5.0578 F Word Etymology &c. (4/76)
Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Mon, 13 Jan 1992 22:12:55 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 5, No. 0578. Monday, 13 Jan 1992.
(1) Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 18:19 EST (12 lines)
From: KROVETZ@cs.umass.EDU
Subject: F word
(2) Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 20:49 EST (30 lines)
From: "George Fowler h(317)571-9471 o(812)855-2829"
Subject: RE: 5.0543 F Word Etymology (2/24)
(3) Date: Sat, 28 Dec 91 20:22:27 EST (20 lines)
From: Christy Cousineau <CCOUSINO@ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: the computer term "to spool"
(4) Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 17:22:21 -0500 (14 lines)
From: rsiemens@epas.utoronto.ca (Ray Siemens)
Subject: A tangent on the F word
(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 18:19 EST
From: KROVETZ@cs.umass.EDU
Subject: F word
There is a good discussion of the etymology of `fuck' in `An Obscenity
Symbol', Allen Walker Read, American Speech, Vol. 9(4), 1934. He mentions
that the original meaning was `to knock', and that there is a psychological
parallel in the expression `knocked up'. He also mentions that `pungo'
(to prick or puncture) and `pugil' (a boxer) might be Latin cognates.
They come from the root `pug-' (to thrust or strike).
Bob
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------34----
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 20:49 EST
From: "George Fowler h(317)571-9471 o(812)855-2829"
Subject: RE: 5.0543 F Word Etymology (2/24)
The problem with finding the etymology of "fuck" is that it was
always a taboo word, and people were much more restricted in the sorts
of things they put in print hundreds of years ago, since printing was
so much harder. As a result, there are no attestations of this word as
recently as a thousand years ago in Old English. If there's no paper
trail, then it is hard to be sure of the etymology. Latin futuere can't
be the direct predecessor of fuck, since it doesn't work out formally.
After all, Germanic "f" corresponds to Latin "p", e.g., Eng. "father" vs.
Latin "pater", etc. Nevertheless, both words start with "fu-", and
it is tantalizing to look for some sort of borrowing. Perhaps the
coincidence of "fu" represents something less than a borrowing, some
sort of ephemeral influence; perhaps there is some non-obvious sound
symbolism involved. Maybe it's just an accident.
I worked for a while doing etymologies for the Random House
Dictionary, and there are lots of problems we had with words whose
etymologies are unsatisfactory, but can't be improved due to lack of
pertinent evidence.
This is why historical linguistics is so hard to do: if nobody
wrote it down, you have to guess about it. Often you can guess with a
high degree of certainty, but just as often you can't.
Now if somebody would just invent a time machine, we could solve
important philological problems like this one.
George Fowler
Indiana University
Dept. of Slavic Languages
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------29----
Date: Sat, 28 Dec 91 20:22:27 EST
From: Christy Cousineau <CCOUSINO@ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: the computer term "to spool"
I am interested in learning more about the use of the word
"spool" in computer terminology. My former employer tells me
that to spool means "to store . . . for later use" in order to
"free up the system." Does anyone know anything about the origin
of the use of the term among computer users? About the various
electronic contexts in which it was once used and/or continues to
be used? I noticed, for example, that when a bitnet message I
have sent arrives at its addressee, a line appears on my screen
telling me that a file has been spooled to the addressee's account
(e.g. "File (xxxx) spooled to USERNAME"). I would appreciate any
help that any humanist subscriber could offer. Thanks.
Christy Cousineau
BITNET: ccousino@iubacs
Internet: ccousino@ucs.indiana.edu
(4) --------------------------------------------------------------27----
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1992 17:22:21 -0500
From: rsiemens@epas.utoronto.ca (Ray Siemens)
Subject: A tangent on the F word
Having just checked on my backlog of pre-Holiday Email, I just tuned
in to the discussion of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Did the
instigator of the discussion say his son was asking about it? When I asked
a younger friend of mine, and undergraduate with Victorian interests,
he told me nothing of prisons and the like but, rather, that _For
Unlawful Carnal Knowledge_ was the title of the Rock & Roll band Van
Halen's new album. Hope this is of at least tangential interest. R Siemens.