The “F” Word
Curse words have always evolved, from the time of the medieval era (arse, wench) to what one knows today (damn, shit). The word Fuck evolved from many different cultures. The origin of the word Fuck has been traced back to numerous etymological sources; Germanic (ficken), Scottish (fukkit) etc. Even though, the origin of this word is hard to trace back into the past, it was used as a w
ord that meant to have sexual relations outside of marriage. The word Fuck is said to have been in the England Church during the 1800s (Dr. Larry Erbert). Even then, it was used mainly as a sexual word or a negative word but as many words evolved so did the word, Fuck. The meaning of Fuck is a verbal expression of frustration and/or excitement that is integrated into modern speech, mostly used in the age range eighteen to thirty-four, used to express emotion, and evolved from the standard definition to what it means today.
Frustration is a term used to express stress and/or anger and most people use the word “Fuck” to verbally express that feeling; “Fuck that! Fuck this! Fuck you!”. Even when one is excited they use Fuck as a way to vocally express excitement; “Fuck Yes!” or “Are you fucking-kidding me!” On a campus, in a classroom, even at a work environment, one would hear the “F” word and presumably it wouldn’t mean having sex out of wedlock, it just means that someone is expressing their feelings through that word. The “F” word integrated into modern speech by it becoming
different parts of speech that’s used as an adverb, adjective, and even as a noun (A History of Fuck). When the “F” word is used as an adverb, like “Becky is doing all the fucking work”, it pertains to what she/he/thing is doing and not to just sexual thing as it states in the standard definition. As an adjective, Fuck is used as a way to put an emphasis on something or someone to express frustration or excitement, “Brittany talks to fucking much!”(A History of Fuck). The different parts of speech of the word Fuck is used mainly as a reference to non-sexual meanings.
The highest age range for the word usage of Fuck is between the ages of eighteen to thirty-four by seventy-four percent (Tracy V. Wilson) . The reason for this is because young children may say the word but not know what the meaning of Fuck is. Pre-teens and teenagers under the age of eighteen don’t usually use this word because its taboo to say it in front of an adult, so they don’t vocally say the word. Older people over the age of thirty-four do say it but not as much because they are generally in a profession that the use of swear words is looked down upon but older people do use the word Fuck if their expressing their feelings about something particular. The age range, eighteen to thirty-four uses this word mostly because between those ages, one has to deal with the stress of daily life and when one is becoming an adult in the work field or taking on the challenges of college. When one turns eighteen, its socially acceptable to say that he/she is an adult and the word usage of Fuck is applied more frequently because he/she can say it (Fuck) without being looked down upon because seventy-four percent of people in that age range use it. The life of stress or frustration can also lead to saying this word because that is how the majority of people express their emotion.
Expressing ones emotion can be very hard when he/she is angry, frustrated, or even confused. When one is angry, numerous people use the “F” word frequently in their sentences when writing/ typing or in dialogue when arguing to someone. When observing people in arguments, one would hear the word Fuck a lot in their dialogue “Fuck you, motherfucker”, is one example and the different words he/she would use in an argument while saying the “F” word along with an adjective, verb and/or noun. Usually when a person is frustrated, they don’t usually refer to anyone or thing but the idea of what he/she is doing or if their having a bad day and something else would happen to them. They would usually just say the word “Fuck!” or “What the fuck”. Even when in a happy mood, people would say the word Fuck in a non-negative way, “That’s a great fucking idea!” or “That was fucking awesome!” So, the word fuck doesn’t have to be used in a negative way as many of our past teachers made it seem or even what our parents; telling us “Fuck” is a bad word but they used it sometime in their lifetime. Expressing emotion in the use of the word Fuck is not as taboo as numerous people believe but as a way to vocally express how excited one is or how frustrated or angry one is. “Fuck” is evolving more in the use of modern language than it did in the past, as meaning sexual intercourse out of wedlock.
