How did the slang start?
918343
I believe slang words begin from people themselves (much as languages started from people, generally), specifically group of people. Slang a.k.a. jargon is a word or expression that originates, evolves and revolves among these people. The frequency of the use of such words/expressions make slang a "de facto" language of some people. In addition to this, these people are the ones who know and understand the meaning of such words. Eventually, some slang are formalized and accepted in the dictionary.
519775
I don't know the true origin of it. Always wondered what it meant, but I think it means, this isn't right.
783062
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_slang
577298
What started this particular line of inquiry?
1037117
The origin of the word f**k is lost in the sands of time, I'm afraid, but most of the apocryphal stories about it (that it's an acronym for "fornication under consent of the King", or "for unlawful carnal knowledge" for instance) don't even seem to have a shred of truth.\n\nIn all likelihood, the word is descended from the German word "ficken", which means "to strike, or club".  When the Saxons invaded England and their language merged with the natives and became entwined in middle English, the word became "fucken" (no, I'm not kidding).\n\nSo, considering what a good, hard f**k is actually like (sorry to be crude, but think about any time you've seen a guy going hog wild in the sack and you'll get the point), you can see where people would pick up using the word as slang for the act, especially considering what an erect penis looks like... and from there it became the ever so infamous "f-word".\n\n=)
578970
Slang language:  \n\na male or female who fell out of the ugly tree at birth and hit every branch on the way down\n\nGod that girl/boy is so minging she really needs to work on her personality
924849
cos americans got too much slangs....
793676
Sorry you've had such rubbish answers. \n\nI'm usually quite good at this sort of thing, but I'm afraid I can't find any info on the origins of this phrase.\n\nI hope someone more knowledgeable answers you soon!
482731
The application of the word to human intercourse dates at least as far back as Proto-Germanic times, about 2500 years ago.  The form was *fukan "to have intercourse".  It was not vulgar originally.  Indeed, it started life as a euphemism for another word (perhaps lost in time).  The original meaning in Proto-Indo-European (about 6000 years ago) of *pug- was "to strike" (*pug- is the ancestor word for *fukan).
951955
It is often reported that the phrase originates as a variant of the slang phrase 'take the piss'. The thinking behind that is that micturate means piss, hence the phrase. There's no evidence for this though and it is now more generally accepted that it came about as rhyming slang. 'Taking the piss' does play its part though as the rhyming slang refers to a character called Micky Bliss, so 'taking the piss' became 'taking the Micky' (Bliss).\n\nTaking the piss is reported as originating in the UK in the 1930s and 'taking the Mickey' probably came not long afterwards. The first form of the phrase in print comes from 1935:
474506
Swear words come from many different sources, and it's a shame that we don't talk about them more, because profanity is one of the most fascinating ways to learn about another culture.  Most of our swear words do in fact come from Anglo-Saxon dialects, but some also come from French and Latin.\n\nWords usually become considered bad when they describe something that a culture either holds sacred or disturbing.  It used to be that the really bad swear words in English all had to do with religion, but as the English world has become less and less religious over the past few decades, words describing bodily functions have taken their place.
1160415
yup , american slang .
810072
This is hard to answer as people from different areas use different slang even within London.\n\nThis site will give you some idea of UK slang http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/
578919
Everyone is wrong except the guy who said it was from Anglo-Saxon.  "F..k" has a long pedigree in the Germanic languages.  It was found in Proto-Germanic about 2500 years ago as the verb *fukan 'have intercourse'.  This was not vulgar at that time and was a euphemism for some older word.  Ultimately, it comes from Proto-Indo-European *pug- "to strike", from which we get the borrowed Latin form pugilism 'boxing'.
726125
Well it does come from the song Yankee Doodle Dandy but the question is where does Yankee come from. You Yanks called us Limeys and that is because our sailors used to eat limes to protect against scurvy on their long sea voyages.\nBTW the Cockney (London Dialect) for a Yank is a  "Septic" from "Septic Tank" which in true Cockney rhyming slang  form the "Tank" rhymes with Yank but the first un-rhyming part is used, Apple and Pears meanind Stairs becomes Apples, Currant Bun meaning Sun becomes Currant,Frog and Toad meaning  Road becomes Frog.\nSo 'the Septic went up the Apples and had a Lemon' translates to 'the Septic Tank went up the Apple and Pears to have a Lemon Squash' i.e. 'the Yank went up the stairs and had a wash!'. Whole conversations can be had using Cockney rhyming slang!!\nGuess it doesn't answer your question but goes to show how bizarre our language is!
414674
Curse words date back to the early 17th century. It was said that Witches invented them. It was believed that when a witch put a spell (or a curse) on something, they would yell certain words. These words were thus believed to hold bad things and were not accepted. The history passed on for years and years, however, in the 1900's people started using the words as a means of pillory. The meaning of the words continued to evolve and are what we hear today.\n\n\n\nBy the way - that is a bunch of BS, but it is believeable!
598924
My guess is that the saying evolved from the expression "Holy Lord!" or "Holy God!".  Over time, language has become more coarse and somebody felt like tossing in the ol' S-word instead of "God" and it stuck.