When did the “f” word become a “popular” “cuss word?”
If a person had thrown it in 1920, or 1820, would it have been recognized as such.
I don’t mean its use as its actual meaning which has been around for a long time, but its use as a catch-all "intensifier."
Well, it was always popular as a verb. I think it started becoming popular as a noun in the mid 1950s. Webster’s states the orgin from 1503.
That reminds me of this list of notable people who have used it throughout history.
“Where did all these f–king indians come from?” -General Custer
“Where the f–k is all this water coming from?” -Captain James Smith, Titanic
“I don’t suppose its gonna f–king rain?” -Joan of Arc
“Who’s gonna f–king find out?” -Richard Nixon
“What the f–k was that?” -Mayor of Hiroshima
“How the fuck did you work that out?” -Pythagoras
Mjollnir, should be plenty on that here already, although avoid looking in the Pit.
1fuck "fek\ verb [akin to D fokken to breed (cattle), Sw dial. fokka to copulate] (15c)
verb intransitive
1 : copulate — usu. considered obscene — sometimes used in the present participle as a meaningless intensive
2 : mess 3 — used with with — usu. considered vulgar
verb transitive
1 : to engage in coitus with — usu. considered obscene — sometimes used interjectionally with an object (as a personal or reflexive pronoun) to express anger, contempt, or disgust
2 : to deal with unfairly or harshly : cheat, screw — usu. considered vulgar
©1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved.
I’m away from all my decent references at the moment. However, my memory is that its popularity as a bad word began during WWI. (The word was around as a rude verb for a long time before that, however, I cannot think of an instance prior to WWI in which it was used in all its other parts of speech.)
Prior to WWI, you would probably hear it in coarse conversation simply to indicate that person A copulated with person B. Only in the 1920’s have I seen it start to become a verb meaning to “cause problems with” or “mess up” and as an adjective or adverbial place-holder used simply as emphasis. I’ll go out on a limb and speculate that it did not become a noun until WWII (as in a dumb one).
Tom~
Im sure Cecil wrote about it extensively. Dunno how you’d search for a word he can’t write 
I’m not sure what you meant about not being able to search, but here are some links to Cecil’s commentary.
What’s the origin of the “F” word?
Do other languages have obscenities like those of English?
Tom~