The F-Word Page 5

  A small number of entries have been deleted entirely. While there are still examples of words or senses with only one quotation (suggesting that they are not and never have been very common), the decision to remove existing entries of this sort was not undertaken lightly. The deleted examples include give-a-fuck ‘one’s sense of motivation or enthusiasm’, an apparently unique variant of the itself rare give-a-shit; fucking used interjectionally to indicate hesitation, which was perhaps an example of overextrapolation by a dictionary compiler; and fuck-ox, a military term for a Vietnamese water buffalo, a further example of which could not be found even in extensive searches of Vietnam War literature. It is possible that additional items could have been removed as well, but a conservative approach seemed best.

  Acknowledgments

  This book would not have been possible without the help of a large number of people across a long span of time. Of course all errors are my own fault.

  For the earlier editions, Bernard W. Kane was indefatigable in providing buckets of useful suggestions; John Simpson generously sent me several citations from the files of the Oxford English Dictionary; Fred Shapiro’s wizardry with database searches yielded a large number of updatings and important additions to the text; James Rader of Merriam-Webster sent early examples of several terms I had difficulty tracking down. My former colleagues at Random House provided assistance and support of various flavors.

  Professor Anatoly Liberman was kind enough to share his detailed researches into the etymology and bibliography of fuck. His entry on the word in the Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology is by far the most comprehensive treatment of the etymology of fuck ever published.

  H. Bosley Woolf generously sent me a copy of his privately printed pamphlet The GI’s Favorite Four Letter Word, the earliest published work devoted solely to our word.

  James Lambert, editor of the Macquarie Book of Slang, was kind enough to provide extensive citations from Australia and New Zealand in addition to many quotations from often obscure British and American sources. I am grateful for his continued help with this edition. He has been a friend for many years, despite the fact that we have never met in person.

  My close friends and colleagues Jonathon Green and Tom Dalzell, slang lexicographers extraordinaire, were extremely generous in every way, personally and professionally. I am as grateful to them for their hospitality over the years as I am for their willingness to share painstakingly collected evidence from their own extensive collections.

  For help with certain terms, and for specific editorial advice, I am grateful to Daniel Menaker, Jennifer Dowling, Judy Kaplan, Sarah Burnes, Jeremy Kareken, Charles Levine, Sam Pratt, Alison Biggert, Arnold Zwicky, Barry Popik, William Monahan, Edward Hutchinson, Stephen Berg, Andrew Cohen of Newsweek, Aaron Barnhart, Michele Tepper, and the Old and Young Hats of AFU GmbH.

  More recently I must thank members of the American Dialect Society mailing list, especially Bill Mullins, Neal Whitman, John Patrick, John Baker, Wilson Gray, and Mark Peters for their detailed suggestions. Michael Adams has been a good friend and a patient colleague; his book Slang: The People’s Poetry is the best treatment of an unwieldy subject. Adrian Flynn took time away from his studies to hit the library on my behalf. Ben Zimmer has been extremely generous and helpful over the years; along with Fred Shapiro he is the best database plunderer I’ve ever encountered. Larry Horn, Arnold Zwicky, and Ron Butters gave much useful advice. David Simon corresponded with me about eye-fuck, and graciously sent me original shooting scripts of his brilliant show The Wire.

  I am extremely grateful to my colleagues at the Oxford English Dictionary. In particular, I would like to mention Chief Editor John Simpson; Robert Faber, who supported my work on this project more than he had to; Michael Proffit, for many years of close support and friendship; and Graeme Diamond, with whom I revised the OED’s entries for fuck and its relations. It is a rare and humbling pleasure to work in an environment with so many brilliant and dedicated people.

  At Oxford University Press, my thanks to Ben Keene, for early editorial support; Damon Zucca and Grace Labatt, for helping bring the project to completion; Jess Lawson, for her production wizardry; Vin Dang for the interior design; Mary Araneo and Steve Cestaro in Production; Purdy for his unstinting publicity efforts; Amy Tiedemann and Kim Craven in Marketing for long-time enthusiasm; and above all to Casper Grathwohl for his approval and support of the book.

  Ira Silverberg, my friend and agent (in that order), has been supportive for so long and for so little reason that I can’t even begin to express my appreciation.

  I received technical support from a number of different sources. Thanks especially to Adam Turoff for extensive help with the XML and XSLT used to produce the book, and for his constant availability to help with complicated issues. A shout-out to all of my colleagues on the Catalyst web framework. Perrin Harkins was extremely generous with his vast knowledge of programming. Paul Steiner at OUP provided ideal support, belying the stereotype of the IT drone. Nonpersonal thanks for some of the underlying technologies go out to Richard Stallman, Larry Wall, and Linus Torvalds, among many others.

