’im there. 1914–21 J. Joyce Ulysses 603 [refers to 1904]: God fuck old Bennett. 1924 E. Hemingway in Selected Letters (1981) 113: I have lost the fine thrill enjoyed by Benj. Franklin when entering Philadelphia with a roll under each arm. Fuck Literature. 1926 F. Wray trans. H. Barbusse Under Fire 110: F—them. 1929 in E. O’Neill Letters 341: But I am forgetting our old watchword of the Revolution—F—k ’em all! 1934 H. Miller Tropic of Cancer 280: He was for eating a sandwich. “Fuck that!” I said. 1943 in M. Morriss & R. Day South Pacific Diary (1996) 72: So cheer up lads—fuck ’em all. 1948 N. Mailer Naked & Dead 169 [refers to WWII]: I’m fugged if I’m going to tote a box all the way back. 1949 V. Van Praag Day Without End 215: “Orders be fucked!” he muttered. 1952 S. Bellow Adventures of Augie March 397: Oh, fuck Oliver! 1958 I. Fleming Dr. No (1960) xvii. 154: Bond said out loud, viciously, “—them all,” and turned sullenly back on his stomach. 1961 J. Peacock Valhalla 425 [refers to 1953]: Eat the apple and fuck the Corps in ’54! 1965 S. Linakis In Spring the War Ended 206: “Are you?” “Fucked if I know.” 1967 L. Yablonsky Hippie Trip 206: I said fuck this shit and moved over here. 1983 W. D. Ehrhart Vietnam to Perkasie 55 [refers to 1967]: Fuckin’ ARVN got better equipment than we do. Eat the apple and fuck the Corps. 1995 CA v. Simpson (Court-TV) (Sept. 6): Fuck the rules. We’ll make them up later. 1998 D. Shapiro Slow Motion viii. 201: Alcoholics Anonymous, she had scribbled, along with a few names of churches and times of meetings. Fuck her, I thought. What does she know? 2005 S. Horn Restless Sleep ii. 23: If the detectives really weren’t doing their jobs and clearing these cases, fuck’em.

  b. (in stronger, more vivid, or more elaborate curses). See also fuck you and the horse you rode in on, below.

  1940 J. Del Torto Graffiti Transcript (Kinsey Institute): Fuck you where you breathe. 1958 Stack A Lee 1: So fuck Billy the Lion in his motherfucking ass. 1962 G. Mandel Wax Boom 72 [refers to WWII]: I fuck you all where you breathe. 1967 J. Rechy Numbers 68: Fuck you in the ears, muscle-ladies. 1968 R. Gover JC 164: As for the board [of directors], fuck it with a sixpenny nail. 1969 N.Y.C. man, age ca45: When we were kids we’d say, “Fuck ’em all, big and small, right up to the nostrils!” 1970 J. Conaway Big Easy 94: “Chinga su madre!” “Fuck you in the heart,” he rejoined. 1971 H. Selby Room 134: You’re a rotten lousy son of a bitch and I fuck you where you eat, and your mother too. 1973 M. Scorsese & M. Martin Mean Streets (film): I fuck you where you breathe! I don’t give two shits for you! 1975 S. P. Smith American Boys 309: Fuck you in your mouth, Red! 1977 E. Bunker Animal Factory 117: If she’s been a jiveass bitch, fuck her in her ass. 1978 L. K. Truscott Dress Gray 370: Yeah? Well, fuck them and their marching orders. 1979 National Lampoon (Dec.) 17: Fuck you in the eye. 1980 H. Gould Fort Apache 51: Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.… Fuck ’em all, big and small. 1979–82 L. Gwin Going Overboard 185: Fuck you in the mouth, kiddo. This job is mine. 1983 S. Wright Meditations 297: Fuck you in the ear. 1984 W. J. Caunitz One Police Plaza 254: Fuck ’em where they breathe. 1984 A. R. Sample Racehoss 217 [refers to ca1960]: Fuck all ya’ll rat dead in the ass! 1987 N. Bell Cold Sweat 11: So fuck you both in the heart. 1993 G. Lee Honor & Duty 130: Fuck you in the ear. 1995 A. Ginsberg in Nation (Nov. 27) 669: Fuck you in the face. 1996 D. Gilbert in Harper’s (July) 72: “Man, you’re hopeless.”…“Fuck your teeth.” 1997 Village Voice (N.Y.C.) (Apr. 22) 53: Fuck my gums! 2007 A. Kentawy Sunset Tales from New Iraq 199: Fuck you in the goat ass you fucken piece of fucken Chinese crap.

