Re: USAGE: Dutch v or f (was: Grimm's Law)

Jan van Steenbergen wrote:

> We have the same word in Dutch as well: "fok", a noun this time,
> meaning - probably - the same sort of sail (I'm not much of a
> sailorman, but it must definitely be something like that).
> I'm also quite sure that the verb "fokken" has everything to do with
> the famous English f-word; after all, they look the same, and besides,
> they mean more or less the same, or rather: one is the direct result
of
> the other.
> Whether or not the words "fok" and "fokken" are etymological kins,
> that's just a matter of imagination. I have no opinion.
Hmm. This is what Merriam-Webster says:

Main Entry: fuck
Pronunciation: 'f&k
Function: verb
Etymology: akin to Dutch fokken to breed (cattle), Swedish dialect fokka
to copulate
Date: 1503
intransitive senses
1 usually obscene : COPULATE -- sometimes used in the present participle
as a meaningless intensive
2 usually vulgar : MESS 3 -- used with with
transitive senses
1 usually obscene : to engage in coitus with -- sometimes used
interjectionally with an object (as a personal or reflexive pronoun) to
express anger, contempt, or disgust
2 usually vulgar : to deal with unfairly or harshly : CHEAT, SCREW

It was great fun that you could hear the word pronounced
as well. I was a bit unsure... :D

Doesn't say anything about etymology though. I'd forgotten about
_fokka_. _Focka_ can mean 'fire, sack, dismiss' as well.

> BTW, how do you see the role of a "wedge" in breeding (let alone the
> other meanings...) practically? :)))
Um. Do I really have to answer that? :)

||| daniel

--
danielandreasson @ swipnet.se | http://home.swipnet.se/escape

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