weakened f-word by 1902; antedating "fucking well" and "shitting-well"; etc.

[Jonathan Lighter]

I

Farmer & Henley (1890-96, IIRC) connect "fucking," adj., with "extreme
contumely" only. But by 1902 at least some Brits were using it pretty
carelessly, as today:

1902 _Proc. of Old Bailey_  (Apr. 7)
[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t19020407-321&div=t19020407-321&terms=bastard#highlight]
“I will have your f----g life, you bastard"…” "Come on Jack, have a
f----g go for it."

The latter is the trivial usage, as is:

1905 _Proc. of Old Bailey_ (Nov. 13)
[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t19051113-62&div=t19051113-62&terms=bastard#highlight]:
What is the f— hell the matter with you?

The earliest discovered _fucking_, adj., not attached to a human being
appears to be:

1899 _Proc. of Old Bailey_ (March 6)
[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18990306-243&div=t18990306-243&terms=bastard#highlight]:
 He called me a f——g bastard, and said, "I will rip your --— guts up."

And indisputably:

1901 _Proc. of Old Bailey_  (May 13)
[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t19010513-401&div=t19010513-401&terms=bastard#highlight]:
 Your f— life is not worth living for to-night.

London lowlives begin to use _fucking_, adj., in court testimony
rather frequently after the mid 1890s, esp. in "fucking bastard."

II

OED has 1916 for _fucking-well_.

1906  _Proc. of Old Bailey_  (Apr. 2)
[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t19060402-47&div=t19060402-47&terms=bastard#highlight]:
  If I had been there you would have f——g well gone through it.

III

Imprecatory:

1909 _Proc. of Old Bailey_  (March 2)
[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t19090302-27&div=t19090302-27&terms=bastard#highlight]:
  Then I heard Mrs. Curley come up the stairs saying, "F—'em all;
f—'em all," and as she came to the door she said, "And f— you too. "

IV

1901  _Proc. of Old Bailey_ (May 13)
[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t19010513-401&div=t19010513-401&terms=bastard#highlight]:
Go and f—yourself.

V

And the uncommon _shitting-well_:

1905  _Proc. of Old Bailey_ (Nov. 13)
[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t19051113-62&div=t19051113-62&terms=bastard#highlight]:
You can't s— well hang us.

VI

The first modern ex. I see of opprobrious _buggering_ (already enfeebled):

1906 _Proc. of Old Bailey_ (Sept. 11)
[http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/images.jsp?doc=190609110096]: Mind
your own b----y business....Do you want any b-----g tea?

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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