The F-Word

by Jesse Sheidlower

  fuckery noun [FUCKER + -y ; or FUCK + treachery]

  1. a brothel.

  1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Dictionary of Slang & Its Analogues V. 12/2: Nanny-shop…a brothel… English synonyms…fuckery. 1966 B. Miller (book title) Devotions Written in a Fuckery. a1973 in R. S. Silverberg New Dimensions III. 138: Well, OK: one time in a regular seaport fuckery, Marseilles I think, I got a deaf-mute ginch. It was—restful, sort of; you don’t have to talk. 1978 H. Mathews trans. J. Cordelier The Life: Memoirs of a French Hooker 163: You’re sure you haven’t come to the wrong fuckery? 1994 U. K. LeGuin Matter of Seggri in Birthday of the World & Other Stories (2002) 51: Chochi had a favorite man at their local fuckery to whom she went now and then for pleasure. 2008 H. Kureishi Something to Tell You 107: But inside the fuckery it was warm and friendly. Everyone said hello.… “There were people on dog’s leads, and lying in baths to be urinated on, others facedown in a sling.”

  2. sexual activity; FUCKING.

  1961 J. Ashmead Mountain & the Feather 132: By definition, homosexuals did not speak endlessly and monotonously of the drab arts of fuckery. 1966 A. Wainhouse trans. Marquis de Sade 120 Days of Sodom 405: As always partisan to thigh-fuckery, the Duc, obliged as he was to abstain from the capital practice, impaled Zelmire in this style. 1974 New Society XXIX. 170: Although she assesses herself a unique phoenix of fuckery, Ms Lovelace does only what any accomplished whore is expected to do in a society where the profession of prostitution demands specific sexual virtuosities. 1978 A. Carter Sadeian Woman 62: A tragic resonance to illicit fuckery is as silly as a straightforward denial that it exists. 1982 J. A. Atkins Sex in Literature IV. 310: He enjoys old-fashioned cunt-fuckery more than anything else and describes it with immense gusto. 1982 J. Machlis Lisa’s Boy 201: They came together for what his friend Sidney called pure fuckery, and that goal seemed best served by their not becoming too deeply involved with each other. 2004 J. H. Kunstler Maggie Darling 48: An upward-reaching fugue of fuckery that culminated with Maggie bowed backward in a near headstand and Kenneth yogically arched above, as though he were copulating with a wheelbarrow, and then they collapsed in a heap on the floor.

  3. despicable behavior; (also) treachery.

  1978 S. King Stand 461: That was an act of pure human fuckery. 1993 T. Olson At Sea 70: No vigilante, high seas pirate fuckery is going down while I’m around here! 1994 Village Voice (Nov. 1) 69: Taking on the genre’s most seismic vocalist was arrogant fuckery to begin with. 1998 C. Channer Waiting in Vain vii. 184: He’d even asked her to marry him… and she’d said no. Said some fuckery like, Only if we’re allowed to see other people. 2006 A. Winehouse Me & Mr. Jones (pop. song): What kind of fuckery is this? 2007 D. Moskowitz Words & Music of Bob Marley 122: The omitted word could have been “fuckery,” which was Jamaican patois for wrong or unfair actions.

  fuckface noun

  an ugly or contemptible person.—usually used abusively in direct address.

