Merriam-Webster makes "F-bomb" a word, claims Major League Baseball catcher as originator.

Every year various dictionary companies add a variety of new words to their collection, based on a secret formula I can only assume involves keg stands and bribe money.

Among the quirkier additions to this year's collection at Merriam-Webster is "F-bomb," a delightful word that packs 75% less impact of its original form but only 50% less charm.

But where did "F-bomb" originate from? Etymology groupies would lose sleep unless they knew--so Merriam-Webster is happy to lend some knowledge.

According to M-W, "F-bomb" originated from former Major League Baseball catcher Gary Carter in 1988 when he coined the term after a game during a Q & A session. Let's go to the original Newsday article in which Carter became a modern day Shakespeare:

Carter rarely uses profanity, so he was taken aback when umpire Greg Bonin leveled some on him in the seventh inning Monday night in Pittsburgh. Carter was called out on strikes and told Bonin he thought the pitch was outside. "He started cursing me and said I accused him of being a liar," Carter said. "After he started cursing, I walked away and I said, 'Why are you cursing at me?' He said, 'I talk like that.' I said, 'OK, guttermouth.' " Carter said he has been thrown out only twice in the majors, both times by Eric Gregg. "That was when I used to use the F-bomb."

And that, folks, is the first documented used of the F-bomb in human history. Really.

Thank you, Gary Carter.




On a side note:
"Guttermouth" was apparently still in fashion by 1988. And here I was thinking it died around 1955.

On a side note #2:
The original Newsday article also mentions the New York Mets record was broken for most cheesesteaks eaten in one three-game road trip to Philadelphia. The old record of eight was taken down. Nine became the new mark.

Admittedly, I won't sound like a beacon of health here for saying this--but is eight cheesesteaks in three days really that difficult to break? Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Three meals, three sandwiches. Doesn't seem that impossible. If this record still stands the Mets should hire me, and I'll polish off twenty in three days.

If the record has already been broken, the Mets should still hire me because I'm a worldly man of leisure and pleasant around old people.