I was wondering today; why is “fuck” sort of the flagship of offensive words in American/Canadian English?
We’ve had threads on the word before, and Cecil has reported on whether or not it’s an acronym (it isn’t) but I was curious has to how this particular word became the sine qua non of swear words. Obviously, it describes something traditionally regarded as dirty (sex) but so do the following words: screw, hump, bang, boff, make love, etc. None are considered as dirty as “fuck.”
About WHEN did “fuck” become the most offensive commonplace obscenity in English?
Why?
Before the point at which it became the prime obscenity, what was the worst thing you could say?
A word becomes a bad word when it pays disrespect to its synonyms, and when it is used in a vulgar manner. Someone who has never heard English will be able to figure out what our curse words are from how we use them.
Certainly the brevity and phonetic sharpness of the word lends itself to be used in such a manner, but beyond that, it is only a matter of context being perpetuated.
For this reason, too, curse words become common and acceptable over time.
I agree. And I would add that it also makes you look a little fierce when you use it. Look at yourself in the mirror sometime and watch your mouth as it forms that f. See those bared teeth peekin’ out?
Implicit in its use there is often a connotation of attack and degradation not normally ascribed to its synonyms. It combines the basest sense of the physical act of sex with hostility and disdain. The meaning of “f*ck you” is very far removed from that of “lets make love.”
It is versatile, however, and saying “the door was open and I saw them f*cking” might be considered crude and vulgar, but it doesn’t convey the most offensive use of the word.
I remember when that word actually had some shock value. Quentin Tarantino has done a lot to change that, and it’s a shame. When I was a kid, “fuck” wasn’t just offensive – it was like a magic word that only certain people used. When I first uttered “fuck” as a ten-year-old, I wasn’t entirely sure God wouldn’t immediately punish me. (That’s about when I lost all religion; maybe there’s a connection.)
Eric Cartman on the subject: “What’s the big deal? Fuck fuck fuckety fuck. Not hurtin’ nothin’.”
Now I feel like singing “Shut Your Fucking Face, Uncle-Fucka”.
I think another aspect is that any language has to have a few flagship forbidden words. Kind of like you can only have light if you have dark to compare it to, verbally speaking.
Can anyone back me up or refute me on this? Are there any languages with no really evil words to speak of?
It seems to me that the offensiveness of the word has almost nothing to do with its meaning, and almost everything to do with its long tradition of offensiveness. Simply put, it’s bad because it’s bad.
The etymology of the word is somewhat mysterious, but one theory holds that it derives from a Germanic verb that literally meant the copulating of animals. It thus carries some negative connotations not associated with other terms relating to sexual intercourse (mindlessness, brutishness, and possibly violence).
The word is objectionable to people who object to it and it has no relation to its objective meaning. Similar words exist in French and German (and as the OP mentioned, also in English) that have the same meaning, but no shock value. And it could not shock someone who had never heard it. You learn its signicance from how its used. In Quebec, the most objectional swear words are connected with religion: chalice and tabernacle. Obviously, these words also have non-profane meanings, but the guy who hits his finger with a hammer will likely utter one of them. I can’t recall the first time I heard it, but it was obvious a forbidden word. And you NEVER saw it in print. The etymology dictionary Partridge (from the 1930s) has an entry for fk that says it is one of the two words of standard English (the other being ct) that cannot be printed anywhere in the English speaking world.
I have a colleague who escaped from Germany at age 16 in 1939 and one of the first thing he saw was a graffito painted on a wall that said, “FUCK HITLER” and he could not imagine why anyone in England was wishing a pleasurable act on H****r. After 63 years of speaking English he now understands.
My (admittedly limited) knowledge of Japanese, which I learned in Japan, BTW, has taught me that Japanese has only two “curse” words, and they’re rather mild at that.
Shimatta is a word that should generally be avoided, and its meaning gets stronger depending on how you say it. To say simply “shimatta” means something along the lines of “darn it!” To say SHIMATTA!!! means something along the lines of “God dammit!!!”
Kuso means “shit.” I’m not clear on whether it’s a noun, as in “Behold the shit,” or an interjection, as in “Oh, shit.” Or maybe it’s both.
After watching some mid-evening shows the other night (including Billy Connolly’s World Tour of England, Ireland and Wales , I can assure you that “fuck” does not even get beeped out any more on Australian TV.
That privilege seems to be reserved for the word “cunt”.
Also, most of the synonyms the OP mentions still serve the English language in a non-obscene manner: turn of the screw; over the hump; a loud bang; etc. The fact that they are still in everyday use in their original context prevents their “dirty” context from becoming too offensive.
Eff-You-See-Kay and See-You-En-Tee have no such double-duty, and can thus devote all their time to being associated with sex (American society’s main offender). In the case of “boff,” I believe the phonetics explain its mildness, as it is playful-sounding and thus playfully used.
For a sharper example on how context makes words offensive, study your more common racial slurs.
Why does the word “fu*k” offend so many Americans? Because, for a country founded on the belief in freedom of speech, Americans are easily offended! Trust me, I’ve lived here all my life, and every day I’m overwhelmed by how upset people get both when they’re told not to say something offensive, and when someone says something they don’t like.
What is wrong with the word FUCK…
I suppose it is a perfectly good exclamation when used appropriately…for instance when, after saving money all my life, I am stopped at a traffic light 200 feet from the dealership where I just picked up the new, custom-built Porsche Boxster I ordered two years ago. I am enchanted with this flawless tribute to the automotive engineer’s art and intoxicated by the wafting aroma of the leather and wood interior. Empowered by the understated throbbing of 300 horsepower, I am enroute to my first date with the earthly equivalent of Elle McPherson when WHAM! Some old lady in a yellow 1978 Lincoln rear-ends me because several of the dozen or so Pekignese dogs she has with her are fighting for the right to hump the armrest and have distracted her from her cell-phone conversation. At times like this saying “Golly” just doesn’t work.
On the other hand "‘fuck’ can be quite tedious, especially when it is used on a continual basis as the subject, object, adjective, noun, verb, adverb, comma and period of every sentence by people whose vocabularies do not extend into polysyllabic words over four letters in length or by mental burnouts like Ozzie Osborne.
For almost every conversational use a better word could be chosen if anyone really gave a fuck.
Although the meaning is the same I had read it was an acronym.
I used to be old english (or something to that effect).
Back in the day that you needed permission from the King to have children.
I stands for Fornication Under Concent of the King.
And was posted on the door of couples trying to concieve a child.
Alright, so I’ll be a little more polite and elaborate. Cecil himself has debunked this story, as have countless other sources.
Fuck never was an acronym, it isn’t short for anything. I believe it comes from a word in German, but you’d have to check with Cecil’s response (just run a search for it in the archives).