  c. to cease or abandon, especially suddenly; ditch. See also fuck it, below, and fuck this shit, below.

  1925 Englische Studien LX 279 [refers to WWI]: Fuck it…meant much the same as chuck it, “put a sock in it”—stop talking; or even “clear out.” 1965–70 J. Carroll in Paris Review (No. 50) 103: No solution is coming so I fuck it and start to yell. 1973 R. Roth Sand in Wind 150: I got the idea to fuck everything and head for California. 1979 J. Charyn Seventh Babe 174: Hell…Carl, why don’t we fuck baseball camp and stay right here? 1980 L. Fleischer & C. Gore Fame 158: Coco’s temper snapped. “Look, I’m not ‘my dear,’” she exploded. “You can fuck ‘my dear’!” 1984 W. Henderson Elvis 8: For two cents I’d fuck this job! Two goddamn cents —.

  d. chiefly British. to be willing to make the required effort; to be bothered. Used in passive, in negative constructions.

  1982 M. Amis Money 253: The Fiasco is still in custody. I keep meaning to go along and spring it from the pound. But I can’t be fucked. 1987 in F. Vermorel Sex Pistols 78: Boogie expected me at the office early but I couldn’t be fucked to hurry. 1995 D. McLean Bunker Man 154 Rob decided he couldn’t be fucked rushing back to the school. 1997 J. Owen Camden Girls 52: I can’t be fucked. It’s so fuckin eighties and you know what, I think I’m all charitied out. 2000 J. Goodwin Danny Boy xi. 233: I left school aged sixteen with no qualifications; not because I’m thick, but cos I couldn’t be bothered, couldn’t be fucked. 2004 G. King Three 52: I also realise the putrefied contents of my downstairs bin have survived to fester and mutate another week as I can’t be fucked throwing on clothes and rushing them to the curb. 2005 L. Dean This Human Season 100: Kathleen would go on wearing a bra, but she couldn’t be fucked with doing the ironing anymore.

  5. to trifle or interfere with; fool; lie to.

  1989 S. Lee Do the Right Thing (film): Look, don’t fuck me, awright? 1995 J. Sack Co. C 185: “You’re fuckin’ me, XO,” Burns erupted. “You said it’s a T-55 and it’s plainly a Bradley!…You’re lying to me!”

  In phrases:

  fuck a duck

  1. get out! go to hell!—used with go.

  [1785 F. Grose Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: Duck f-ck-r. The man who has the care of the poultry on board a ship of war.] 1931 H. Miller Letter (June 16) in Letters to Emil (1989) 133: Tell her to go fuck a duck! [1932 American Speech VII (June) 332: Go milk a duck—“mind your own business.”] 1946 W. L. Gresham Nightmare Alley 47: Go frig a rubber duck. 1953–55 MacK. Kantor Andersonville 183: Aw, go fuck a duck. [1958 R. Chandler Playback 168: Why don’t you go kiss a duck?] 1965 W. Beech Make War in Madness 67: Go fuck a duck, Otis. 1967–72 T. Weesner Car Thief 258: I don’t give a shit, they can go fuck a duck. [1972 G. Lukas et al. American Graffiti (film script) 50: Steve. Hey Kroot (The teacher turns, surprised by the omission of the “Mr.”) Steve. (cont.) Why don’t you go kiss a duck. (Kroot’s beady eyes widen and he comes back.) Kroot. What? What did you say? Steve. I said go kiss a duck, marblehead.] 1973 TULIPQ (coll. B.K. Dumas): You mother, go fuck a duck. 1977 in E. Partridge Dictiona
ry of Catch Phrases (ed. 2) 104: Go fuck a duck! “Get lost!” “Beat it!” Current, 1920s (in US), now virtually dead. a1990 D. Poyer Gulf 389: Bernard gave him a go-to-hell sneer.… He could fuck a duck. 1992 J. L’Heureux Shrine at Altamira 81: When he asked for an advance against his paycheck, the boss had laughed and told him to go fuck a duck. 2005 M. Marnich in Theatre Forum (Winter/Spring) 72/2: Peter: You never miss a deadline. And you never swear. Amy: There’s a first time for everything. Go fuck a duck.

