# Etymology of "feck"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 5, 2002, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497 "2002-08-05T23:22:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2002, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/1 "2002-08-05T23:22:08Z")
A few years ago, I saw a play called Dancing at Lughnasa, in which the “feck” appearred several times. It seemed to take the place of the revered queen mother of all swear words, and I didn’t think about it much at the time. Lately PBS has been showing reruns of Father Ted and the words come up again. In one episode, the female housekeeper says feck several times but refers to the one big swear word. So, where’d this word come from and does it derrive for the German verb “to slap”? Irish dopers, can you help me out?
---
### Author:  [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/2 "2002-08-05T23:39:42Z")
Not sure of where it came from, but I was reminded of the little scene from _Almost Famous_
> [@](#):
>
> Anita Miller: FECK YOU!
> Elaine Miller: HEY!
> Anita Miller: This is a house of lies!
> Elaine Miller: Well there it is, your sister used the “F” word.
> William Miller: I think she said “feck.”
> Elaine Miller: What’s the difference?
> William Miller: The letter “u.”
---
### Author:  [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/3 "2002-08-05T23:43:15Z")
It’s what you can say without getting slapped.
You say it cos it sounds like fuck. Same as you say “sugar” instead of “shit” and “janey mack” instead of “jesus christ”, and “bloomin’” instead of “bleedin’”.
---
### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/4 "2002-08-05T23:47:55Z")
Maybe feck is the opposite of feckless?
“The feck administrator was able to pinpoint the problem, and by August, sales were up thirty percent.”
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2002, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/5 "2002-08-05T23:56:52Z")
My guess would be that it’s a combination of “fuck” and “heck”. And yes, you’re allowed to use crude language here, if it’s in an appropriate context. Surely, discussion of the etymologies of said words is an appropriate context.
---
### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2002, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/6 "2002-08-06T02:27:06Z")
Mr. Quinion, over at [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fec1.htm](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fec1.htm) offers that
> [@](#):
>
> It’s an excellent example of a word for which only the negative now exists; some other examples are gormless, ruthless, and hapless. At first feck was a Scots word, a cropped form of effect, so to say that a person is feckless is to describe them as ineffective.
While I"m sure that your hearing of the word is in no way related to the word in its native usage, I thought you might find this interesting.
---
### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/7 "2002-08-06T02:57:19Z")
Recently I saw someone interviewed on TV ( a British program I believe) who stated that feck and shite were both derived for use by actors on Irish TV. They are allowed to air while the words they replace would not be.
---
### Author:  [@Moonshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonshine)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2002, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/8 "2002-08-06T11:19:38Z")
Having an Irish girlfriend, I can confirm that the word is in common usage in Ireland. It doesn’t seem to have even nearly the impact of ‘fuck’ and I’ve often seen it used as the equivalent of ‘damn’, just as a mild expletive.
---
### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2002, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/9 "2002-08-06T11:26:09Z")
ARSE!
GIRLS!
DRINK!
FECK!
---
### Author:  [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2002, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/10 "2002-08-06T13:08:08Z")
That’s [Father Ted](http://www.father-ted.co.uk/) for those you don’t know.
Well, Father Jack really, for those who have managed to live without this classic comedy .
Not at all sure if they were the first to use it on TV, but certainly the most famous for it.
---
### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2002, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/11 "2002-08-06T13:28:31Z")
I was quite freaked by this word when I first arrived - I was misquoted to my then-girlfriend’s mother as having said “Feck her then!”. I was mortified, but she thought it was hilarious. Of course, I assumed it merely meant “fuck”. It’s a bizarre duality, since it’s so similar as to be saying something like “billocks” or “cunp”.
This duality is illustrated beautifully by the character of Mrs Doyle, in the aforementioned Father Ted:
> [@](#):
>
> ‘Oh she writes such filth, Father. It’s always “Feck this” and “Feck that” - and sometimes she even uses the “F” word!’
---
### Author:  [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/12 "2002-08-06T14:45:51Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _“…Ride me sideways was another…”_
The ever classic Mrs Doyle, for the same speech as above
---
### Author:  [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2002, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/13 "2002-08-06T15:03:31Z")
Thanks Samclem. I saw that before I posted. Thanks to everyone else so far. Mrs. Doyle kills me. In fact, that exact quote is what led me to start thinking about this.
This is obviously a question of monumental importance, and I won’t be able to sleep soundly until I know. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Doctordec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctordec)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-feck/122497/14 "2002-08-06T23:43:28Z")
I used to work with a guy that spent some time in the US Air Force stationed in Limestone, Maine. He used the phrase “feck it” regularly. He claimed it was in regular usage by the natives in upstate Maine.