Dropping the F-Bomb: An extended-definition essay on the word Fuck

Fuck! Why the fuck are you fucking eating my fucking carrot, fucker? In this sentence,

the word fuck was used five times. The first one was used as an interjection; the second was used

as a noun; the third was used as an adverb; the fourth was used as an adjective; and the last was

used as a noun, pertaining to the person addressed in the sentence. Normally, people who have

read this sentence would react the samedisgusted, shocked, or judgmental towards the speaker

as they have said a nasty or dirty word five times. Yet, in context to the sentence, it has no

intrinsic meaning. This therefore makes the word fuck a taboo language. In order to understand

what makes it a taboo language, we must first understand its origin, its different uses and

meanings and its psycholinguistic analysis.

The origin of the word is unclear. There are claims that fuck originated from an acronym

though what it stands for varies. The oldest claim that the word is an acronym is from a New

York underground newspaper called The East Village Other. Their article from February 15,

1967 says, Its not commonly known that the word fuck originated as a medical diagnostic

notation on the documents of soldiers in the British Imperial Army. When a soldier reported sick

and was Carnal Knowledge. Another claim came from the May issue of Playboy in 1970 which

says, My friend claims that the word fuck originated in the 15th Century, when a married

couple needed permission from the king to procreate. Hence, Fornication Under Consent of the

King. I maintain that its an acronym of a law term used in the 1500s that referred to rape as

Forced Unnatural Carnal Knowledge. According to Sheidlower (1995), it is unlikely that fuck

originated from acronyms for they were rarely used before 1930s. Aside from this, these claims

have no sufficient evidence.

 Some etymologists believe that the word came from the Germanic word (i.e. Dutch,

German, Swedish, etc.) ficken which means to strike or to move back and forth. This

explains its modern definition, to copulate. This word belongs to a family of related verbs

which have the same structure: f + vowel + a stop (a consonant which interrupts the flow of the

air from the mouth). Some modern English examples include fiddle, fidget, flip, flit, flick, flicker

and frigwhich are all loosely related to moving back and forth.

Although this etymological explanation is acceptable and the most used, Dr. Leo Stone

(1954) said that it is unlikely for the general trends of vowel sound change in English fail to

account for the evolution of ficken to fuck. The same explanation was also used with the origin

claims that it is from the French word foutre and Latin futuere and Norse Petchaalthough this

one in particular could have been acceptable since most examples of the word were found in

Scottish sources and Scottish language was heavily influenced by Norse. Up to this date, most

sources use the Germanic evidence for it is the most acceptable amongst all the claims.

In the present time, fuck has become a word that is highly variated. Its meaning falls into

two major categories: the first is its first likely meaning, to copulate and the second means

nothing at all. The first meaning can be used as a noun which means sexual intercourse and as

a verb which means to have a sexual intercourse. With that being said, it has evolved as other

sex-related forms and uses of the word.

Like other bad words, fuck has no intrinsic meaning. In linguistics, it is called a

grammatical ejaculation which is a short utterance that expresses a strong feeling. In his article

Fuck, Christopher Fairman (2006, p.11) defines this particular use of the word as merely a
word of offensive force that can be substituted in oaths for other swearwords or in maledictions.

It can be used as a noun, a verb, an adverb, an adjective and an interjection (see table 1).

Word/Phrase (part of speech) Definition Example

Fuck (v. intransitive) To have sexual intercourse I fuck as often as I can.

Fuck (v. transitive) To have sexual intercourse I fuck my wife as often as I

with someone can.

Fuck (v. transitive) To damn or dismiss something Fuck my wife!

or somebody.

Fuck (v. transitive) To exploit If she asks for a divorce, Im

going to fuck her completely

when it comes to settlement.

Fuck up/with (v.) To mess things or people up Im going to fuck up my wife

and fuck with her head for

asking a divorce.

Fuck up (v.) To make a mistake I may have fucked up.