  2. to engage in indiscriminate sexual activity.—used with will or would.

  a1930 in G. Legman No Laughing Matter (1975) 177: Fuckaduck film. 1951 R. Thacher Captain 40: Hambley, as the saying goes, would frake a drake. 1972 National Lampoon (Apr.) 34: You can get anything from an ugly chick.… Really foul, but they’ll fuck a duck. 2004 J. R. Lansdale

  Sunset & Sawdust 14: “Shit, I’d fuck a duck if it winked and bent over.” “I don’t think you’d care if it winked or not.” 2008 S. Offit Friends, Writers, & Other Countrymen 90: I’ve always been quite candid about sex—I would fuck a duck—and have.

  3. (used as an interjection to express anger or astonishment).

  1934 H. Miller Tropic of Cancer 36: Well, fuck a duck! I congratulate him just the same. 1954–60 H. Wentworth & S. B. Flexner Dictionary of American Slang. 1972–76 C. Durden No Bugles, No Drums 234: I looked at Ski. He looked away. Lord fuck a duck. 1976 S. Hayden Voyage 420: Well, now, fuck a duck, whaddaya know about that? 1977 D. Bredes Hard Feelings 250: Operation Rollaway!…Fuck a duck! 1981 R. Meltzer Belsen Is No Longer Gas in Whore Just Like Rest (2000) 310: But fuck a duck Hitler was a vegetarian. 1986 I. Wedde Symmes Hole 117: There are men running in many directions…uniforms, mufti, pyjamas… “Fuck a duck!” the other running on. “…hey, you jokers, it’s a breakout from Crawford!” 1990 P. Munro Slang U. 85: Fuck a duck!…Damn! 1993 G. F. Newman Law & Order 20: “I’m getting a lot of aggro from the filth on account of some videos I done a couple of weeks ago.” “Fuck a duck!” Lynn said. 1996 M. Cheek Sleeping Beauties iv. 30: And Chloe, tweezers poised, said spontaneously, “Fuck a duck, that’s terrible.” 2002 M. Crichton Prey 226: “Hey, Charley…I think it’s found a way.” “Yeah, I see it. Fuck a duck.”

  4. (see 1971, 1979 quotations at definition 1c, above).

  fucked [up] and far from home and variants, chiefly Military, in a hopeless situation. See also fed up, fucked up, and far from home under FED UP.

  1921–24 A. G. Pretty et al. Glossary of Slang & Peculiar Terms Used in the A.I.F: F.F.F. Completely miserable; friged [sic], fucked, and far from home. 1936 E. Partridge Dictionary of Slang & Unconventional English 305: F*cked and far from home. In the depths of misery, physical and mental: a military [catch phrase]: 1915. 1950 E. Partridge Dictionary of Slang & Unconventional English (ed. 3) 1054: F*cked-up and far from home…dates from 1899. 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions 937: The hell with them, anyway, they’re all of them fucked and far from home, sitting over there right now pretending they’re in New York pretending they’re in Paris. 1972 R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words 117: When the IRS was through auditing my return, I was fucked and far from home. 1974 B. Broadfoot Six War Years 75: We used to have this expression in the [Canadian] army. A guy would say he was fucked and far from home. 1988 G. Swift Out of this World 170: Fucked-up and far from home. Or, as one hollow-faced Marine lieutenant, who was at the frivolous stage, put it: Dug-in, doped-up, demoralized or dead. 1995 T. Willocks Bloodstained Kings 207: You were well fucked and far from home.

  fucked by the fickle finger of fate, thwarted or victimized by bad fortune. Jocular.

