Absolutely fascinating article, if one can get past the subject matter.
It also reminds me that the origin for the “C” word is actually “clint”, which is an old German word meaning slit or crack in a rock.
So there.
One origin story for fuck is that it comes from when sex was outlawed unless it was permitted explicitly by the king, so people who were legally banging had Fornication Under Consent of the King on their doors, or: F.U.C.K. But obviously that’s wrong. And if you do believe that, stop it. Stop it right now.
But right now there’s a post going round with a lovely image of a manuscript from Brasenose College, Oxford, proudly declaring it’s the earliest instance of fuck in English (although, it notes, that is apart from that pesky one from Scotland and that one that says fuck but is written in code). But even if we DO agree to discount those two little exceptions, it’s still not the earliest instance. I think the Brasenose fuck was considered the earliest in 1993, and that’s quite out-dated now.
So, for your enjoyment and workplace sniggering, here’s…
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Well, This Is What I Think 
What? Not from the Latin “cunnus”? Much older, I think.
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Well, I am loathe to argue – but I did get that from the Oxford Concise, I think!
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