# Does every sentence out of your mouth need to contain the word "fuck?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544 "2018-08-30T22:12:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/61 "2018-09-02T07:40:44Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Look, I can swear along with the best, and I’m no prude. > But sitting here at the bar listening to two loudmothed douches talking is giving me a headache. > > Why does every sentence need to contain the word “fuck?” I’m in my mid-50s. These guys aren’t far behind. This is a public place. Do you really need to say fuck every 30 seconds? What is this need? > > Why can’t you just converse like adults? To be honest, one of the last places I worked at suffered from the same affliction. > > Just speak normally, please. Well, that’s my rant. > > Ughh. > > ETA:I’m tough. I’m cool. Look at me!!! > > Fuck you I think throwing “fuck” once or twice in every sentence is a requirement in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/62 "2018-09-02T23:21:49Z")
If I’m using it as filler – just spacing between the words – not for emphasis and not to indicate emotion – –If I’m fucking using it as fucking filler – just fucking spacing between the fucking words – not for fucking emphasis and not to fucking indicate fucking emotion – I presume there would be a linguistic term for that. What would it be? ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/63 "2018-09-03T02:50:39Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > …Of course, since I _am_ an adult, I don’t really feel like using that word every sentence - that would just devalue it. It is a word that must be used sparingly for best effect. While raising multiple kids to young adulthood, I can count on one hand the times the F word has been invoked in an effort to punctuate a pivotal teaching moment. If it’s used every day, then it loses that special punch. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/64 "2018-09-03T03:03:03Z")
Penn Jillette wrote a wonderful article for a web site that no longer exists, and it is no longer linked on his own site. In fact, the only place it exists is in[the archive of his web site on archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20080507173729/http://pennandteller.com/sincity/penn-n-teller/excite/swear.html). Hopefully it is obscure enough that the mods will let me quote it in full, as I’m pretty sure I’m one of the only people who remember it and the Dope should: \*I’ve stopped swearing. I’m 42 years old and from the time I was 16, I talked like carnies and rockers and truckers and sailors. I tried to talk like all the cool people, using obscenity for every part of speech. It seemed like a ticket into a special group of outsiders. I never used hard obscenity on stage, but I was always trying to slip expletives onto the radio (you do know that the FCC is unconstitutional on every front, right?). But in daily existence, I talked trash. Several months ago, I went to see Slash’s Snakepit at a venue in Vegas. He played his guit-box like a ringin’ a bell. I was enjoying the show. After the third selection, when it was time for Slash to welcome us, he said, "Welcome. We’re really glad to be back in the USA. We were in South America and those people didn’t understand us. It feels good to be home. But, he didn’t use those words. I don’t have a tape, and I wasn’t taking notes, but the words he said were along the lines of, "Oh # man. How you #ers doing? It is so #ing great to #ing be #ing back in this #ing coun-#ing-try. #, man, #. I mean, #. #, man, #. I mean #. Down there, well, #, they #ing don’t #ing speak #ing English, man. #. #, it’s so #ing great to #ing be here. In the previous quote, “#” stands for the favorite root word of all wise-cracking, sophisticated, modern folk (it also drove my spell checker nuts). That magic word can be used for every part of speech (yes, its function can even be Conjunction Junction). I sat in the balcony wondering if I sounded like that. I started becoming more aware of swearing. I had an epiphany – I realized no one thought I was talking like a carney. They thought I was talking like a mall kid. Nowadays, who knows how carnies talk? It’s like tattoos. They used to mean you were on the bally, in the joint, or on the sea. Now, tattoos and swearing just mean you’ve been to Tower Records. Even mall T-shirts proclaim the magic word. I still use all those words, even the “C” one that still has some small amount of integrity and magic. However, I only use them for their literal meaning. If I’m talking about real sex, I don’t talk baby talk. You won’t catch me “making love,” “doing it,” or even “screwing.” But I don’t use obscenity as empty modifiers or even as a sexy synecdoche. My decision to stop swearing is not a moral position. It’s not to be polite. It’s not to fit in. Quite the opposite. It makes me say what I mean and that’s often not polite. Not swearing takes my rants off auto-pilot. Not swearing makes me think. It gives those words their original magic in their literal meanings. It makes them sexier when I’m talking about sex. I started stopping swearing with some friends. It’s difficult, but it’s pretty fun. We say more of what we mean. We’ve started making it clear whether we’re displeased with someone for their morals, their style, their hygiene, or their looks (all valid reasons). We no longer label them all with one compound body part metonym. We’ve become more precise. There’s more information. When someone is talking nonsense, it’s bolder, more aggressive, and less acceptable to say, “No, that’s not true,” than to shout a friendly, ho-hum, reference to bovine fecal matter. Not swearing is not the right thing to do. It’s not the classy thing to do. It makes the truth plainer and that’s rarely society’s view of polite. There is a downside. Last night I banged the little toe of my right foot hard on the door jam in the middle of the night. I had nothing to say.\* ---
