User:The C of E/forn

Fornication Under Consent of the King, often abbreviated to F.U.C.K., is a common apocryphal story as to how the word "fuck" entered into use in the English language. The story has been confirmed as a myth by numerous historical and linguistic experts.

Story
The notion of Fornication Under Consent of the King supposedly came about during the time of the Black Death in England. The plague killed approximately 20% of the population. As a result of needing to boost the birthrate in England, King Edward III passed a royal decree permitting anybody to indulge in fornication in order to do so. The theory being that permission from the King was required in order to fornicate except for members of the English Royal Family as a part of the royal prerogative. As a result, people fornicating would hang signs stating "Fornicating Under Consent of the King" on their doors to inform any passers-by that they were legally not committing adultery. The story then goes onto say that the royal scribes got tired of writing the whole sentence on each sign requested, therefore wrote "F.U.C.K." as an abbreviation which would have the same meaning as the full sentence. An alternative story states that "Fornication Under Consent of the King" only applied to sailors in the English Navy who were traditionally permitted to fornicate on the Monarch's birthday.

The reason why the story is often used as the explanation as to the word "fuck" entering the English language was because the phrase "Fornication Under Consent of the King" was because it sounded like medieval legal language. However it has been confirmed as false as the King was not required to grant consent for sexual liaisons and would not have had the time to grant every request.

Response
The notion of "Fornication Under Consent of the King" being the reason for "fuck" entering English language has been debunked numerous times. lexicographer Susie Dent called the story "quite literally fucking nonsense". In actuality, the word "fuck" is an Anglo-Saxon word which meant "to sow seed". Another claimed it obtained another meaning of "to strike" from Germanic areas.