Numerous words evolve throughout time, and the meaning of Fuck is no different. The use of the word Fuck, was meaning to have sex outside of marriage but that meaning really doesn’t go beyond saying “Jimmy fucked Cindy.” Or “Harold is fucking” (History of Fuck). There are many more uses than that standard definition (sex outside of marriage) and people aren’t treating that the word Fuck is mainly for that purpose. When one sees the word “transgender” it means a man who had surgery to become a woman and that’s what everybody knows in the United States until someone makes another word for it with the same meaning but with the word Fuck, meant to have sex out of marriage, has evolved to meaning a verbal expression of frustration and/or excitement because of the use of the word in modern speech.
Even though the origin of the word Fuck is unclear and traces back to many etymological sources, it was still considered taboo to say “Fuck”. But in the modern world, the “F” word means something that can be considered non-negative because of how it is used in the parts of speech in present day. It can be used to express emotion, as in frustration or excitement, and that emotion doesn’t always have to be anger because many use it to put an emphasis on a certain noun, adverb, or adjective and that doesn’t always have to be said in anger, it could be said in excitement. Fuck is a word that has evolved from the typical definition to what it is today because of how people use it and the way the majority use it doesn’t have the sexual tendency that it was originally created for, there-fore, that meaning has no relevance. The “F” word is used to express emotion (frustration and excitement), subsequently in present day, it’s no longer a word that is taboo because a person has a right to express their emotions and that includes to say the word “Fuck”.
Works Cited
Curse words have always evolved, from the time of the medieval era (arse, wench) to what one knows today (damn, shit). The word Fuck evolved from many different cultures. The origin of the word Fuck has been traced back to numerous etymological sources; Germanic (ficken), Scottish (fukkit) etc. Even though, the origin of this word is hard to trace back into the past, it was used as a w
ord that meant to have sexual relations outside of marriage. The word Fuck is said to have been in the England Church during the 1800s (Dr. Larry Erbert). Even then, it was used mainly as a sexual word or a negative word but as many words evolved so did the word, Fuck. The meaning of Fuck is a verbal expression of frustration and/or excitement that is integrated into modern speech, mostly used in the age range eighteen to thirty-four, used to express emotion, and evolved from the standard definition to what it means today.Frustration is a term used to express stress and/or anger and most people use the word “Fuck” to verbally express that feeling; “Fuck that! Fuck this! Fuck you!”. Even when one is excited they use Fuck as a way to vocally express excitement; “Fuck Yes!” or “Are you fucking-kidding me!” On a campus, in a classroom, even at a work environment, one would hear the “F” word and presumably it wouldn’t mean having sex out of wedlock, it just means that someone is expressing their feelings through that word. The “F” word integrated into modern speech by it becoming
different parts of speech that’s used as an adverb, adjective, and even as a noun (A History of Fuck). When the “F” word is used as an adverb, like “Becky is doing all the fucking work”, it pertains to what she/he/thing is doing and not to just sexual thing as it states in the standard definition. As an adjective, Fuck is used as a way to put an emphasis on something or someone to express frustration or excitement, “Brittany talks to fucking much!”(A History of Fuck). The different parts of speech of the word Fuck is used mainly as a reference to non-sexual meanings.The highest age range for the word usage of Fuck is between the ages of eighteen to thirty-four by seventy-four percent (Tracy V. Wilson) . The reason for this is because young children may say the word but not know what the meaning of Fuck is. Pre-teens and teenagers under the age of eighteen don’t usually use this word because its taboo to say it in front of an adult, so they don’t vocally say the word. Older people over the age of thirty-four do say it but not as much because they are generally in a profession that the use of swear words is looked down upon but older people do use the word Fuck if their expressing their feelings about something particular. The age range, eighteen to thirty-four uses this word mostly because between those ages, one has to deal with the stress of daily life and when one is becoming an adult in the work field or taking on the challenges of college. When one turns eighteen, its socially acceptable to say that he/she is an adult and the word usage of Fuck is applied more frequently because he/she can say it (Fuck) without being looked down upon because seventy-four percent of people in that age range use it. The life of stress or frustration can also lead to saying this word because that is how the majority of people express their emotion.
