f-bomb

[Tom Kysilko]

My informal sense it that I am hearing "f-bomb" much more frequently than
"f word" nowadays -- perhaps because there is a greater need for an
expression referring to f word tokens than the f word type.  In spite of
this need, however, the earliest instance I could find in Google Groups
(cited below) dates from 1990.  I'm interested in what Larry Horn or any of
the active antedaters have on it.  It's not in the post-1999 archives.

>Subject: Re: A little philiogy [sic]
>Newsgroups: alt.sex
>Date: 1990-10-29 16:35:49 PST
>
>As I understand it, (or at least what I read in a Carl
>Sagan book), the "F-word" derives not from Italian or
>English, but from the German "fokken," apparently meaning
>to strike.
>
>Now I took high-school German and don't remember this
>word, but I think that's what I read.  I also recall
>an article saying that the etymology of the f-bomb
>has been labeled "hopelessy unclear" by etymologists.
>
>But what the fuck do I know, anyway?
>-D


   Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
   pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA
           http://www.visi.com/~pds