The Rice University Neologisms Database

Finished. Done with an attempt. Appears only to be used to describe Howard Dean's attempt to gain the democratic nomination for president ('Howard Dean was forked by acting too crazy.') The word itself does not appear to give away its meaning. It is not related to the verb 'fork' as in “The path forks ahead'. It also does not have the same meaning as 'fucked', though it sounds similar. While 'fucked' means 'in big trouble' or 'in a bad situation', 'forked' in this context means 'finished' or 'done'. Its meaning most likely comes from the phrase, “Stick a fork in him, he's done.” For the sake of brevity, this phrase has been shortened to the adjective 'forked' in order to describe the same situation. Type of word formation: Most likely a clipping of the phrase “Stick a fork in him, he's done.” This phrase has a very similar meaning to the adjective 'forked'. To the word 'fork' has been added the adjective forming suffix '-ed', most likely because this formation is used in other words such as 'forked' use to describe a lizard's tongue. However, the meaning is completely different. The phrase was used frequently to describe Howard Dean's run for the democratic nomination, which is why I believe the phrase to be the most likely origin of the word. It may also be related to the word 'fucked'. The sounds are similar, and it is likely that the word 'forked' has been used as a substitute for 'fucked' in some situations. However, this does not appear to be the origin of 'forked' in the sense it was used. However, there may be some sound similarity going on, where the word 'forked' was created to sound like 'fucked'. The adjective 'fucked' has connotations beyond simply being finished, whereas 'forked' in this sense does not. There also may be some metaphor going on. It could be that 'forked' alludes to being roasted on a fork due to making a mistake. This interpretation might make sense in the context given. The coiner was seeking to express what finished Howard Dean's run for the democratic nomination for president. After he made a mistake that ruined his chances, people began to say things like, “Stick a fork in Dean, he's done.” This was catchy, but the speaker most likely found it too long and cumbersome to use frequently. So the phrase was shortened to the central idea of a fork, made into an adjective.