**Author:** ![Hurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hurk)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/65 "2018-09-03T04:24:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Look, I can swear along with the best, and I’m no prude. > But sitting here at the bar listening to two loudmothed douches talking is giving me a headache. > > Why does every sentence need to contain the word “fuck?” I’m in my mid-50s. These guys aren’t far behind. This is a public place. Do you really need to say fuck every 30 seconds? What is this need? > > Why can’t you just converse like adults? To be honest, one of the last places I worked at suffered from the same affliction. > > Just speak normally, please. Well, that’s my rant. > > Ughh. > > ETA:I’m tough. I’m cool. Look at me!!! > > Fuck you It’s the continuing destruction of the west’s Judeo/Christian culture, which used to include common decency and self-restraint. When I’m around my buddies we use it constantly, but that is to be expected. Widespread use of it nearly everywhere nowadays – no matter if women, kids, etc. are around – bothers me. Here is a story from “The Good Old Days (late '60s):” When I was 18 (drinking was legal) I hung around this one bar several nights a week. It was run by an “older” (cough) guy, maybe 50-ish, the clientele were all young. If he heard you throw an F-bomb he would give you a warning. If he heard a second one, you were out for the night. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/66 "2018-09-03T04:52:55Z")
For me, it was the Internet that led me to start using more curse words than normal. For the longest time, I barely used them at all. But now I find they can convey a tone that is hard to portray otherwise without being overly verbose. Problem is, it leaked into my everyday life, where tone is sufficient to communicate the same thing. That said, even in that, it just became a part of words I just say. It can just automatically come out when I’m angry. Otherwise, it doesn’t really fit to me. That said, I do think it can fit a rocker’s image. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/67 "2018-09-03T06:51:18Z")
What the fuck do you mean? Are there really people that use the work “fuck” in every fucking sentence? Fuck, that sucks. . Yes, one will occasionally encounter a conversation or discussion where the language use is not to your standards. Some cultures use mild (or not so mild) profanity in a commonplace conversation. Other cultures have other foibles. For example, there is a sub-culture that posts on online forums using short incomplete sentence fragments, yet will get upset if this is pointed out to them. . Live and let live, and you will get a lot less ulcers. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/68 "2018-09-03T07:36:19Z")
There are unwritten rules in every society, but the rules can be quite different. Not only speech, but references. Nobody would get any SDMB or Internet memes and many are offended by _fuck_ when I am forced to socialize with my – mostly over-70 – fellow Realtors, which is one reason I try to avoid such interactions. Onceuponatime, at a Christmas party, I sat down at the piano and played some carols, like Bob & Tom’s [White Christmas,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYd0GCv9zNg) and South Park’s _It’s Hard to be a Jew on Christmas_. When I got to the line, “And what the fuck is up with lighting all these fucking candles? Tell me, please!”, my boss gave me _such_ a glare. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/69 "2018-09-03T12:09:56Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > It is a word that must be used sparingly for best effect. While raising multiple kids to young adulthood, I can count on one hand the times the F word has been invoked in an effort to punctuate a pivotal teaching moment. If it’s used every day, then it loses that special punch. When my daughter was a kid she fell into the habit of saying “frigging” all the time. Yet she would _ **never** _ “say the f-word”. One day I explained that frigging=fucking, just like darn=damn, crap=shit, cheese&rice=jesuschrist, etc. That realization freaked her the fuck out. She used “frigging” rarely after that and always blushed when she realized what she’d said. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/70 "2018-09-03T14:56:55Z")
> [@MarvinKitFox](#): > > What the fuck do you mean? > Are there really people that use the work “fuck” in every fucking sentence? > Fuck, that sucks. > . As an aside: that is one of the things I love about American English. When your vacuum cleaner won’t suck, that really blows. And when your fan stops blowing, that just totally sucks. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/71 "2018-09-03T16:00:54Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > [This scene from _The Wire_](https://youtu.be/YOyvDRxK--o?t=1m8s) is rather famous. For 4½ minutes two top-notch homicide detectives work a crime scene communicating using only ‘Fuck’ and its variants. I count 36 ‘Fucks’ during the scene, though only 23 appear in [this transcript](http://www.tvsubtitles.net/subtitle-5630.html). Mundane swearing isn’t for me. I think it makes a person sound unintelligent or worse. OTOH, I’ve loved that scene from the get go. If you do something creative with otherwise problematic words then that’s something else entirely. A couple of alcohol muddled bozos at a bar are probably a far cry from McNulty and Bunk. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/72 "2018-09-03T16:52:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > When my daughter was a kid she fell into the habit of saying “frigging” all the time. Yet she would _ **never** _ “say the f-word”. > > One day I explained that frigging=fucking, just like darn=damn, crap=shit, cheese&rice=jesuschrist, etc. That realization freaked her the fuck out. She used “frigging” rarely after that and always blushed when she realized what she’d said. Frigging is masturbating, at least according to Victorian erotica, and usually done alone. Fucking requires another person. They really aren’t equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/73 "2018-09-03T17:32:37Z")
On occasion I run into complete garbage mouth’s, it aggravates me. Some uses I am fine with. Saying something is fucked up or just fucked seems to work when called for. But " the adjective “fucking” as in fucking great, or fucking awful bugs me if used too much, same with fucker. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/74 "2018-09-04T06:21:08Z")
Yeah, I cuss like a motherfucker, so fuckin’ what? I’d rather be a fucking potty mouth than some sorry-ass fuckloaf who wouldn’t say “shit” if he had a mouthful. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544/75 "2018-09-04T14:22:39Z")
Like any other part of speech, it can be used well or poorly. See the _Deadpool_ films for examples of wonderful usage of the word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-sentence-out-of-your-mouth-need-to-contain-the-word-fuck/820544.md?page=3)