  1945 in Verbatim (Autumn, 1989) 6: Fxxxface…1. A fool, a joker, one not held in high regard or likable.… 2. Greeting, form of address, semi-humorously or strongly contemptuous. 1961 J. Jones Thin Red Line 39 [refers to WWII]: All right, fuckface! Where’s that fucking platoon roster…? 1967 W. Crawford Gresham’s War 139: Hey, frickface. 1968 J.P. Miller Race for Home 294 [refers to 1930s]: “Tell what happened to ’im, fuckface,” Dawg said. 1968 W. Mares Marine Machine 5: You come down here with this blade to cut me, fuckface? Try it! 1971 T. Mayer Weary Falcon 126: I tried giving it to the fuck faces whole, but then they sell it. 1983 W. Walker Dime to Dance 55: Why don’t you mind your own business, fuckface? 1985 R. Meltzer Rock-Crit Blood ’n’ Guts (Part 1) in Whore Just Like Rest (2000) 9: The first thing he says is “Get me some tea.” Get your own tea, fuckface! 1991 N. Baker U & I vii. 120: That dirty little fuckface! 1993 S. Turow Pleading Guilty IV. xiv. 217: Who am I looking for, fuckface? 1999 T. Parker et al. South Park (film script) 27: Phillip. I did, Terrance, I learned that you are a boner biting dick fart fuck face! 2004 J. Meno Hairstyles of Damned 142: “Do I look like a dude to you, you fuckface?” she asked. Fuckface? I thought to myself. Who even uses the word “fuckface”?

  fuckfaced adjective

  1. having an ugly or miserable face; despicable. [The 1940 quotation is euphemistic.]

  1940 E. Hemingway For Whom the Bell Tolls 369: Muck my grandfather and muck this whole treacherous muck-faced mucking country. 1973 W. Crawford Gunship Commander 24: You fuckfaced animal. Either do something with that or put it away. 1991 M. Olden Kisaeng 265: He…held the cigarette lighter to the guard’s nose. “You fuckfaced twerp. Go feebleminded with me and I’ll roast you.” 1995 L. Uris Redemption 15: What would you give for another stupid paddy like me to come off the ship and bail you out, you fuck-faced monster? 2001 B. Denton Dealing vi. 155: He wrote a letter to his cell mate’s girlfriend in Fairlea calling Marcia a “fuck-faced dog who gave me up.”

  2. Tired; bleary-eyed; (also) appearing like someone who has recently engaged in copulation.

  1976 R. Price Bloodbrothers 59: At seven the sound of cartoons and the shifting silver reflection of the TV screen had Stony sitting up in bed dazed blind and fuckfaced. 1978 Penthouse (Apr.) 130: Gradually people file down for breakfast. Totally bleary-eyed and fuck-faced. 2004 H. Walsh Brass i. 4: She props herself up, fuck-faced and shining with the stench of her latest trick and stares into me.

  3. Drunk; “shit-faced.”

  1993 T. Hawkins Pepper iv. 85: Go screw yourself. Waste your own life watching videos, I’m going out to get fuck-faced. 2004 P. J. O’Rourke in National Lampoon’s Big Book of Love 54/1: They won’t let me drive drunk… They must think I’m crazy. That stuff scares me. I have to get completely fuck-faced to even think about driving fast.

  fuckfest noun

  an occasion, period, or portrayal of unrestrained or orgiastic sexual activity.

  1932 H. Miller Letter (July 30) in G. Stuhlmann Literate Passion (1989) 82: When you return I am going to give you one literary fuckfest—that means fucking and talking and talking and fucking—and a bottle of Anjou in between—or a Vermouth Cassis. 1967 J. W. Corrington Upper Hand II. vii. 292: I know what money is. I know who pays five bucks to see a fuck-fest. 1976 J. Lee Ninth Man 183: They had simply engineered themselves a good old-fashioned fuckfest. 1992 Rudner & Bergman Peter’s Friends (film): I hardly think my three-year-old marriage is the same as your two-week-old fuckfest. 1996 Village Voice (N.Y.C.) (Apr. 30): Mom was speaking of childhood slumber parties, not all-night saffron-scented fuckfests. 1997 SF Weekly (Apr. 2): The black-and-white existential fuckfest Sex Garage (1972), which brilliantly evokes both Kenneth Anger’s bike fetish and the car-sex crazies of Crash in a sequence where a bored biker graphically attacks the exhaust pipe of his Harley. 1998 Playboy (Apr.) 66: In the Seventies, life was a real fuckfest for me. I worked at a bar…and women in their early 20s used to wait around to see who I would go home with. 2005 FHM (Jan.) 131/3: There’s barely any skin-flicks for chicks: books are more our bag—and a well-penned fuck-fest gets us seriously hot.

  fuckfriend noun

  = FUCK-BUDDY.