  1944–46 in American Speech XXII 56: Flucked by the flickle flinger of flate. Doomed by Army snafu. 1957 E. Brown Locust Fire 93 [refers to 1944]: The fickle finger would foul you sure in the end. It would goose you over the edge. Fouled by the fickle finger of fate. 1968 D. Stahl Hokey 220: I was being totally and fatally fucked by the fickle finger of fate. 1972 R.A. Wilson Playboy’s Book of Forbidden Words 104: Fucked by the fuckle [sic] fi nger of fate, (said by those whose plans are thwarted). 1976 in E. Partridge Dictionary of Slang & Unconventional English (ed. 8) 433: Fucked by the fickle finger of fate…Current in U.S. (student) circles at least several years earlier [than WWII]. 1983 A. Sillitoe Lost Flying Boat 92: “Fucked by the fickle finger of fate,” said Bull. “Alliteration will do for you yet,” said Rose. 1986 W. E. B. Griffin Generals 166: At that moment, Lieutenant Geoffrey Craig understood that he had been fucked by the fickle finger of fate. 1990 B. Graham Bill Graham Presents (2004) 41: He always played the role of the guy that was fucked by the fickle finger of fate. He was never totally a bad guy.

  fuck ’em all but six [and save them for pallbearers], Especially Military. to hell with them all. Also in euphemistic variants.

  1916–17 in Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin XXI (1955) 100 [bowdlerized]: Cuss ’em all, cuss ’em all,/Cuss ’em all but six! [1932 K. Nicholson & C. Robinson Sailor Beware! 22: “All but six.” “And you can use them for pallbearers.”] 1931–34 L. A. Adamic Dynamite 393 [refers to ca1925]: The motto in a factory where I once worked was: “To hell with ’em all but six; save them for pallbearers!” 1950 J. Stuart Objector 216: “Screw the Army, the whole God-damned Army.” “All but six.… They’ll need pall-bearers.” 1952 L. Uris Battle Cry [refers to 1942]: “Fugg you guys and save six for pallbearers,” Levin shouted. 1920–54 V. Randolph Bawdy Elements 120: Oh, fuck ’em all but six, and save them for pall-bearers. 1960 D. MacCuish Do Not Go Gentle 116 [refers to 1941]: Screw all but six and save them for pallbearers. 1972–76 C. Durden No Bugles, No Drums 7: Dumb bastards. Fuck ’em all but eight. Leave six for pallbearers and two to beat the drums. 1987 National Lampoon (June) 14: How about the famous Army saying “Fuck all of them but six and save them for pallbearers.” 2000 J. Blackthorn I, Che Guevara 84: Fuck ’em all but six, and keep them for pallbearers.

  fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke (used to dismiss or reject someone for being (esp. hypocritically) dismissive).

  1973 E. Cray Burden of Proof 365: The ultimate condemnation, “Fuck ’Em If They Can’t Take a Joke.” 1978 A. Maupin Tales of City 42: “Fuck ’em, if they can’t take a joke!” She laughed, hoping it would cover her embarrassment. 1985 J. Dillinger Adrenaline 102: He drew a few stares in his…Bermudas and…sport shirt. Fuck ’em if they couldn’t take a joke. a1991 C. Heimel If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead Yet? 221: It is your sacred duty to forge new ways, turn expectations asunder, and fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke. 1994 Esquire (Feb.) 80: Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke. 2003 J. Smiley Good Faith 377: And now I’m late for dinner, but, hey, fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.

  fuck it (used to express dismissal, exasperation, resignation, or impetuousness).

