where did the Irish get the idea of saying feck instead of F**k?

Answer 1

Mostly the word feck is not used instead of, or a corruption of, the word you refer to, it is a mild and socially acceptable profanity used by the Irish with the saying 'Oh Feck' being equivalent to saying 'Oh Gosh'. It has a lot more versatility, in that it can be used as a noun, verb or adjective.

To call someone a 'little fecker' is to infer that he is a nuisance, while to call him a 'right fecker' might imply that he is someone not to be trusted.

In Dublin it is also used in verb form for 'to steal' (petty theft), as in 'fecking apples from an orchard" or for 'to throw something where you shouldn't' as in 'he fecked the rubbish (garbage) over the wall.

But that said, the Irish, even in their use of the native Irish (Gaeilge) have a long tradition of substituting similar sounding words in order to avoid religious or obscene words when swearing.

Answer 2

Vernacular usage of feck in the expletive sense is syntactically interchangeable with ****, though it has no sexual connotations. This includes such phraseological variations as fecker (noun), fecking (verb or adjective), and feckin' 'ell.

The Channel 4 situation comedy Father Ted inadvertently helped to export and popularise this use of feck through its characters' liberal use of the word. In an interview, Dermot Morgan explained that, in Ireland, feck is far less offensive than ****.

Answer 3

Naughty Boy

Answer 4

To get round their master's sensibility..gaelic was forbidden to speak so different tongue arrangements were 'made' to outwit the dickheads.

Answer 5

LOL! It probably was their accent and a mishap that they decided to keep and hey it sounds better... !

Answer 6

they pronounce it that way but they mean it all the same

Answer 7

It's their accent.

Answer 8

whisky