f-bomb

[Baker, John]

        "F-bomb" was new to me too.  Westlaw's allnewsplus file has 1252 examples, though some are for "f.... bomb" and the like.  For 2004, there are 441 uses of "f-bomb" and 5820 uses of "f-word."  The earliest examples are from baseball, with the earliest this 8/11/88 use in Newsday:

        <<Carter rarely uses profanity, so he was taken aback when umpire Greg Bonin leveled some on him in the seventh inning Monday night in Pittsburgh. Carter was called out on strikes and told Bonin he thought the pitch was outside. "He started cursing me and said I accused him of being a liar," Carter said. "After he started cursing, I walked away and I said, 'Why are you cursing at me?' He said, 'I talk like that.' I said, 'OK, guttermouth.' " Carter said he has been thrown out only twice in the majors, both times by Eric Gregg. "That was when I used to use the F-bomb." >>

John Baker