# Language no-nos **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 29, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-no-nos/569453 "2011-01-29T23:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-no-nos/569453/21 "2011-01-31T15:57:50Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > We’re gentlemen, **crow**. We may call each other fat whores and half-solidified pools of canine excretions but we remain gentlemen. Without rules we would be savages. Savages, **crow**! Savages! [Rules? In a [del]knife fight[/del] pit thread? No rules!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1e9Matf19k#t=1m25) CMC fnord! I’ve oft’ been heard to say “I’m a barbarian, not a fuckin’ savage!”, so point taken . . . or something. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-no-nos/569453/22 "2011-02-01T04:14:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Social conventions may be “silly,” but they are still social conventions. There is a huge difference between saying “fuck off” and saying “go away and don’t bother me.” No there isn’t. The “huge difference” is imaginary. They are both phrases that have nothing to do with sex. They both use words as symbols and they both mean the same thing. You choose to interpret one as unacceptable and the other as acceptable. I don’t. My grandson and I had an interesting discussion about the word “fuck” when he was fourteen. We talked about what a convenient word it is. We discussed the idea that deliberately hurting someone who was sensitive was probably not a good idea most of the time, but sometimes it was appropriate. (Either phrase would probably serve to do that.) More likely than not, “fuck off,” is used in kidding with family or friends. Certainly my linguistics professor would find your point of view just _wrong_. And social conventions can be ridiculous when examined with a little perspective. There are other places we can go? No kidding! ---
**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:** [February 1, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-no-nos/569453/23 "2011-02-01T04:56:52Z")
Your linguist professor is ignorant if he actually claims that “go away” and “fuck off” mean the same thing. Fuck is a word specifically designed to be a vulgarity. The phrase “fuck off” was specifically designed to be an insult. While its poignancy has decreased over time, it in no way has dropped to a non-vulgarism. Plenty of people are sensitive to one and not the other. Heck, the reason I want it back is that, with its absence, people have to create new vulgarities, most of which wind up being more offensive, when all that they intend to convey is the lesser one. “Go away” is considered so mild that it’s acceptable outside the Pit, so it’s not available. Trying to subvert social conventions because you personally don’t find them offensive is not the work of a linguist, and does more harm than good. Believe me, I’ve tried to point out how illogical most of the world is, and how it would be better if you did not ignorantly trust your emotions, but nobody cares. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-no-nos/569453/24 "2011-02-01T16:12:15Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > No there isn’t. The “huge difference” is imaginary. Are you seriously saying that you don’t recognize the difference in tone and intent between the two phrases, and that the tonal difference is meaningless? > [@](#): > > More likely than not, “fuck off,” is used in kidding with family or friends. People use it to express exasperation, annoyance, or anger with the person. Now _some people_ might drop it in casual conversation with family/friends and not mean any irritation or annoyance, just an alternative and “funny” way to say “go away, please”, but _most_ people mean “you’re bothering me - stop it” or some variation. And it certainly has a stronger meaning when used in a situation with strangers, where it almost certainly is meant as an aggressive form of “go away before I give you a beating”. **BigT** said: > [@](#): > > Fuck is a word specifically designed to be a vulgarity. It was? I thought it was the common word for the sex act. It is a “vulgarity” _because_ it was the common word, so not nearly refined enough for polite company. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/language-no-nos/569453.md?page=1)