Fuck (n.) The act of sexual intercourse I caught my wife having a

fuck with someone else.

Fuck (n.) A bastard, a rascal That guy is such a fuck.

Fuck (n.) Something of no value I dont give a fuck.

Fuck (n.) Something of some quantity His new TV is as big as fuck

Fuck (interj.) An expression of annoyance Fuck! I left the TV open.

Fuck off (interj.) An expression of contempt Fuck off! What do you see in
 this guy?

From F**k: An Irreverent History of the F-Word by Rufus Lodge

Aside from this, fuck is also used with affixes (e.g. fucker, fuckery). It is also used as an

inflix, an affix inserted inside an existing word (e.g. abso-fucking-lutely, in-fucking-credible). It

is also paired with different words to form a compound word (e.g. fuckboy, bumblefuck,

fuckface, mindfuck).

In the second edition of the book The F-Word by Jesse Sheidlower, there are 272 pages

dedicated to the words different uses from absofuckinglutely to zipless fuck. Rufus Lodge also

enumerated many of its uses and meanings in his book An Irreverent History of the F-word. It

can be said that the word has no meaning because of its versatility. Fuck is a word that is known

by all and recognized by none (Sagarin, 1962, p.136).

In his speech An Obscenity Symbol, Allen Walker Read discusses the nature of the word

and explains what enforces the taboo. He says that one reason why the word is a taboo is not

because of its sole meaning for sex is a natural process of human beings. Instead, what reinforces

the taboo is the reaction it receives. According to Read (1934), The determinant of obscenity

lies not in words or things, but in the attitudes that people have towards these words and things.

With that being said, it leads to why people react to it that way. To answer this, he then states:

The psychological motivation for taboo lies deep, and probably has its root in the fear of

the mysterious power of the sex impulse. Primitive man found that the force of passion

could so disorder life that he hedged it about with interdicts and prohibitions. Because of

these, sexual fetishes or symbols developed. For most people, the bare word forms of

these four-letter words have become sexual fetishes. (Read, 1934).

 Therefore, what makes sex a taboo is not the act itself but the impulse and the force of

passion and to an extent, even though the word fuck, which is a symbol for the act itself, has

evolved, it still generates a fearful thrill, as Read calls it.

Read then explains how the taboo is implanted. According to him, it starts in ones

childhood. As kids, we were taught how to identify basic objects such as trees, chairs, etc.

However, to be able to maintain kids innocence, parents or guardians do not teach their children

taboo words such as fuck. Read (1934) stated:

Our feeling of the fearful thrill is the result of experiences during the impressionable

agethe hushed awe that surrounds these words, the refusal of information concerning

them, or the punishment meted out for an inadvertent use of them. There develops a

neurosis so ingrained that the will is well-nigh powerless against it. Even when we come

to know that there is not a proper basis for the feeling, we are prompted by motivations so

deeply planted that we have the reactions in spite of our intellect.

In conclusion, fuck is a word with different meanings and uses. It has been around since

the 1500s yet, despite its obscenity, it still stands as one of the most used words in the history of

the English language. From its original meaning to its different variations, it can be heard in

different forms of media and in everyday conversations. With that being said, it is important to

understand a word that has been coined as our worst word. Knowing why and how it gives

negative attitude then helps us contemplate whether it should be or it should be not used. But one

thing is for sure, it should be studied. According to Shakespeare in Henry IV, Tis needful that

the most immodest word/ Be looked upon and learned.

 References

Fairman, Christopher M., Fuck (March 2006). Ohio State Public Law Working Paper No.

59; Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies Working Paper Series No. 39.

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.896790.

Lodge, R. (2013). F**K: An irreverent history of the F-word.

Read, A. (1934). An Obscenity Symbol. American Speech, 9(4), 264-278. doi:1.

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/452191 doi:1

Sheidlower, J. (1995). The F-Word. Random House.