  This editor, and all students of the F-word, owe an enormous debt to the late Professor Allen Walker Read for his work on the word. Professor Read has made many hugely important contributions to the study of English; he is perhaps best known for his research on O.K. But his 1934 article “An Obscenity Symbol” is the pioneering study of the word; without his exhaustive research, we would know far less about this most significant word. His 1974 follow-up, “An Obscenity Symbol After Four Decades,” admirably adds forty years of study to our knowledge.

  Jonathan Lighter is the greatest slang lexicographer in history. It has been a deep honor to work with him and I continued to be humbled by his astonishing abilities at research, sense division, and defining. There has not been a single entry I have ever worked on that he could not have done better.

  And finally, my immense love and gratitude to Sarah Lang, who showed me that I could be happy.

  Jesse Sheidlower, New York, March 2009

  A

  absofuckinglutely adverb

  absolutely. Compare -FUCKING-, infix.

  1921 Notes & Queries (Nov. 19) 415 [refers to WWI]: The soldier’s actual speech…was absolutely impregnated with one word which (to use it as a basis for alliteration) the fastidious frown at as “filthy”.… Words were split up to admit it: “absolutely” became “abso—lutely.” 1945 S. J. Baker Australian Language 258: Transconti-bloody-nental, abso-f—g-lutely, inde-bloody-pendent. 1970 C. Major Dictionary of Afro-American Slang 19: Absofuckinglutely: without doubt. 1973 W. T. Huggett Body Count ch. viii: That’s right, Carlysle, that’s abso-fucking-lutely right. 1985 D. Bodey F.N.G. 224: “Like, don’t it seem like the time has gone fast now?” “Abso-fuckin’-lutely.” 1995 N.Y. Observer (Apr. 24) 19: “Remember me?”.… “Abso-fucking-lutely.” 2002 J. Thompson Wide Blue Yonder ii. 147: He was nuts. Absofuckinglutely. 2008 New York Magazine (Aug. 11) 31: I decided to e-mail Liz Rosenberg, Madonna’s publicist since fuh-evah…to see if she would…talk about celebrities and plastic surgery. “Absofuckinlutely,” she wrote back.

  AMF interjection

  “adios [or aloha], mother fucker”; good-bye; the finish. Jocular.

  1963 in P. Tamony Motherfucker 7: “A.M.F.… adios mother fucker,”…“goodbye friend.” [1966 M. Braly On the Yard 120: And that’s adios mother fuckers.] 1973 McA. Layne How Audie Murphy Died in Vietnam (unpaged): A.M.F. Adios mother fahckers. 1980 D. J. Cragg Lexicon Militaris: AMF. Adios (or Aloha) Motherfucker. 1988 K. Kijewski Stray Kat Waltz 286: You’re outta here. Just like that. Leaving us behind and everything. Not thinking about us or anything. Just AMF. 2001 R. Martini Hot Straight & Normal 17: Alpha Mike Foxtrot—Acronym for “Adios, My Friend.” Also seen as initials, “AMF.” Other terms may be used for the “M,” and “F.” 2003 D. Farris Lie Still 179: “I will not be able to snatch your ass back from the fire if the GME committee says AMF.”
“AMF?” “Adios, Mutha Fucka.”

  artfuck noun

  1. an artistic person, especially one who is elitist or pretentious.

  1987 B. E. Ellis Rules of Attraction 110: I turn back to our table, with the Art Fucks because they seem less boring. 1999 M. Estep Soft Maniacs 121: The way I look, it’s hard to tell if I’m some deliberately disheveled successful artfuck or just a down-and-out guy. 2004 J. A. Juarez Brotherhood of Corruption 2: Their parents are loaded, so they can afford to be art fucks. Escaping responsibility, if you ask me. 2005 Houston Press (June 23) (Nexis): I just think he’s one of the most pretentious art fucks I’ve ever encountered.… He thinks he’s some amazing human being and talks down to so many kids.

  2. something (especially a piece or style of music) that is pretentiously artistic. Often as adjective.

  1993 “The Virgin Prunes” (album title): Artfuck: A compilation of rarities. 1997 D. Waller in D. Snowden Make Music go Bang! 123: The industrial-strength art-fuck Screamers didn’t sound anything like the hippy-hippy shake-shake Nerves. 2001 Village Voice (Nov. 27) 64/1: From jackhammer fuzz-romps to well-constructed rapid-fire raveups to art-fuck synth-pop. 2004 C. Eddy in Village Voice (Dec. 1) C77: The eight more hipster-oriented units whose current releases are among those happily hyped below may well have a hard time supporting such proudly post-graduate artfuck endeavors through four long years of the ownership society.