  1994 P. Manso Brando: He went out of his way to apologize to Valerie Fudd, too, for having described her as one of his “fuck friends.” 1998 C. Preston Jackie by Josie 147: Was Terry Grif’s girlfriend? The word seems too innocent for the activities of those two. Leslie called her his fuckfriend. 2005 Toronto Star (Jan. 8) L3/2: Booty call, CSBF (casual sex between friends), (f--- friends)… There has always been a euphemism for friends crossing the line into the grey area of sex. For some teens, what they call “friends with benefits” is replacing monogamous relationships. 2007 J. H. Kessler Hell’s Belles 137: This was Daun. My bed buddy, my fuck friend.

  fuckhead noun

  a stupid or contemptible person.

  1945 in Verbatim (Autumn, 1989) 6: Fxxxhead…A cheese head, an easily confused or misled individual. 1946 L. Bergman I Cannot See Their Faces & Keep Silent 35: He swore at me,/“Get over there, you dumb ba
stard,/Keep in step, you fuckhead,/Hold that rifle up, you turd.” 1962 in B. Rosset Evergreen Reader 467: Manager merchant banker professional professional [sic] fuckhead. 1964 in L. Bruce Essential Lenny 97: I mean, it’s the fault of the motion pictures, that have made the Southerner “a shit kickuh, a dumb fuckhead.” 1965 S. Linakis In Spring the War Ended 348 [refers to WWII]: Go ahead fuck-head. You’ll do me a favor. 1964–66 R. Stone Hall of Mirrors 116: You simple-minded fuckhead. 1969 R. Jessup Sailor 389: You’re nothing but a dumb fuckhead sailor. 1980 W. Kotzwinkle Jack in the Box 56: How ya doin’, fuckhead. 1987 S. MacLaine It’s All in Playing viii. 98: Melissa doesn’t think I’m cute. She thinks I’m a fuck-head. 1990 H. G. Bissinger Friday Night Lights x. 200: Playing to him is not what it’s all about.… Fuckheads can just play. He wants to be number one. 1996 Picture (Sydney, Australia) (Dec. 4) 59: I’d say your brother is indeed a fuckhead. 2002 J. S. Foer Everything is Illuminated 127: I’m sorry. You’re not a fuckhead. I’m very sorry. 2007 J. Collins Drop Dead Beautiful 264: Good riddance to a misogynous murderous fuckhead.

  fuckheaded adjective

  stupid.

  1968 R. Linney Broofer (1981) 20: Look, what kind of a fuck-headed situation—. 1971 T. Mayer Weary Falcon 121: Shut up, you fuckheaded slope. 1975 W. Kennedy Legs 148: Charlie, give me a hundred, you fuck-headed fuck! 2005 S. Monette Melusine 125: I knew she hadn’t turned me in…even though I’d been fuckheaded enough to tell her my real name.

  fuckhole noun

  1.a. the vagina as an object of sexual penetration.

  ca1890–93 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang & Its Analogues III 80: Fuck-hole…The female pudendum. 1916 H. N. Cary Slang of Venery I 97: Fuck hole—The vagina. 1934 “J.M. Hall” Anecdota Americana (Second series) 14: First you much [sic] up me fuck hole and now you wants to fuck up me muck hole. 1959 in E. Cray Erotic Muse 73: At the fuck-hole of Kathusalem. 1975 Ribald (Sydney, Australia) (May 29) 15: Her gaping, hot fuck-hole readying itself for the prick. 1976 J. Vasco Three-Hole Girl 152: Cherry’s fuck hole opened to her probing tongue. 1991 B. E. Ellis American Psycho 177: I find myself…trying to remember if I switched the tapes in my VCR, and suddenly I’m worried that I might be taping thirtysomething over Pamela’s Tight Fuckhole. 1994 A. Sheehan Jack Kerouac is Pregnant 21: He grabbed between her legs and hissed, “Your fuckhole is too loose, whore.” 2004 T. Taormino in Village Voice (Dec. 1) 125/1: Men will love “I My Pussy” (or “I My Fuckhole”) tank tops.

  b. Especially in homosexual use: the anus or mouth as an object of sexual penetration.