Expressing ones emotion can be very hard when he/she is angry, frustrated, or even confused. When one is angry, numerous people use the “F” word frequently in their sentences when writing/ typing or in dialogue when arguing to someone. When observing people in arguments, one would hear the word Fuck a lot in their dialogue “Fuck you, motherfucker”, is one example and the different words he/she would use in an argument while saying the “F” word along with an adjective, verb and/or noun. Usually when a person is frustrated, they don’t usually refer to anyone or thing but the idea of what he/she is doing or if their having a bad day and something else would happen to them. They would usually just say the word “Fuck!” or “What the fuck”. Even when in a happy mood, people would say the word Fuck in a non-negative way, “That’s a great fucking idea!” or “That was fucking awesome!” So, the word fuck doesn’t have to be used in a negative way as many of our past teachers made it seem or even what our parents; telling us “Fuck” is a bad word but they used it sometime in their lifetime. Expressing emotion in the use of the word Fuck is not as taboo as numerous people believe but as a way to vocally express how excited one is or how frustrated or angry one is. “Fuck” is evolving more in the use of modern language than it did in the past, as meaning sexual intercourse out of wedlock.
Numerous words evolve throughout time, and the meaning of Fuck is no different. The use of the word Fuck, was meaning to have sex outside of marriage but that meaning really doesn’t go beyond saying “Jimmy fucked Cindy.” Or “Harold is fucking” (History of Fuck). There are many more uses than that standard definition (sex outside of marriage) and people aren’t treating that the word Fuck is mainly for that purpose. When one sees the word “transgender” it means a man who had surgery to become a woman and that’s what everybody knows in the United States until someone makes another word for it with the same meaning but with the word Fuck, meant to have sex out of marriage, has evolved to meaning a verbal expression of frustration and/or excitement because of the use of the word in modern speech.
Even though the origin of the word Fuck is unclear and traces back to many etymological sources, it was still considered taboo to say “Fuck”. But in the modern world, the “F” word means something that can be considered non-negative because of how it is used in the parts of speech in present day. It can be used to express emotion, as in frustration or excitement, and that emotion doesn’t always have to be anger because many use it to put an emphasis on a certain noun, adverb, or adjective and that doesn’t always have to be said in anger, it could be said in excitement. Fuck is a word that has evolved from the typical definition to what it is today because of how people use it and the way the majority use it doesn’t have the sexual tendency that it was originally created for, there-fore, that meaning has no relevance. The “F” word is used to express emotion (frustration and excitement), subsequently in present day, it’s no longer a word that is taboo because a person has a right to express their emotions and that includes to say the word “Fuck”.
Works Cited
Actor212. A History of Fuck. YouTube. N.p., 15 Nov. 2006. Web. 9 Oct. 2011.
Fairman, Christopher M. Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties. Naperville, Illinois: Sphinx, 2009. Google Books. Web. 9 Oct. 2011.
“Fuck.” Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2011.
Wilson, Tracy V. “Social Responses to Swearing.” How Swearing Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2011.
The pictures you added are funny it gave your paper a sense of humor and I agree with your paper on how the word fuck can be used in a lot of different ways because I know I say it when I'm happy, sad, mad, etc I believe it is a word that can be used in any emotion, but I know a lot of people would disagree with that and say that the word fuck is just a bad disrespectful curse word which should never be used, so good job on this paper because you definitively do have an opposing side.
ReplyDeleteI like the pictures and as Jen said it gets people's attention. I would like to see more pictures about the topic. I think you did a really good job because you have a really interesting point that the word F are no longer used for the standard meaning but for expressing the emotion.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I thought your pictures were great, and they set the initial tone for your paper. I thought you supported your arguments well, and that you did a good job of explaining how the definition has evolved over time. Good job! You also supported your qualifiers well.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! I think that this is a very interesting topic and definition. You defended your definition and qualifiers very well, and it was believable. I like how you gave so many examples of how fuck is used as an adjective. Your paper was well thought out and it flowed nicely. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteYour photos are very rhetorically effective, notably through their humor. Your simple definition and qualifiers were very interesting and specific, especially with the age range you included. I liked how you went into detail about how fuck can be used in different situations. You were very thorough and I really enjoyed reading this paper. Well done.
ReplyDelete