  ASAFP adverb

  “as soon as fucking possible”; immediately.

  1977 P. Tauber Last Best Hope 406: It’s got to be hand-carried—ASAFP. 1985 J. Hughes Weird Science (film): I want you out of here ASAFP! 1990 P. Munro Slang U. 23: A.S.A.F.P. as soon as possible, or sooner. 2005 Variety (Sept. 19) 73: Tough-as-nails boss Colonel McNulty (Dennis Hopper), a can-do guy who wants stuff done “ASAFP.”

  ass-fuck noun

  1. an act of anal copulation.

  1940 J. Del Torto Graffiti Transcript (Kinsey Institute): Make date for assfuck. 1941 G. Legman in G. V. Henry Sex Variants II 1157: Ass-fuck…An act of pedication. 1974 “Linda Lovelace” Diary 66: He gave me the best ass-fuck I’ve ever had. 1975 C. Skinner Carol’s Curious Passion 60: It was no use talking to Bert. For he was carried away with his ass fuck. 1976 J. Johnson Oriental Festival 136: I want to give you a tremendous ass fuck. 1981 S. Hite Hite Report on Male Sexuality 530: The afterglow of a good ass-fuck can last for days. 2004 T. Bentley Surrender 164: Now I just want a three-hour ass-fuck where I give him all my power, he takes it, and takes me to visit God.

  2. an instance of cruel victimization; a terrible situation.

  1977 P. Schrader Blue Collar 14: No way he was gonna take this assfuck forever. 1987 B. Massumi trans. G. Deleuze & F. Guattari Thousand Plateaus Foreword x: What got me by during that period was conceiving the history of philosophy as a kind of ass-fuck, or, what amounts to the same thing, an immaculate conception. I imagined myself approaching an author from behind and giving him a child that would indeed be his but would nonetheless be monstrous. 2005 D. H. Wilson Pseudo-City 209: You called life an assfuck. 2008 Gawker (Oct. 31) (online): Apparently, they hadn’t been paying insurance premiums either and people who went to the doctor in November or December were being denied their claims because they had no idea they weren’t insured any longer. One big giant ass fuck, basically.

  3. a despicable person.

  2000 S.F. Weekly (Mar. 1) (Nexis): So thank you SF Weekly for giving this stupid ass fuck of a human the time for this story. 2003 E. Shade Eyesores 127: I pushed Shitwad into a sand trap and kicked sand in his face. I called him a dirty pissant little ass-fuck. 2004 “Minister Faust” Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad 362: Next time I tell you ass-fucks what I want done, I want it done, and I want it done right. 2007 B. Frazer Hyper-Chondriac 98: I’m surprised this Bikram assfuck allows anyone to even use the temperature of 105 degrees without winding up in court.

  ass-fuck verb

  1. to engage in anal copulation [with].

  [1866 Romance of Lust IV 361: We had not as yet…indulged even in bottom-fucking the women.] 1940 J. Del Torto Graffiti Transcript (Kinsey Institute): Want to be assfucked. 1941 G. Legman in G. V. Henry Sex Variants II 1157: Ass-fuck…To pedicate. 1971 D. Rader Government Inspected Meat 105: Get ass-fucked like a bender by a butching lover. 1974–77 L. Heinemann Close Quarters 184: She would…ass-fuck. 1984 W. D. Ehrhart Marking Time 66: Pam, that old boyfriend of yours—you…even ass-fuck the guy! 1992 Madonna Sex (unpaged): That’s what ass-fucking is all about. It’s the most pleasurable way to get fucked. 1998 Sick Puppy Comix (No. 8) (Sydney, Australia) 21: You gotta write about sweet, tender little girlies getting arsefucked like cheap little whores! 2005 “Noire” G-Spot 36: He held me down and ass-fucked me until I thought I would die.

  2. to victimize cruelly.

  1980 Samisdat XVII. 75: Since “world order” has traditionally consisted of the haves alternately plundering and ass-fucking the have-nots unchallenged, we shall not miss it. 1995 H. Stern Miss America 433: I’m getting the worst ass fucking in history. It’s happening in front of the world. 1998 E. Reid If I Don’t Six 43: There’s always someone out to ass-fuck you. Watch out for yourself. 2006 S. M. Stirling Meeting at Corvallis 471: You got greedy, and yeah, we got collectively ass-fucked. 2007 P. Morris Guardians viii. 41: That’s what happened with the Preznit and Saddam Hussein, and we all know who wound up getting assfucked on that particular occasion.

