Buzz
The letter F traces its origins back to the Phoenician letter waw, which was integrated into the early Greek alphabet over 2500 years ago. The Phoenicians used waw to represent various sounds, such as “u,” “v,” and “w.” When the Greeks adopted it, they ingeniously split its usage. The Greek letter upsilon (Y) handled the “u” and “v” sounds, while digamma (F) took on the “w” sound. However, since the “w” sound was less common in Ancient Greek, digamma eventually faded. The Romans revived it, with their Latin letter V continuing upsilon’s role, while F evolved to represent the softer “f” sound.
Since then, the letter F has been a staple of the Roman alphabet. Today, it makes up approximately 2.5% of written English, thanks to its presence in common words like for, if, from, and of (the sole English word where F is pronounced as “v”). It also starts around 3% of all dictionary entries, including the 40 remarkable F-words listed here…
1. Facetiae
Derived from Latin, facetiae originally meant “cleverness” or “skillfulness.” By the 16th century, it referred to collections of humorous or witty remarks. However, during the Victorian era, the term took on a more scandalous meaning, becoming a euphemism for pornographic material.
2. Fakement
An 18th-century term used to describe a forged signature or counterfeit document.
3. Falsiloquence
Also referred to as fallaciloquence, falsiloquence describes deceitful or dishonest speech. On the other hand, fatiloquence or fatiloquy refers to the act of predicting the future or fortune-telling. If you’re flexiloquent, you enjoy using ambiguous language to mislead or confuse others.
4. Famelicose
The Latin term fames, meaning “hunger,” gave rise to both famelic (an adjective describing something related to hunger) and famelicose (an 18th-century term meaning “frequently very hungry”).
5. Famgrasp
The 16th-century word famble, likely a slang variation of “fumble,” referred to a hand. This spawned several related terms: fam was an 18th-century term for a gold ring; fam-snatchers was 19th-century slang for gloves; among Victorian criminals, fam-squeeze meant to strangle someone with bare hands; and famgrasp described the act of shaking hands to seal an agreement.
6. Famigerate
Originating from a Latin term meaning “to carry,” famigerate refers to the act of bringing or reporting news from foreign lands.
7. Family-Disturbance
A playful cowboy slang term used to describe whisky.
8. Fanfaronade
In addition to describing a showy fanfare, fanfaronade is a 17th-century term for boastful or self-promoting speech. Similarly, a fanfaron is someone who brags arrogantly.
9. Fang-Faker
A Victorian slang term used to refer to a dentist.
10. Fedigragous
A person described as fedifragous has violated a promise or commitment, or is considered untrustworthy or disloyal. Similarly, a fedifraction refers to the act of breaking an oath or failing to keep a promise.
11. Fell-Lurking
A Shakespearism, appearing in Henry VI: Part 2, meaning “lingering with the intent to cause trouble.”
12. Fescennine
Fescennia, an ancient city in Etruria, was part of the Etruscan civilization over 2500 years ago. As the Roman Empire grew, it absorbed various Etruscan songs and poems, known as “Fescennine verses.” Initially performed during harvests or weddings, these verses gradually became more vulgar and rowdy. Today, the term fescennine describes anything indecent, crude, or morally unrestrained.
13. Fillyloo
A loud commotion or outburst.
14. Fire-Scordel
An old English dialect term for someone who spends their day idling by the fire. A dog that does the same is called a fire-spannel.
15. Firkytoodle
To firkytoodle means to lovingly touch or caress someone. The term likely originates from the older word firk, which meant “to beat.”
16. Firtle
To firtle means to fidget or move about restlessly, or to appear busy while accomplishing very little.
17. Flambuginous
Similar to flimflam, a flam refers to a whimsical or fanciful notion—and anything described as flambuginous resembles such a “flam.”
18. Flamfoo
An old Scots dialect term for a woman dressed in an overly flashy or showy manner. It stems from flamfew, a 16th-century word for something trivial or of little value.
19. Flapdoodler
Flapdoodle is 19th-century slang for nonsense or foolish talk, making a flapdoodler someone who speaks utter rubbish.
20. Flaunt-Tant
A flaunt-tant refers to a pretentious display of overly elaborate or pompous language.
21. Flaybottomist
In 18th-century slang, schoolteachers were called flaybottomists due to their practice of caning misbehaving students. More endearing nicknames for teachers include haberdasher of pronouns and knight of grammar.
22. Flitter-Mouse
Alongside flickermouse and flinder-mouse, flitter-mouse is a Tudor-era term for a bat.
23. Floccinaucinihilipilification
Derived from Latin words floccus (“a wisp”), naucum (“a trifle”), nihil (“nothing”), and pilus (“a hair”), all meaning “very little” or “nothing,” the term floccinaucinihilipilification—reportedly invented by Eton College students studying Latin—combines these into a noun meaning “the act of deeming something worthless.” Often regarded as one of the longest words in English and a staple in many dictionaries, floccinaucinihilipilification is etymologically linked to a 16th-century verb…
24. Floccipend
… which similarly means “to consider something unimportant.”
25. Fluckadrift
An old term from northern Scotland describing a sudden rush or urgency.
26. Flug-Fisted
An Irish dialect term describing someone who is left-handed.
27. Flummaty-Gumption
An old Yorkshire dialect word for a state of unease or agitation, or, more broadly, excessive sweating.
28. Flunter-Drawer
Flunter is an old English dialect word for a loose piece or fragment of something, or the messy end of an object, like a frayed rope or string. From this, the flunter-drawer refers to that disorganized drawer where miscellaneous items are kept.
29. Flurry-Go-Nimble
A remarkably fitting old Cornish dialect term for diarrhea.
30. Foister
A pickpocket or swindler.
31. Folliful
Derived from folly, being folliful means you enjoy playing tricks or practical jokes.
32. Follow-Me-Lads
In the 19th century, loose curls of hair or untied bonnet ribbons hanging down a woman’s back or shoulders were called follow-me-lads. A popular myth suggests single women used this as a signal to attract suitors, but it’s more likely the word inspired the myth rather than the reverse.
33. Fordrunken
Unsurprisingly, if you’re fordrunken, it means you’re intoxicated.
34. Fore-Witter
Someone who has knowledge of an event before it happens. On the other hand, if you’re fat-witted, you’re considered slow-minded or foolish.
35. Forfex
A “humorously pedantic” (as per the Oxford English Dictionary) Latin-derived term for a pair of scissors. From this, if something is forficate, it means it’s scissor-shaped, while…
36. Forficulate
… to forficulate is to feel a creeping, tingling sensation. It comes from forficula, the Latin word for an earwig (also derived from forfex), and literally means “to feel as if an insect is crawling on your skin.”
37. Fortravailed
A Scots dialect term meaning “extremely tired” or “worn out from labor.”
38. Fox-Fire
The glowing phosphorescent light given off by a dying ember is called fox-fire. While now mostly found in certain American dialects, the term fox-fire has been in use since the late 15th century.
39. Futrat
A 19th-century term for a weasel or ferret—and, figuratively, a nickname for someone with a narrow or sharp facial structure.
40. Fuzzle
A Scots dialect word describing the amount of alcohol needed to make someone feel mildly tipsy.
