# Why is there no standard English equivalent for the "f-word"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502 "2006-12-01T18:25:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/41 "2006-12-02T15:29:00Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] What you really want to know is why, when most extremely common and much thought about activities have a simple polite and commonly used word for them, the usual word used for this particular very common human activity is considered impolite ie “fuck” … [/QUOTE] As others said, there are plenty of words to describe the activity itself - copulate, fornicate, etc. What the OP seems to be asking is why there is no polite _transitive verb_ that describes the activity. My feeling is that using _any_ transitive verb makes the sentence sound offensive or at least impolite. It adds the connotation that sexual intercourse is a one-sided act, not a mutual act. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/42 "2006-12-02T15:35:29Z")
[QUOTE=jebert] Lots of things, but not this one. Witness “fuck.” [/QUOTE] This has been repeatedly answered. The word you don’t think exists is “know.” He went home to **know** his wife. It fits your required sentence structure, is unambiguous, and it is acceptable usage in polite conversation. (In as much as discussion of sex is acceptable in polite conversation, of course.) And it has been around for a long time. Another one is “pleasure.” He went home to **pleasure** his wife. This one is most commonly used for masturbation, in that someone may say they pleasured themself, but it also satisfies your requirement. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/43 "2006-12-02T17:47:56Z")
“Tupp” Is this used or does it relate only to animal “mountings” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/44 "2006-12-02T20:02:43Z")
“Boink” is still in use. You can find it in Janet Evanovich’s novels. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/45 "2006-12-02T21:20:37Z")
Shall we roll round the haystack with our arms round each other? While the piggies go “oink, oink,oink”? We could disco or samba, better yet let’s do la bamba.\* Shall we boink? Shall we boink? Shall we boink? –Forbidden Broadway’s Parody of “Shall We Dance” from the King & I. \*The king was being portrayed by Lou Diamond Phillips. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/46 "2006-12-03T04:02:19Z")
The transitive verb “swive” {interestingly, cognate with “swivel”, which was not recorded in verb form until much later} was first recorded in OE, and used in ME by Chaucer, and thus considerably predates the word “fuck”, an import first recorded in the early 16th century. As to why “swive” fell out of fashion, who knows? Sometimes words do. Certainly “fuck” has a better blunt plosive force, something it shares with the other “four letter” words. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/47 "2006-12-03T04:02:45Z")
Yes but every single example given, **scr4** , fits within “sounding, imprecise, euphemistic, ambiguous, not in common usage, or are phrases that dance around the subject matter”. I mean really, look at \*\*Ellis Dee’s \*\* examples: “know” and “pleasure” are both utterly ambiguous, and never used outside of extremely stiff and formal circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/48 "2006-12-03T04:51:28Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] “know” and “pleasure” are both utterly ambiguous [/QUOTE] When used in the sentence “He went home to know his wife.”, it’s pretty clear what is meant. One would reasonably assume that he already knows his wife, and this use of the word “know” is in the Biblical sense. One could also argue that “He went home to fuck his wife.”, could be misconstrued to mean that he went home to screw his wife over. [QUOTE=Princhester] and never used outside of extremely stiff and formal circumstances. [/quote] That’s what the OP is looking for. He asked for synonyms for “fuck” “that can be used in polite company or on television.” Coming up with other slang words is a piece of cake. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/49 "2006-12-03T06:41:48Z")
“Shag.” ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/50 "2006-12-03T08:39:54Z")
“Boff” ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/51 "2006-12-03T13:44:42Z")
Bah! The problem is that people are so fucking uptight about sexuality that they are afraid to use “fuck” in polite conversation. It’s only a matter of time, people, before the President of the United States uses it in his State of the Union address. Sure, that might be decades from now, but it will happen. And some _other_ word will be the taboo one. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/52 "2006-12-03T21:09:35Z")
[QUOTE=jebert] Why is there no standard English equivalent for the “f-word”? Many of the common “four-letter Anglo-Saxonisms” have standard English equivalents that can be used in polite company or on television. Examples: cock -\> penis cunt -\> vagina shit -\> feces (noun), defecate (verb) The exception seems to be “fuck”. I have found no standard English (that is, non-slang) word to use in the sentence, “He went home to \_\_\_\_\_ his wife.” Words like “bang”, “screw”, and “nail” can be used on TV but are slang or euphemisms, not standard English. “Have sexual intercourse with” and “have sex with” are phrases, not a single word. “Fornicate” is standard but implies sex outside of marriage and can’t be used as a transitive verb. Is there a standard English equivalent word, not phrase? If not, why not? [/QUOTE] Coincidence: just today I was wondering why in English there is either no names for sexual organs (just “sexual organs”), or only literary loan words (penis, vagina, testicles), or plenty of slang names. Same situation in French and, I suspect, in Spanish and Italian. I don’t know about other languages. (this is really an IMHO question, but I didn’t want to start another thread) ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/53 "2006-12-03T21:11:13Z")
[QUOTE=Canadjun] impregnate? [/QUOTE] You can make love without without impregnating, or being impregnated. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/54 "2006-12-03T21:27:52Z")
[QUOTE=Gymnopithys] Coincidence: just today I was wondering why in English there is either no names for sexual organs (just “sexual organs”), or only literary loan words (penis, vagina, testicles), or plenty of slang names. [/QUOTE] Genitalia ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/55 "2006-12-03T22:27:05Z")
Oh, and one more: Your heart is burst, you have lost your soul. Even now, now, very now, an old black ram Is **tupping** your white ewe. Arise, arise! William Shakespeare, _Othello_, 1.1. 87-89 ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/56 "2006-12-04T10:53:10Z")
“screw” would come closest to f… in my house - is it not american usage? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/57 "2006-12-04T13:38:54Z")
[QUOTE=jebert] Why is there no standard English equivalent for the “f-word”? [/QUOTE] It is universal! There is no substitute nor equivalent. Just as the universal ancient manual gesture of fertility which is understood and offensive in any country around the world. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/58 "2006-12-04T15:37:59Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Shall we roll round the haystack with our arms round each other? While the piggies go “oink, oink,oink”? We could disco or samba, better yet let’s do la bamba.\* Shall we boink? Shall we boink? Shall we boink? –Forbidden Broadway’s Parody of “Shall We Dance” from the King & I. \*The king was being portrayed by Lou Diamond Phillips. [/QUOTE] Very good. 😃😃😃 Thanks, **Annie-Xmas**. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/59 "2006-12-04T18:05:26Z")
Noodle. Woah, I used to live on Coit Road. Heck, I even remember when it was a dirt road. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502/60 "2006-12-04T22:04:53Z")
I went home to \*\*make love to \*\* my wife. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-standard-english-equivalent-for-the-f-word/382502.md?page=4)