The F-Word

by Jesse Sheidlower

  R

  rat-fuck noun

  1. (used as a term of abuse), “asshole,” etc.

  1922 in E. Wilson Twenties (1975) 116 [undefined list of terms]: Dumbbell upstage lousy highhat rat-fuck to crab someone or someone’s act. 1955 in D. Wepman et al. The Life (1976) 171: That dirty rat fuck—/He thought he was slick. 1970 T. Southern Blue Movie 173: Yes, you rat fuck! What heinous deception! 1970 G. Sorrentino Steelwork 16: He stood in front of them and kicked their balls off! The rat fucks. 1973 J. Breslin World Without End, Amen 109: Is that where the rat-fuck… is going? 1976 L. Bangs in Psychotic Reactions (1987) 199: Those rat-fucks in Chicago can suck my asshole. 1990 E. W. Rukuza West Coast Turnaround 230: He was watching…, the ratfuck! 1991 Southern Atlantic Quarterly XC 836: The ratfuck FCC.… The…fuckwad station manager. 1996 D. McCumber Playing off the Rail 95: That’s right, you ratfuck bastard. 1999 T. Parker et al. South Park (film script) 138: Fuck a hunk a shit, you rat fuck!!! 2006 G. Lawson & W. Oldham Brotherhoods 132: There were no references to “motherfuckers” or “cocksuckers” or “rat fucks”—the streams of expletives that were standard on the street.

  2.a. Originally Army. a confused or bungled situation, especially an assault. [The 1930 examples are euphemistic.]

  1930 L. H. Nason Corporal Once 139 [refers to WWI]: This here gigantic rat-copulation they call a war. Ibid. 171: This isn’t going to be the same kind of a damned disgusting…rat-copulation such as we’ve been going through on the Border. Ibid. 260: This will be just the same old rat dinging all over again. a1964 A. J. Liebling in Mollie & Other War Pieces 151: “Whoever checked them out in a bomber ought to have his head examined! What a ratfuck!” He explained that a ratfuck was “a rat race, but all bollixed up.” 1968 H. S. Thompson Letter (May 31) in Fear & Loathing in America (2000) 85: You are one of the few people who read my book on the Hell’s Angels closely enough to realize that the whole thing was a wonderful rat-fuck and—as you put it—“a perpetual ball.” 1971 R. Vaughan & M. Lynch Brandywine’s War 57: A GRF…means Giant Rat Fuck.… It’s a nickname the men have for an aerial assault mission. 1983 J. Groen & D. Groen Huey 217: Every insertion was a Romeo Foxtrot (RF), translated rat fuck, the name given by flyers to doomed missions. Ibid. 272: He was mad as hell about that rat fuck already. 1984 G. Holland Let a Soldier Die 184 [refers to 1967]: I was on this rat fuck down south…and on short final the whole world went up. 1987 P. D. Chinnery Life on the Line 35 [refers to 1965]: The next day was my first combat assault or GRF (Grand Rat F***) as they were called. 1991 Vanity Fair (Sept.) 244/1: It’s been a real rat fuck at Columbia and I’ll bet the Japanese don’t have the vaguest idea what’s happening in their own company. 2004 J. F. Mullins Into the Treeline 237: Damn good thing I was there.… What a ratfuck operation that was!

  b. an unimportant task or mission.

  1987 P. D. Chinnery Life on the Line 227 [refers to 1970]: As a new scout pilot they send you out on…rat-f*** missions, in areas where you don’t expect to see much.… They generally sent him on the rat-f***s so that no one would have to depend on him in a bad situation. 1990 M. Brennan Hunter-Killer Squadron 237: Nobody wanted to fly real combat missions with him, so they usually sent him on the rat fucks.

  3. a damn; FUCK noun definition 2.a.

  1971 H. Dahlskog Dictionary of Contemporary & Colloquial Usage 48: Ratfuck, R.F.…a damn, as: I don’t give a rat-fuck what you do! 1980 D. Hamill Stomping Ground 245: Me, I couldn’t give a hairy rat fuck. 1996 J. Díaz Drown in Drown 102: With our bus drivers you didn’t have to hide. Two of them didn’t give a rat fuck and the third one, the Brazilian preacher, was too busy talking Bible to notice anything but the traffic in front of him. 2000 T. Clancy Bear & Dragon xlvi. 696: Wars are not rational acts. They are not begun by rational men. They’re begun by people who don’t care a rat-fuck about the people they rule.

  4. a crowded or frenetic social event.—sometimes in phrase: Philadelphia rat fuck.