  1971 B. Cochran Crotch Bait 35: Then he felt the big broad head of his cock slipping into the tightest little fuck hole he had ever felt. 1981 M. Ward Randy Pants 89: The tip of my tongue touched his tiny fuck hole, and my mouth was filled with the spicy taste of male ass. 1994 N. Baker Fermata xiv. 224: “Fill my fucking fanny!” Sylvie shouted, looking in Marian’s eyes and then down at her toy-filled fuckholes. 1998 in L. Antoniou Leatherwomen 69: Some pathetic straight guy being forcibly fucked by a gang of studs until he’s nothing but a pair of fuck-holes dribbling cum and spit. 2006 C. Varrin Female Submission 169: My face was still being used as a fuck-hole while I thought this. Niles’s cock was delicious to taste.

  c. a person regarded as a sexual object.

  1990 J. Hynes Wild Colonial Boy 67: She had raged at him, hitting him again and again, shouting, “I’m not your fuckhole!” until he backed away. 1996 J. W. Bean Leathersex Q & A 61: I’m sure I’m not alone in my fantasies: Being used as a fuck-hole, urinal, ass-lick, even an ashtray by a lot of men one after another, or even all at once. 1998 Weekly’s Literary Supplement (Stern Publishing) (May 8) 22: The females in Miller’s Tropics weren’t mostly depersonalized fuckholes. 2002 L. Breedlove Godspeed 230: They are surprised by a girl whom they expected to run, just a fuckhole, doubled over all soft. 2003 M. Hemmingson Amateurs 80: They fucked for a while and again they were loud and he called her a slutty fuckhole which she liked, she liked the dirty talk. a2006 P. Munson Fairgrounds in S. Bright Best American Erotica 2006 70: You’re Daddy’s slut, his whore, his prostitute, his fuck-hole.

  2. a despicable person; an asshole.

  1978 in North Eastern Reporter (2nd Series) (1980) (vol. 401) 595: She used profane language to the other children. She would say “God damn you, you bitch, you fuck hole, and you ass hole.” a1981 in S. King Bachman 621: Goddam…fuckhole! 1985 J. Dillinger Adrenaline 54: Unlock my cuffs, fuckhole. Ibid. 215: Hey, fuckhole. 1996 Rivera Live (CNBC) (Jan. 30) (transcript): Steps towards him kind of spits at him and calls him a “fuck hole.” 1999 S. Turow Personal Injuries 235: When you get down through the layers, Brendan is an absolute fuck-hole of a human being. 2003 “DBC Pierre” Vernon God Little 70: What a fuckhole, I swear. I should jam a table-leg through his fucken eye.

  3. a disgusting location; “shithole.”

  1980 High Performance (Summer) 26/2: The architecture of Rome is evil. The Colosseum is an evil fuck-hole. 1990 A. W. Gray In Defense of Judges 234: His body they found six weeks ago in his fuckhole of an apartment. 1995 C. Foster Sleep on, Beloved 242: I got the best stuff in this fuckhole place. 2000 S. King On Writing 58: I didn’t want it—the work was hard and boring, the mill itself a dingy fuckhole overhanging the polluted Androscoggin River. 2004 L. Love You Ain’t Got no Easter Clothes 70: My mother told us she was “tired of living in this fuckhole where niggers acted like savages and the honkies that made them that way didn’t give half a shit.” 2005 J. Castro Truth Book 154: If you ever want help getting out of that fuck-hole, let me know.

  fuck-in noun

  (esp. among hippies) a love-in that includes public copulation; an orgy. Usually jocular.

