the anatomy of f%^&*"k

Behold a historical quest for the origins of
the conceptual word: f$£%^&k

I think I may have mentioned that I am
kind of sick of the word, by this age, and
I try not to let others hear me use it.
Butt, I like a good linguistic discussion.
I find that the Brits don't use the word
right when speaking, let alone in writing.
They lack the essence of the delivery and
the attitude expressed towards the
concepts that are being attached to the curse.
I often cringe when I hear it. I want to tell
them "it's just not your word, mate"

To the historical significance thereof:
This word that is pretty crass, was once
 a posh word for the upper classes when
they still had a sliver of class and morals.

from the letter section of a history mag called
History, I think.

Ray Broadbent writes:
(re Quentin Hawkin's letter)
According to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, the
'f' word first appears in the late seventeenth
century. It is not related to the German 'ficken'
or the French 'foutre'. and its origins remain
unknown. The Reader's  Digest Universal
Dictionary , on the other hand, gives the source,
claiming German origin and the Middle Dutch
'fokken' , meaning 'to strike.'
However, Richard Ehrenberg's Capital and Finance in
the Age of the Renaissance (1928)  states that 'it is
undeniable, moreover, that the Fugger in many
countries were hated by the people. Envy and
misunderstanding contributed not a little to their
unpopularity. In popular language their name
was used as a generic term for a great monopolist.
 The Fucher, Fokker, Fucar and so forth have ever
since become in many different countries the name
for the financiers which the people held responsible
for every evil.'
This is presumably in reference to Jacobe Fugger the
Rich (died 1526) who gained his ast wealth from
control of the silver mines of Schwaz, dealings with
merchant houses of AUgsberg and Bruges, and the
Habsburg dependency on instant loans to ease
their constant strifes. He was possibly referred to
by both Maximilian I and Charles V as 'that Rich
Fugger.'