  [1965 R. Gehman The Had 135: I would go if you invited me to a ratfuck.] 1979 J. Houseman Front & Center The flashiest, richest, swiftest, best conducted theatrical rat-fuck ever staged in this city. 1986 P. Klein Growing up Spoiled in Beverly Hills 185: He has described certain parties to me as “rat fucks.” 1987 W. McPherson Sargasso Sea ii. 87: “I much prefer a quiet supper to one of these”—he was about to say “rat fucks,” but restrained himself—“one of these after-the-opening feeding frenzies in some designer shark tent.” 1987 S. Quinn Regrets Only 162: “You could tell from a glance that it was going to be”—she lowered her voice—“what the late Mrs. John T. used to call a Philadelphia rat fuck.” 1995 in Vanity Fair (Jan. 1996) 118: The only thing I went to was that Michael Fuchs HBO thing in Sag Harbor arranged by Peggy Siegal, and I’d never go again. It was a real rat fuck. 1997 Guardian (London) (June 3) (“Feature”) 18: The luxe preview of the Harriman goods…was “the ratfuck to end all ratfucks,” attracting about as repellent a collection of people as can be imagined. 1997 N.Y. Observer (Oct. 6) 42: Glenn Bernbaum…throws a Philadelphia rat-f*#k for Joan Collins and her new autobiography. 1997 S. Quinn The Party 42: A huge cocktail party where you’ve invited everyone you’ve ever known and everyone you’ve ever owed.… This sort of event has a name, coined by the late Marie Harriman, the dazzling second wife of statesman Averell Harriman. It is called a “Philadelphia rat fuck”—“P.R.F.” or “rat fuck” for short. 2003 M. Atwood Oryx & Crake x. 292: Every week there was a Compound social barbecue, a comprehensive ratfuck that all employees were expected to attend. 2008 J. J. Salem Tan Lines 296: Everything had been beautifully decorated and lavishly appointed with food and liquor, but the overall affair was a total ratfuck—shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Tommy Lee, Bruce Willis, Pamela Anderson, [etc.].

  rat-fuck verb

  1. to botch; FUCK UP.

  1966 Folk Speech (Indiana University Folklore Archives): Used as a verb meaning to botch in the worst possible way. Rat-fuck. 2006 T. Phillips Blacktop Cowboys 119: Jensen was always getting rat fucked, which is his way of describing a plan that goes terribly awry.

  2. to outwit; trick.

  1964 in American Speech (Oct. 1965) 195: Rat fuck, n. v.… This was a widely used slang term at Stanford… It is seldom used except in abbreviatory coinage (R.F.)… An R.F. is a practical joke…but this…has been broadened in its use. To some undergraduates, it connotes anything unacceptable to the Establishment.… To R.F., however, may mean also simply having a good time, or perhaps doing something that has no practical purpose. 1989 S. Chapple & D. Talbot Burning Desires 290: Gotta rat-fuck those guys, Missy! It’s the only way. 1989 W. Brashler Traders 299: Here I was in the middle of the most irresponsible, self-centered, selfish, rat-fucking business in the world and doing well at it. 1989 F. A. Leib Fire Dream 400: Poor rat-fucked back-stabbed…bastard. 2000 P. Baker Breach 188: Somebody in this room rat-fucked the president last night. 2002 D. Brock Blinded by the Right 81: David Sullivan was…a master of bureaucratic intrigue and strategic leaking to the press—“rat fucking” the enemy, in Sullivan’s words.

  3. to harm irreparably, victimize; FUCK verb definition 2.a.

  1989 M. Kittredge Dead & Gone 94: Unless I could get a goddamned thesis written in three weeks, I was, you should excuse the expression, rat-fucked. 1993 J. L. Burke In the Electric Mist 282: You got wax in your ears, you talk shit, you rat-fuck your friends. 2006 T. Phillips Blacktop Cowboys 119: If a steer walks all over him, Jensen got rat fucked. If a horse bucks him off, again rat fucked. 2008 T. Bell Tsar 437: That noman’s-land between safe and totally rat-fucked.

  4. Military. to rummage through with the intent to steal; to rifle.

  1997 M. C. Hodgins Reluctant Warrior 28: Curry had rat-fucked (rifled) a case of C rations on the deck under his rack. 2000 G. P. Pellecanos Shame the Devil 15: Go ahead, Maroulis.… Just keep ratfucking through that closet. 2006 P. K. O’Donnell We Were One 113: In the rubble-strewn rooms, the men “rat fucked” several boxes of MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat), picking out the cookies, candy,
and other goodies. 2007 M. Eriksen My River Home 91: “Who ratfucked my pack?” one might say in response to a pair of goggles missing from an unbuttoned pouch. 2007 A. Bay Embrace the Suck 39: Rat-fuck, slang meaning “to ransack something and take what you want.” (“Private Baggadonuts rat-fucked that whole case of MREs just to get all the Pop-Tarts.”)

  rat fuck interjection

  (used as an interjection); = FUCK verb definition 1.d.

