Bork
1980s: from the name of Robert Bork (1927–2012), an American judge whose nomination to the Supreme Court (1987) was rejected following unfavourable publicity for his allegedly extreme views.
wiktionary
A reference to the unsuccessful 1987 United States Supreme Courtnomination of Robert Bork (1927–2012); [1] first appeared in print that same year.
Possibly derived from borken, an intentional misspelling of the word broken used in ironic or humorous contexts; or from the usage described under “ Etymology 1” above.
From the species name of Pagothenia borchgrevinki.
Mutation of bark.
Perhaps from a blend of boink + pork.
etymonline
bork (v.)
"to discredit a candidate for some position by savaging his or her career and beliefs," 1987, from name of U.S. jurist Robert H. Bork, whose Supreme Court nomination in 1987 was rejected after an intense counter-campaign. Similar instances had happened before:
[John Quincy Adams's] printed assault upon Jonathan Russell—who had been so ill-advised as to cast doubts upon the patriotism of Adams's conduct at Ghent—was so deadly that for many years afterwards the vocabulary of America was increased, though not enriched, by the transitive verb "to Jonathan-Russell," meaning to pulverize an opponent. [George Dangerfield, "The Era of Good Feeling," 1953]
