Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2008 September 7

= September 7 =

Coger
The Spanish word coger has many uses, like "grab, get, take." In some places in Latin America, its usage even includes "fuck." Is anyone aware if there is some kind of etymological connection between coger and the meaning "fuck"? Did one of the already-established meanings of coger lead to the meaning "fuck" (much like, I would assume, "screw" came to include the meaning "fuck")? Or does this meaning come from slang of uncertain origin? The RAE doesn't say much about it, but it does recognize the definition "realizar el acto sexual." Thanks!--El aprendelenguas (talk) 19:55, 7 September 2008 (UTC)
 * (Disclaimer: I don't know anything specifically about Spanish or Latin America) Surely the meanings are connected in the same way that the verb 'take' in English can mean 'fuck' (ie "she was taken from behind"). The connection would seem to be that sex is often viewed as a possesive action (in the sense that the male is in some way capturing or claiming ownership of the female). I'd expect that that is the most likely explanation. D  aniel  (‽) 20:33, 8 September 2008 (UTC)


 * That's a good point, but what's strange about coger is that in the countries where it developed the meaning "fuck," it has lost all other definitions, becoming nothing more than an "f-word." I remember having a Spanish class with a student who recently (at the time) migrated from Mexico (coger = "fuck") to the US and a teacher from Spain (coger = "take, get, etc."). For the first few days of class, every time the teacher used coger in a conversation, the Mexican girl would blush and seem uncomfortable. When they talked about it, it was just as surprising to the Spaniard that coger could mean "fuck" as it was to the Mexican that coger could mean "take." The transformation of the word in some countries baffles me.--El aprendelenguas (talk) 22:04, 9 September 2008 (UTC)
 * As coger took the f-meaning in some countries, speakers began using other similar verbs to represent the catch/take idea [tomar, agarrar...]. This is very understandable, since coger became in the process practically a taboo word. By the way, Daniel's explanation is quite compelling to me (it's surprising anyway the absence of material about this topic on the internet). Pallida  Mors  13:03, 10 September 2008 (UTC)