  B

  batfuck adjective & adverb

  crazy. Cf. batshit.

  1977 F. Stanford Battlefield where the Moon says I Love You in I. Reed From Totems to Hip-Hop (2003) 330: While you’re at it tell her she’s bat fuck too. 1991 D. Grinstead Promises of Freedom 302: [He] got a Marine killed because he set up a patrol wrong; then the major went batfuck in another crisis. 2005 S. Monette Mélusine 423: I needed to start walking again. It was either that or go batfuck nuts.

  beans and motherfuckers, see under MOTHERFUCKER.

  bearfuck noun

  Military. a confused or disappointing undertaking.

  1983 K. Miller Tiger the Lurp Dog 92 [refers to Vietnam War]: The mission turned out to be another disappointing bearfuck. 2005 D. DeFrain Salt Palace viii. 80: I was in Palermo for most of mine. F.I.G.M.O., you know? A real bear-fuck start-to-end, if you know what I mean.

  bends and motherfuckers, see under MOTHERFUCKER.

  BFD noun [see BFD, interjection]

  something important; a big deal.—usually in negative contexts.

  1992 H. Childress Reality Bites (film script) 75: Lelaina. I’m only taking this [money] so you won’t get in trouble—And it’s just a loan, okay? Patty. Cool your pits—It’s not a B.F.D. You can have it. 2000 Out (Aug.) 30: In 1981…an STD…was not a BFD. 2008 S. King Duma Key 157: I tell you what, Eddie, if this is such a BFD to you, then you confront him!

  BFD interjection [big fucking (or fat) deal]

  “so what?” “who cares?”

  1971 H. Dahlskog Dictionary of Contemporary & Colloquial Usage 7: BFD, big fat deal, an ironic comment meaning “What’s so great about that?” 1981 J. Harrison Warlock 16: “You were thinking about sex.” “B.F.D., Sherlock.” 1988 J. Brown & C. Coffey Earth Girls Are Easy (film): “There’s a UFO in my pool. A UFO.” “BFD.” 1988 P. Fonda, on Unauthorized Biography (Fox-TV): He was very angry that I had destroyed his honeymoon—BFD! 1992 J. Mowry Way Past Cool 12: “I the first, ’member?” “BFD!” 2003 J. Cantor Great Neck 552: And if they find me, sweetie, BFD, huh?

  BFE noun [Bumfuck (or Bumblefuck), Egypt]

  Military & Students. a very remote place; the middle of nowhere.

  1989 P. Munro U.C.L.A. Slang 20: Troy…lives out in B.F.E.… Bum Fuck, Egypt. 1991 Student slang survey: BFE—out in the middle of nowhere…Bumblefuck, Egypt. 1997 Student slang survey: Faraway place…in b.f.e. 2005 N.Y. Times (June 1) B6: Most characters in “BFE” (the title is an abbreviation of a vulgar slang term for the middle of nowhere)…try to be positive.

  Bubblefuck noun [alteration of BUM
BLEFUCK]

  a very remote place; BUMBLEFUCK. Usually used with West.

  1993 “Fat Joe” Another Wild Nigga from the Bronx (rap song): I’m from the West Bubblefuck so fasten your seatbelts and buckle up. 1993 Re: Not all heterosexuals…on Usenet newsgroup alt.homosexual (Dec. 31): I GO TO THE VILLAGE ANYTIME I FEEL LIKE IT AND YOU CAN STAY OVER THERE IN WEST BUBBLEFUCK. 1999 “Slick Rick” 2 Way Street (rap song): Well I shot some there, then I copped some beer. And did a show up in West Bubble-fuck somewhere. 2004 “Black Artemis” Explicit Content 79: I just know every other label’s out searching from here to Bubblefuck for the female Eminem. 2007 V. M. Stringer Dirty Red 79: They sure knew how to pick prison locations, out in the middle of West Bubblefuck. 2007 D. Stumpf Confessions of a Wall Street Shoeshine Boy 25: Other guys I knew who went into journalism had to spend five years grinding out the police blotter in West Bubblefuck.

  buddy-fuck verb

  Especially Military. to impose upon or betray (a close friend). Hence buddy-fucker, buddy-fucking, and as noun. Compare FUCK-YOUR-BUDDY WEEK.