  1922 E.E. Cummings Enormous Room: F— it, I don’t want it. 1925 Englische Studien LX 279 [refers to WWI]: Fuck it…meant much the same as chuck it, “put a sock in it”—stop talking; or even “clear out.” 1926 F. Wray trans. H. Barbusse Under Fire 27: Ah, f—it! 1933 H. Miller in Letters to Emil (1989) 131: Fuck it! I’m starting off bad with my colors. 1934 J. O’Hara in Selected Letters 93: My message to the world is Fuck it! 1935 in P. Oliver Blues Tradition 231: Whee…tell ’em about me! Fuck it! 1959 J. Kerouac Dr. Sax 40: Ah fuckit, Zagg—helmets is helmets. 1968 H. Davies Beatles I thought, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it. That’s really fucked everything. 1978 B. Seale Lonely Rage 81: If you don’t want to forgive me—well, fuck it, I’m still sorry. 1985 R. B. Parker Catskill Eagle 356: Costigan looked back at me, “Fuck it,” he said, “get it done.” I shot him. A hole appeared in his forehead and the impact spun his swivel chair half around. 1990 L.B. Rubin Erotic Wars 180: Fuck it, why not? 1998 W. Lamb I Know This Much is True 547: Fuck it, man. Couldn’t keep the Grim Reaper waiting. 2008 P. Carey His Illegal Self 53: Fuck it. She balled it in her fist and squeezed it. Wringing the water into her lap. Fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it.

  fuck me! (used to express anger or astonishment); “I’ll be damne
d!”—also in elaborated variants.

  1929 F. Manning Middle Parts of Fortune 126 [refers to WWI]: “Well, you can fuck me!” exclaimed the astonished Martlow. 1943 G. Biddle Journal (July 31) in Artist at War (1944) 77: Teddy’s run of literary allusions is a pleasant relief after the too concentrated diet of “fuck me’s” and “fuck you’s” of the G.I.’s. 1944 L. Glassop We Were the Rats 194: And — me if he doesn’t get stook into it with grenades. 1944–57 L. Atwell Private 64 [refers to WWII]: F— me, I’m not hangin’ around here! 1958 W. Talsman Gaudy Image 197: Well, fuck me double…if it isn’t Aphrodite Schultz in person. 1957–62 D. Higginbotham U.S. Marine Corps Folklore 24: Fuck me dead! 1970 D. Wakefield Going All the Way 296: Fuck me in the teeth. What a fuckin piece of luck. 1973 B. Hirschfeld Generation of Victors 32: Fuck me blind! That hole ain’t half done. 1977 D. Bredes Hard Feelings 293: I’m just trying to talk myself out of being scared shitless because, fuck me, I have to go down there. 1984 K. Weaver Texas Crude 28: Fuck me naked! Fuck me a-runnin’! 1985 D. Dye Run Between the Raindrops 315: Well, fuck me blind. OK, Lieutenant. Got the picture right here. 1988 D. Waters Heathers (film script) 8: Veronica. Why can’t we talk to different kinds of people. Heather Chandler. Fuck me gently with a chainsaw. Do I look like Mother Theresa? If I did, I probably wouldn’t mind talking to the Geek Squad. 1991 E. S. Raymond New Hacker’s Dictionary 170: Aiighhh! Fuck me with a piledriver and 16 feet of curare-tipped wrought-iron fence and no lubricants! 1993 G. Lee Honor & Duty 330: Well, fuck me to tears!…It’s really Joe Schmoe the ragman. 1995 J. Díaz in New Yorker (Jan. 19, 1996) 78: I hop the fence, feeling stupid when I sprawl on the…grass. Nice one, somebody calls out. Fuck me, I say. 1997 Student slang survey: If something goes wrong, you say, “Well, fuck me up the goat’s ass.” 2004 R. Pickett Sideways 184: Oh, fuck me with a hot poker. 2006 I. Welsh Bedroom Secrets of Master Chefs 188: I see a familiar figure approaching the bar, and fuck me if it isn’t my old mate Dessie Kinghorn.