  1996 S. King Desperation 449: “Dear me,” he said. “I’ve lost the respect of a man once in charge of throwing out Steven Tyler’s barf-bags. Rat-fuck.” 1997 D. Hunt Magician’s Tale 264: Ratfuck! Kids don’t give a damn. 2006 S. King Lisey’s Story 89: “Oh, ratfuck,” Darla said dismally, and began to cry again. 2007 M. Davidson Undead & Uneasy 60: “Rat fuck,” Tina muttered, and I nearly toppled off the counter. Tina, ancient bloodsucking thing that she was…had the manners of an Elizabethan lady and almost never swore. She was perfectly proper at all times. “Mother fuck,” she continued.

  rat fucker noun

  a hated or offensive person.—used as a term of abuse. Also: one who engages in RAT-FUCKING; a dirty trickster, a saboteur. [The 1914 quotation may be a chance coincidence.]

  [1914 J. London Jacket 19: It is so absurd, my dear Warden, to think that your rat-throttlers of guards can shake out of my brain the things that are clear and definite in my brain.] 1967 P. Welles Babyhip 61: “Scum,” John mumbled. “Ratfucker, prick,” George said. 1974 C. Bernstein & B. Woodward All the President’s Men 135: For the first time, he considered the possibility that the President of the United States was the head ratfucker. ca1978 P. Schrader & L. Schrader Blue Collar (film script) 62: We’ll get the fifty grand those ratfuckers are getting from the insurance company. 1987 H. Zeybel Gunship 138: Them dirty… Commie ratfuckers. 2000 G. Blunt Forty Words for Sorrow lvii. 370: Rick Bouchard…is a subliterate ratfucker. They’ll have to add a special extension onto hell just to house that creep. 2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic 242: I could not possibly list all the mendacious shitwads and unconscionable scum and thieving ratfuckers who, taking complete advantage of the woman, stuck to her like remoras.

  rat-fucking noun

  destructive activity, as pranks; (specifically) dirty trickery or sabotage; (also) a confusing situation. [The early examples are probably euphemisms; the 1930 euphemistic quotation at RAT-FUCK, definition 2a, may belong here instead.]

  1928 L. H. Nason Sgt. Eadie 110 [refers to 1918]: This time to-morrow, Jake, I’ll be with my own outfit and that’s the only ray of sun in my black sky at present. All other troubles fade when I think of that. No more of this rat-kissing. 1928–29 L. H. Nason White Slicker 88: You know, I had a sergeancy clinched if we hadn’t run into all this rat-kissing! 1944 in P. Smith Letters from Father 391: Rat fucking…at Hanover [New Hampshire] means the raiding of the students rooms on one floor by the students from another floor—the boys go in groups of eight or ten—turn everything upside down…even fire buckets of water are employed to make the wreck complete. 1972 in C. Bernstein & B. Woodward All the President’s Men 132: Yes, political sabotage is associated with Segretti. I’ve heard a term for it, “ratfucking.” Ibid. 138: Ratfucking? He had heard the term. It meant double-cross and, as used by the Nixon forces, it referred to infiltration of the Democrats. 1992 Vanity Fair (June) 111: Donald Segretti…was an alumnus of the U.S.C. Republican Mafia and a practitioner of the dirty tricks campaign tactics known as “rat fucking.” 1993 J. Hubner Bottom Feeders 335: Known as “rat fucking,” the tricks could be Jim slipping a huge cockroach in an enchilada Hunter Thompson was about to eat. 1996 G. Gordon Liddy Will 282: By this time I knew that rat-fucking was a University of California fraternity term for glorified Halloween pranks. 2007 M. Eriksen My River Home 91: “Ratfucking” is a brute phrase that collectively describes looting, pillaging, trophy hunting, stealing, souvenir collecting, scavenging, and borrowing with no intention to return.

  rat-fucking adjective

  despicable; MOTHERFUCKING adjective.

  1977 J. Cheever Falconer 36: You rat-fucking, cock-sucking, asstonguing, sneaky, stinking fleabag. 1992 N. DeMille General’s Daughter 429: You fucking well better, you rat-fucking, mother-fucking —. 1993 Dangerous Game (film): Some rat-fucking bastard who’s leading a little girl…to a concentration camp, that rat-fucking cocksucker isn’t feeling anything. If he was, he couldn’t take her to the gas chamber. 2006 J. Karp Futile and Stupid Gesture 307: If a stranger objected, he would scream that the hapless interrupter was “a rat fucking, mother fucking son of a bitch.”

  REMF noun [from rear echelon motherfucker]

  a soldier in a support or administrative role; any non-combatant soldier.

