1989 December 17, Christopher Wittke, “On The Edge In The '80s”, inGay Community News, volume17, number23, page 9:
From the earliest part of this decade when hefunked in relative obscurity to his days as a superstar with the release of hisBatman soundtrack last summer, I could almost always count on Prince.
Look, glittery tacos have their place. A date, business lunch, night out with besties, etc. But otherwise, paying almost 20 bucks for pizzazz between a few tortillas in Huntsville,funk that.
1743, Scottish and Northern English dialectal word, originally a verb meaning "to panic, fail due to panic". Perhaps from or cognate with obsoleteDutchfonck(“distress, agitation”), fromMiddle Dutchfonck(“perturbation, agitation”). More atflunk.
1875, The Art of Swimming in the Eton Style,The Art of Swimming in the Eton Style:
It is the long probation in the old way of teaching that fellows funk at or makesfunks of them and their slow pace, almost up to the end of that probation, all who teach themselves are in a worse predicament as the hands with them are made the principle propellors instead of the feet.
1857,Charles Kingsley, “(please specify the page)”, inTwo Years Ago, volume(please specify |volume=I to III), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire:Macmillan and Co.,→OCLC:
He'll havefunked it , when he comes to the edge , and sees nothing but mist below
1875, The Art of Swimming in the Eton Style,The Art of Swimming in the Eton Style:
It is the long probation in the old way of teaching that fellowsfunk at or makes funks of them and their slow pace, almost up to the end of that probation, all who teach themselves are in a worse predicament as the hands with them are made the principle propellors instead of the feet.
1938, Norman Lindsay,Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.:Ure Smith, published1962,→OCLC, page56:
"Always wanted a go at the figure.Funked it. Shows what a man can do, given the right model. Dam' good model."
(the dialectal form): The ending-e in present tense is reduced in the negation form (while spoken). Hence the written form "funk itj" is used, when the standard spelling is "funkarikkje". Compare to phrases like "æårskitj" ("I do not bother").
W czołowym dzienniku polskojęzycznym uczą nas demokracji, tolerancji, europejskości synale wybitnychfunków Komunistycznej Partii Polski, KPZU.
In the leading Polish-language daily, we are taught democracy, tolerance, and European-ness by the sons of prominentofficials of the Communist Party of Poland, CPWU.
This word used primarily to refer to functionaries of former communist parties (especially the Communist Party of Poland), as well as organs of the communist state.
