Fornicating Under Consent of King

#1

Post by pepys » Tue, Aug 03, 2021, 8:38 PM UTC

Fornicating Under Consent of King
literaryreview.co.uk

Re: Fornicating Under Consent of King

#2

Post by thaumasiotes » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:05 AM UTC

> the word whose usage is considered so offensive that it has caused the decline of its unfortunate near-homophone ‘niggardly’

That's not exactly a unique phenomenon. For example, it's how "rabbit" replaced "coney".

Re: Fornicating Under Consent of King

#3

Post by area51org » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:13 AM UTC

It's amazing how many people still fall for the 'fuck-as-acronym' myths. I've literally argued with people convinced that FUCK stands for Fornication Under Consent of the King, or (as Van Halen apparently believed) For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

No, none of the above. Nope.

Re: Fornicating Under Consent of King

#4

Post by mbg721 » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:29 AM UTC

area51org wrote: post #3

It's amazing how many people still fall for the 'fuck-as-acronym' myths. I've literally argued with people convinced that FUCK stands for Fornication Under Consent of the King, or (as Van Halen apparently believed) For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. No, none of the above. Nope.

Knowing the more likely etymology, it's a little awkward when I see the billboards for a dentist in my area named Dr. Ficker.

Re: Fornicating Under Consent of King

#5

Post by paleotrope » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:34 AM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #2

> the word whose usage is considered so offensive that it has caused the decline of its unfortunate near-homophone ‘niggardly’ That's not exactly a unique phenomenon. For example, it's how "rabbit" replaced "coney".

Which is funny because coney used to be pronounced more like cunny and was deliberately pronounced coney to get away from the vulgar associations.

Re: Fornicating Under Consent of King

#6

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:34 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Fornicating Under Consent of King

#7

Post by Tagbert » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:35 AM UTC

I do love listening to John McWhorter‘s podcast about language, Lexicon Valley

Re: Fornicating Under Consent of King

#8

Post by flyingcircus3 » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:36 AM UTC

mbg721 wrote: post #4

area51org wrote: post #3

It's amazing how many people still fall for the 'fuck-as-acronym' myths. I've literally argued with people convinced that FUCK stands for Fornication Under Consent of the King, or (as Van Halen apparently believed) For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. No, none of the above. Nope.

Knowing the more likely etymology, it's a little awkward when I see the billboards for a dentist in my area named Dr. Ficker.

A city I used to live in has a Hilfiker Ln, named for the family that has lived at the end of that street, which is on a hill, for over 150 years. I've always wondered if that was coincidence or not.

Re: Fornicating Under Consent of King

#9

Post by jdavis703 » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:37 AM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #2

> the word whose usage is considered so offensive that it has caused the decline of its unfortunate near-homophone ‘niggardly’ That's not exactly a unique phenomenon. For example, it's how "rabbit" replaced "coney".

In Spanish conejo (rhymes with coney) is rabbit. Interesting how we’re still slowly loosing cognates from our shared latin roots.

Edit: I may be assuming an incorrect pronunciation of coney. Even as a native speaker English sucks.

Re: Fornicating Under Consent of King

#10

Post by dhosek » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:39 AM UTC

mbg721 wrote: post #4

area51org wrote: post #3

It's amazing how many people still fall for the 'fuck-as-acronym' myths. I've literally argued with people convinced that FUCK stands for Fornication Under Consent of the King, or (as Van Halen apparently believed) For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. No, none of the above. Nope.

Knowing the more likely etymology, it's a little awkward when I see the billboards for a dentist in my area named Dr. Ficker.

Speaking of misread signs, there's a Chinese restaurant on San Vicente in Los Angeles named Hunan Taste. More than one person has mistaken that first n for an m.