  1971 Newsweek (Jan. 11) 31/3: “Those REMF’s don’t even know what Vietnam is all about,” sneered one grunt. 1982 J. M. Del Vecchio 13th Valley 2: Hey, REMF,…you seen Murphy? 1993 Soldier of Fortune (Feb.) 54/1: One of my favorites is KGB General Vadim Kirpichenko. No REMF here. Vadim has been out in the streets doing things to the bad guys. 1998 T. Clancy Rainbow Six Prologue p. 2: He was respectable now as Director of the new agency. Director. A polite term for a REMF. 2007 A. Bay Embrace the Suck 1: But God—or the first sergeant—help the fake macho and especially the “REMF,” “fobbit,” or “suit” who talks the talk but hasn’t walked the walk.

  RTFM interjection

  Computers. “read the fucking manual.”

  1983 Wanted VMS BACKUP for UNIX on Usenet newsgroup net.unix-wizards (Sept. 30): The VMS people have a cute little piece of advice for people who are too slug-headed to read the manuals: RTFM. 1988 MacUser (Mar.) 73: RTFM [heading of question-and-answer column]. 1991 E. Raymond New Hacker’s Dictionary: RTFM…Used by gurus to brush off questions they consider trivial or annoying. 1993 S. Lambert & W. Howe Internet Basics 472: RTFM (Read The Fine Manual) This acronym is often used when someone asks a simple question for the 100th time. The word “fine” is only one way to translate the acronym. 2003 C. Crawford Art of Interactive Design x. 122: Does this line of argument boil down to RTFM? 2008 G. A. Landis in Analog Science Fiction & Fact (Jan./Feb.) 109/2: When in doubt RTFM, he thought.

  S

  shitfuck noun

  a despicable person; FUCK noun definition 4.

  1985 A. Lamott Joe Jones 26: You’re a rotten shitfuck slut, and I hope you rot in hell. Ibid. 58: Joe’s shitfuck soul cringes. 1991 M. Weller Lake No Bottom 71: You fuck. You lunatic bastard king hell crazy shitfuck, this isn’t funny any more. 2004 B. Land Goat 137: Fuck him. He’s a shitfuck.

  shitfuck interjection

  (used to express dismay, anger, disappointment, etc.); FUCK, interjection.

  1970 J. Bouton Ball Four ii. 66: “Shitfuck,” he said, using one of his favorite words (“fuckshit” is the other). “Shitfuck. We’ve got a damned good ballclub here. We’re going to win some games.” 1975 J. Wambaugh Choirboys v. 45: “Shit fuck!” said Roscoe Rules, an expression he seldom used anymore…“Shit fuck! Give her the handcuffs, partner.” 1989 Blind Fury (film): “Shit!” “Fuck!” “Shitfuck!” 1995 D. Hays & D. Hays My Old Man & the Sea 112: Last night I woke up to “Shitfuck!” which is how Dad gets himself really angry. 2007 R. Curtis Twenty Grand 11: Shitfuck! he screamed.

  shitfuck verb

  (used as an intensified elaboration of FUCK, verb, in various senses).

  1988 M. Montecino Crosskiller 233: I didn’t ask for this shitfucking job, and I don’t want it now. I never wanted it. 1994 T. O’Brien In the Lake of the Woods 54: “Well, sure,” he was saying. “Shitfuck Jesus.” 2001 S. Lipsyte Subject Steve 109: How many times have I used my gift of language to explicate myself out of this or that shit-fucked situation?

  skull fuck verb

  1. = MOUTH FUCK. Also as noun, an act of skull fucking.

  [1972 B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 34: BJ…knob job…skull job.] 1985 R. Daniell Sleeping with Soldiers 62: The macho man never asks whether he can indulge in “skull-fucking” (semi-forced oral sex). 1993 B. Moore Lexicon of Cadet Language 345: Sk
ull fuck…the act of fucking a woman in the mouth. 1996 Skull-fuck Me, title of advertisement on Usenet newsgroup alt.sex.telephone (Aug. 23). 1997 L.A. Weekly (Oct. 24) 27: A woman advertising over the CB that she would “skullfuck” anyone listening for $50. 1998 Review: “Sex Lies,” review of pornographic movie on Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.erotica (Apr. 27): Both ladies take turns sucking him off when he says he wants to skull-fuck them. 1998 N.Y. man: You ever hear the term skull fuck for a blowjob? 2004 Vice (Feb.) 63/1: Stop skull-fucking me like that, you’re hitting my gag reflex. 2005 B. Mullen Whores 281: He just dropped jaw right there in front of me and gave Perry a blowjob on my couch. I was only mildly interested in watching my boyfriend getting skullfucked.

  2. to thrust the penis into the eye socket of (a person).—chiefly as an exaggeratedly violent threat.