  1965 E. Sanders Fuck You (June): A Fuck-in for Peace. 1967–68 N. von Hoffman We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against 211: That was when we had a fuck-in at the White House. 1968 in M. J. Estren History of Underground Comics (1974) 17: Grand Opening of the Great International Fuck-In and Orgy-Riot. 1971 U. K. Le Guin Lathe of Heaven 69: And there were the riots, and the fuck-ins, and the Doomsday Band and the Vigilantes. 1971 Playboy (Apr.) 184: If you want to get rid of dormitory rules, you have a fuck-in. 1975 M. Amis Dead Babies (1991) 122: And I don’t just mean the sex conventions and the fuck-ins. 1980 F. Rush Best Kept Secret 191: But when these young radicals approached thirty, they discovered that their love-ins and fuck-ins neither freed the poor, the parks nor liberated Washington. 2002 R. Coover Adventures of Lucky Pierre 268: His massive fuck-ins have closed down movie houses, clogged traffic, collapsed bridges, paralyzed City Hall!

  fucking noun

  1. sexual intercourse.

  1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) iv. 55: Thir foure, the suth to sane, Enforsis thame to fucking. 1571 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 202: For quha wald not lauche…To se forett þe holy frere his fukking so deploire? 1708 School of Love in Indictment (Public Records Office: KB 28/24) m. 9: My lovely Phil. is…as well vers’d in the various manners of ffucking and ffrigging, as the Captain of the virtuosa’s. 1766 in N. E. Eliason Tarheel Talk (1956) 185: As to the flesh tho’, I cannot say I have occasion for any violent longings, as I have reduced F—n almost to a regular matrimonial system. 1849 A. Doten Journals I 40: There are plenty of girls in Talcahuano and the principal business carried on is— F—ing. 1854 in American Speech IX (1934) 271: [According to the actor David Garrick,] when it was asked what was the greatest pleasure, Johnson answered *******. 1865 “Philocomus” Love Feast ii. 14: The fucking, tickling and the sight/Drove me half frantic with delight. 1867 in A. Doten Journals II 949 [in cipher]: Me and my love had thus far one hundred good square fucks—the best fucking on the face of the earth. 1888 Stag Party 219: Sodom…was the worst place for wild fucking of all descriptions…(barring Chicago). 1932 H. Miller Letter (July 30) in G. Stuhlmann Literate Passion (1989) 82: When you return I am going to give you one literary fuck-fest—that means fucking and talking and talking and fucking—and a bottle of Anjou in between—or a Vermouth Cassis. 1964 S. Bellow Herz
og 214: But if the fucking is at home and the child exposed to it, the judicial attitude is different. 1988 F. Busch Ralph Duck in M. Atwood Best American Short Stories 1989 (1989) 78: I wrote him a paper about the mechanics of corpse fucking. 1993 S. Brown Where There’s Smoke 373: Some of the best fucking I ever did. 1995 H. Korine Kids 150: Fucking is what I love. Take that away from me, and I really got nothin. 2002 M. Faber Crimson Petal and the White 818: Fuck the girl and have done with it! Fuck all the females in the world while the fucking is good!

  2. fooling around; wasting time. Used with (chiefly U.S.) around or (chiefly Brit.) about.

  1931 H. Miller in Letters to Emil (1989) 76: “My dear,” she says. “I just couldn’t stay away from you. I’m sick of all this fucking around.” 1964 K. Amis Letter in Z. Leader Letters of Kingsley Amis (2000) 658: I ought to have told you earlier, but general fucking about, including Xmas, and disinclination…to do anything whatever. 1984 J. Kelman Busconductor Hines (1992) iv. 167: What’s the point of fucking about. You leave half of the second pint and get off your mark. 2000 Village Voice (Dec. 5) 138: His greatest ire is reserved for a snooty critic who refuses to concede that all the hyperbolic, blood-spattered fucking about might be worth a second look.