How the word f*ck has become important

[iconoclast]

The word 'f*ck' does seem to have a cognate in German 'ficken', whose use is restricted to the physical side of things, although perhaps 'bumsen' is (or was) the true equivalent for that meaning.

As riverkid's excellent examples show, it's an awfully versatile little word: it functions as a verb (plus phrasal spinoffs with 'up', 'over', and 'around/about', as well as its incorporation into set expressions), as a noun (plus derivative '-er' agent noun), and as an adjective using both the present and past participles. The present participle also morphs into an adverb as in 'I couldn't f*cking care', which is sometimes expanded to 'f*cking-well' as in 'I couldn't f*cking-well care').

It and 'bloody' are the only (?) words used as infixes in English (admittedly not as a morphological feature), as in 'un-bloody-believable' and riverkid's equivalent example with the F word, as it's euphemistically called when the need arises in polite society.

The verb's even acquired a slightly self-conscious euphemistic variant 'effing and blinding' as in 'He was effing and blinding all afternoon', and 'effing and blinding' may occasionally crop up as a gerund as in 'There was much effing and blinding in response to the announcement'.

A national treasure, no less.

[Batfink]

A national treasure, no less.

I agree. And those who have a problem with its use, on a moral high ground, should stop and take a good look at themselves, because there are many a worse word.

[ayedah]

me too i can life with out this bad word

even here in Yemen and we r Muslimes there r off words but when any 1 says it the ppl see him like a guilty and it is ashamed on him......

we have to respect each other ,hvn't we ??

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by ayedah

i can life with out this bad word

Say:

I can live without this bad word.

I suggest that you read few more posts in this thread.

[mfwills]

Originally Posted by mary joe

But people generally accept it as an everyday expression.

Everyday, yes. Tolerated, maybe by some. Accepted, not so much. Probably the more apt description would be "tuned out."

I work in a high-tech manufacturing environment, where f*ck and its variations (note that we haven't really "said" the word even here) are heard so often over the course of a 12-hour shift that one tends to turn a deaf ear. The odd thing is that I hear it far more from women than from men.

It once was that it would be used among one's companions (groups of male or female alike), but never in mixed company. and never in front of your parents. That may be seen as old fashioned, but so be it. I don't use it at all, except maybe when I'm talking to myself. Never with the wife or in front of the kids. Decorum is not a bad thing.

A couple of the original seven words you can't say on TV (George Carlin) have dropped off, but this one is still way up there.

I recently (well, within the past few years) read of a man who was fined for violating a municipality's (I forget which) decency ordinance, which prohibits using obscene language within earshot of women or children.

I believe it was historian James Burke (The Day The Universe Changed, Connections) who, in one of his programs, said (something like) "We have laws to keep us from killing each other and customs to keep us from driving each other crazy." It is rather sad that we need to write a law to enforce decency instead of just practicing it.</rant>

[samanthayang]

Hell, I'm a vietnamese teenager.In my country, all people uses that word very often without knowing the meanings. And some youngsters think that word is one way to say hello. As an english learner, i'm very upset about vietnamese's culture knowledge.....
Although i sometimes use that word but........ [not know what to say]

[poolofmire]

Do you not know: When God died, f*ck became the most important word in the English Language. It's a sad but very interesting correlation.

[Tdol]

Have you got any hard evidence for this rather sweeping assertion? I am particularly interested in how you are going to show the causal relationship, though I suppose you'd have to prove the death first, which is going to be tricky.

[thedeebo]

Originally Posted by mykwyner

Please explain how words can be "good" or "bad." Words are air molecules vibrating, drops of ink on paper, hand gestures, or electrons bouncing off a screen. They can have no intrinsic goodness or evil. I think that the belief in things like magic incantations is the exclusive realm of the uneducated and superstitious.

I could write every profanity I could think of (and that's a lot!) in this space and neither I nor anyone else would be harmed by it. Why is it that the word fuck is proof of low class when it is used by a kid in the slums of Manila or Brooklyn, but when it is used by writers like Alan Ginsburg or J.D. Salinger it becomes an essential element of great literature?

I do not believe that you are correct. Words are symbols for our thoughts and feelings. Pretty much our entire civilization is based on our ability to communicate using words. You can't say that words don't have power. The reason "the 'f' bomb" is considered a "bad" word is because of the meaning we have attached to it. If you don't know what it means, then it is just a collection of sounds. Not being physically harmed doesn't mean that someone cannot be mentally/emotionally harmed. While becoming emotionally disturbed because someone says f*ck might be a little over the top, you can't deny the power of words. They can inspire people to do greater things than they would normally think they could do, or they can be used to break people down (like they do during military boot camp, at least in the US).

[colloquium]

Originally Posted by poolofmire

Do you not know: When God died, f*ck became the most important word in the English Language. It's a sad but very interesting correlation.

Originally Posted by Tdol

Have you got any hard evidence for this rather sweeping assertion? I am particularly interested in how you are going to show the causal relationship, though I suppose you'd have to prove the death first, which is going to be tricky.

It certainly is quite a claim!

It seems particularly out of place on a forum which promotes education and logic.