Did they have the 'f-word' in the 1700s?

humm…probably not. No clue. Glad it’s here now tho. Somedays no other word can describe it better than FUCK.

“The word fuck did not originate as an acronym. It crept, fully formed, into the English language from Dutch or Low German around the 15th century (it’s impossible to say precisely when because so little documentary evidence exists, probably due to the fact that the word was so taboo throughout its early history that people were afraid to write it down). The American Heritage Dictionary says its first known occurrence in English literature was in the satirical poem “Flen, Flyss” (c.1500), where it was not only disguised as a Latin word but encrypted – gxddbov – which has been deciphered as fuccant, pseudo-Latin for “they fuck.””
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-f-word.htm

edit:@knotmyday i googled mine in two seconds too :P

Look what I googled.

Ah, to google…merely google…

The link you posted Knot, is the translation of a voice recording that was done by a comedy group in the early 90’s. I wish I could remember the name of the group. Anyone?

The earliest known use of the word in writing in its present orthographic form was in 1528.

The document, MS Brasenose College, Oxford VII, contains the phrase, “fuckin Abbot” written in the margin. There are numerous other examples in the 1500s, but they were spelled really different (even from each other).

That’s according to the OED anyway.

So, yes, it was definitely around back then.

And the 1600 was when it began to really take on the meaning we associate with it today, of intercourse. Back in the 1500s its meaning was more along the lines of to fool, make fun of, or hit. Based on these date charts I would say that by the 1700s its transformation into the basic meaning it has today had pretty much solidified. The only uses that we have today that hadn’t been recorded by the 1700s are to betray or cheat, and as an expression of annoyance (ie “fuck this long-winded answer!”) and some of the noun uses (ie He’s a great fuck!).

I often thought that the using of f*** in the movie, Titanic, was not correct for the era. People didn’t really use it as a swear word at the turn of the century, did they? And I don’t think they flipped the bird, either, or would even know what it meant.

I also think it was incorrect for them to say “you guys.” I think that is a more modern saying.

The first written use of “fuck” as a swearword or as the dictionary puts it, “In oaths and imprecations (chiefly in optative with no subject expressed): expressing annoyance, hatred, dismissal, etc.” was in 1922 in Ulysses by James Joyce, “God fuck old Bennett!”

So it’s possible, and even probable that for some 20 years before that it had been used verbally as a “general” swear word, but it most likely wouldn’t have been commonplace.

The word “guy” has been used in writing to mean “man” or “fellow” since 1847, so I wouldn’t doubt they said “guys” in 1900. I couldn’t tell you if they specifically said “you guys” or not, but it seems very likely.

Flipping the bird, no idea…