We previously thought that the first use of the “F word” dated back to 1528 — to when a monk jotted the word in the margins of Cicero’s De Officiis. But it turns out that you can find traces of this colorful curse word in English court documents written in 1310.
Dr. Paul Booth, a former lecturer in medieval history at Keele University, was looking through court records from the age of Edward II when he accidentally stumbled upon the name “Roger Fuckebythenavele.” The name was apparently used three times in the documents, suggesting it was hardly a mistake. According to The Daily Mail, Booth believes “Roger Fuckebythenavele” was a nickname for a defendant in a criminal case. And, going further, he suggests the nickname could mean one of two things: ‘Either this refers to an inexperienced copulator, referring to someone trying to have sex with the navel, or it’s a rather extravagant explanation for a dimwit, someone so stupid they think this that is the way to have sex.’ Booth has notified the Oxford English Dictionary of his discovery.
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