The F-Word (28 page)
Authors: Jesse Sheidlower
fuck ’em all but six [and save them for pallbearers]
, Especially
Military
. to hell with them all. Also in euphemistic variants.
1916–17
in
Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin
XXI (1955) 100 [bowdlerized]: Cuss ’em all, cuss ’em all,/Cuss ’em all but six! [
1932
K. Nicholson & C. Robinson
Sailor Beware!
22: “All but six.” “And you can use them for pallbearers.”]
1931–34
L. A. Adamic
Dynamite
393 [refers to
ca
1925]: The motto in a factory where I once worked was: “To hell with ’em all
but six; save them for pallbearers!”
1950
J. Stuart
Objector
216: “Screw the Army, the whole God-damned Army.” “All but six.… They’ll need pall-bearers.”
1952
L. Uris
Battle Cry
[refers to 1942]: “Fugg you guys and save six for pallbearers,” Levin shouted.
1920–54
V. Randolph
Bawdy Elements
120: Oh, fuck ’em all but six, and save them for pall-bearers.
1960
D. MacCuish
Do Not Go Gentle
116 [refers to 1941]: Screw all but six and save them for pallbearers.
1972–76
C. Durden
No Bugles, No Drums
7: Dumb bastards. Fuck ’em all but eight. Leave six for pallbearers and two to beat the drums.
1987
National Lampoon
(June) 14: How about the famous Army saying “Fuck all of them but six and save
them
for pallbearers.”
2000
J. Blackthorn
I, Che Guevara
84: Fuck ’em all but six, and keep them for pallbearers.
(used to dismiss or reject someone for being (esp. hypocritically) dismissive).
1973
E. Cray
Burden of Proof
365: The ultimate condemnation, “Fuck ’Em If They Can’t Take a Joke.”
1978
A. Maupin
Tales of City
42: “Fuck ’em, if they can’t take a joke!” She laughed, hoping it would cover her embarrassment.
1985
J. Dillinger
Adrenaline
102: He drew a few stares in his…Bermudas and…sport shirt. Fuck ’em if they couldn’t take a joke.
a
1991
C. Heimel
If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?
221: It is your sacred duty to forge new ways, turn expectations asunder, and fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.
1994
Esquire
(Feb.) 80: Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.
2003
J. Smiley
Good Faith
377: And now I’m late for dinner, but, hey, fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.
(used to express dismissal, exasperation, resignation, or impetuousness).
1922
E.E. Cummings
Enormous Room
: F— it, I don’t want it.
1925
Englische Studien
LX 279 [refers to WWI]:
Fuck it
…meant much the same as
chuck it,
“put a sock in it”—stop talking; or even “clear out.”
1926
F. Wray trans. H. Barbusse
Under Fire
27: Ah, f—it!
1933
H. Miller in
Letters to Emil
(1989) 131: Fuck it! I’m starting off bad with my colors.
1934
J. O’Hara in
Selected Letters
93: My message to the world is Fuck it!
1935
in P. Oliver
Blues Tradition
231: Whee…tell ’em about me! Fuck it!
1959
J. Kerouac
Dr. Sax
40: Ah fuckit, Zagg—helmets is helmets.
1968
H. Davies
Beatles
I thought, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it. That’s really fucked everything.
1978
B. Seale
Lonely Rage
81: If you don’t want to forgive
me—well, fuck it, I’m still sorry.
1985
R. B. Parker
Catskill Eagle
356: Costigan looked back at me, “Fuck it,” he said, “get it done.” I shot him. A hole appeared in his forehead and the impact spun his swivel chair half around.
1990
L.B. Rubin
Erotic Wars
180: Fuck it, why not?
1998
W. Lamb
I Know This Much is True
547: Fuck it, man. Couldn’t keep the Grim Reaper waiting.
2008
P. Carey
His Illegal Self
53: Fuck it. She balled it in her fist and squeezed it. Wringing the water into her lap. Fuck it fuck it fuck it fuck it.
(used to express anger or astonishment); “I’ll be damned!”—also in elaborated variants.
1929
F. Manning
Middle Parts of Fortune
126 [refers to WWI]: “Well, you can fuck me!” exclaimed the astonished Martlow.
1943
G. Biddle
Journal
(July 31) in
Artist at War
(1944) 77: Teddy’s run of literary allusions is a pleasant relief after the too concentrated diet of “fuck me’s” and “fuck you’s” of the G.I.’s.
1944
L. Glassop
We Were the Rats
194: And — me if he doesn’t get stook into it with grenades.
1944–57
L. Atwell
Private
64 [refers to WWII]: F— me, I’m not hangin’ around here!
1958
W. Talsman
Gaudy Image
197: Well, fuck me double…if it isn’t Aphrodite Schultz in person.
1957–62
D. Higginbotham
U.S. Marine Corps Folklore
24: Fuck me dead!
1970
D. Wakefield
Going All the Way
296: Fuck me in the teeth. What a fuckin piece of luck.
1973
B. Hirschfeld
Generation of Victors
32: Fuck me blind! That hole ain’t half done.
1977
D. Bredes
Hard Feelings
293: I’m just trying to talk myself out of being scared shitless because, fuck me, I have to go down there.
1984
K. Weaver
Texas Crude
28: Fuck me naked! Fuck me a-runnin’!
1985
D. Dye
Run Between the Raindrops
315: Well, fuck me blind. OK, Lieutenant. Got the picture right here.
1988
D. Waters
Heathers
(film script) 8:
Veronica
. Why can’t we talk to different kinds of people.
Heather Chandler
. Fuck me gently with a chainsaw. Do I look like Mother Theresa? If I did, I probably wouldn’t mind talking to the Geek Squad.
1991
E. S. Raymond
New Hacker’s Dictionary
170: Aiighhh! Fuck me with a piledriver and 16 feet of curare-tipped wrought-iron fence
and no lubricants
!
1993
G. Lee
Honor & Duty
330: Well, fuck me to tears!…It’s really Joe Schmoe the ragman.
1995
J. Díaz in
New Yorker
(Jan. 19, 1996) 78: I hop the fence, feeling stupid when I sprawl on the…grass. Nice one, somebody calls out. Fuck me, I say.
1997
Student slang survey: If something goes wrong, you say, “Well, fuck me up the goat’s ass.”
2004
R. Pickett
Sideways
184: Oh, fuck me with a hot poker.
2006
I. Welsh
Bedroom Secrets of Master Chefs
188: I see a familiar figure approaching the bar, and fuck me if it isn’t my old mate Dessie Kinghorn.
, to astonish, intimidate, or befuddle (someone). Compare
MIND-FUCK
,
noun & verb
.
1966
R. Goldstein
1 in 7
113: Mind-fucking is taking advantage of a student who is high on pot—and thus susceptible to suggestion. For instance: “You tell someone who’s inhaled pot for a while that he’s been holding his breath for twenty minutes, and he’s liable to believe you. It really fucks his mind!”
1968
R. Gover
JC
137: Hey that sure would fuck some minds, huh.
1970
E. E. Landy
Underground Dictionary
84:
Fuck someone’s mind
…
v.
To persuade forcefully without regard for the feelings of those being persuaded.
a
1974
in
Adolescence
XIII (1978) 467: [Solitary confinement] fucks your mind, you keep saying you want to go home.
1994
R. Flanagan
Death of River Guide
128: They want to fuck your mind, that’s what she said.
1998
New Times
(Los Angeles) (Oct. 29): You can fuck my body, baby, but please don’t fuck my mind.
2001
D. Brenna
Altar of the Body
238: She knows how to bust your buns, how to fuck your mind. Well, I say fuck her!
, see under
DECK
.