fouter, n. (antedating)

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Mon Aug 22 00:51:56 UTC 2011


On Aug 21, 2011, at 8:03 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> OED's primary ex., from 1794, is spelled "f-t-r" because the word was so
> indecent.
>
> Likewise in an earlier appearance:
>
> 1787 _The Adventures of Jonathan Corncob_ (London: ptd. for the author) 87:
> Why G-- strike me dead if I would not very naturally
> bayonet every f--t-r of you.
>
> Cf., of course, "fucker," not attested till a century later.
>

If we don't count "John le Fucker" from the 13th c.

LH

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