Yes, of course I'm talking about that magic little word, "fuck", that sometimes refers to the sex act but usually not. Fuckin' right! What the fuck? Or does WTF look and sound better--not quite so dirty?

Does it offend you? Should it? Why does it? Ever thought about that? I mean it's just a simple little word that means exactly the same as several other words that never get bad reactions when they are used in casual conversations or on public message boards. This is probably one of the few sites that doesn't have a spazzy fit when it shows up in posts. Is that a good thing? Should it matter at all?

And what about using it to decribe the sex act--does "having sex" or "making love" sound better? How about "He knew her in the biblical sense"--is that a good one? How about making up a new one? Let's call it "Kabluking" (with the "K" always capitalized to show emphasis)--would that be dirty, clean, or only silly?

I know many people who won't bat an eyelash over sentences like "Goddam you, you stupid son of a whore!" (even religious types) but go purple over any casual mention of the fearsome "F" word!

Was George Carlin a comic genius or a vulgar airhead?

There are other examples, such as "piss". Many people find it vulgar but are comfy with "pee" or "urine" which mean the same thing. Does it matter?

What exacly are "dirty words" and what exactly is wrong with them? Should some of us really clean up our verbal act when posting on a board like this one?

Note: several recent posts got me thinking about this although they had nothing to do with this topic specifically.

Shucks, doggone right, what the heck.

Forget you...you rascal, you. Aw, drat. I'm so angry I could spit.

Forget you...forget you...you dirty buzzard. Aw, to heck with it.

That's why they invented the word Fuck.

Jack

I must admit... I like sayin' it and doin' it. I'm not offended by the use of the word fuck in conversation, but I am aware that my using the word is not always received well. There is not much that offends me (I find people who want to force their will on my life offensive, but that's another story). I acknowledge that words can hurt, so I do try to be cognizant of my audience and therefore do sometimes choose my words more carefully than others. I'm not sure I buy the argument that smart folks express themselves without having to resort to cursing. I like cursing; there is something freeing about letting it rip. Of course, the respective situation dictates how high- or low-brow the language is...

FUCK

Perhaps one of the most interesting and colorful words in the English language today is the word "fuck". It is the one magical word which, just by its sound, can describe pain, pleasure, love, and hate. In language, "fuck" falls into many grammatical categories. It can be used as a verb, noun...

It can be an action verb (John really gives a fuck), a passive verb (Mary really doesn't give a fuck), an adverb (Mary is fucking interested in John), or as a noun (Mary is a terrific fuck). It can also be used as an adjective (Mary is fucking beautiful) or an interjection (Fuck! I'm late for my date with Mary.)

It can even be used as a conjunction (Mary is easy, fuck she's also stupid).

As you can see, there are very few words with the overall versatility of the word "fuck".

Aside from its sexual connotations, this incredible word can be used to many situations:

1. Greetings "How the fuck are ya?"
2. Fraud "I got fucked by the car dealer."
3. Resignation "Oh, fuck it!"
4. Trouble "I guess I'm fucked now."
5. Aggression "FUCK YOU!"
6. Disgust "Fuck me."
7. Confusion "What the fuck.......?"
8. Difficulty "I don't understand this fucking business!"
9. Despair "Fucked again..."
10. Pleasure "I fucking couldn't be happier."
11. Displeasure "What the fuck is going on here?"
12. Lost "Where the fuck are we."
13. Disbelief "UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE!"
14. Retaliation "Up your fucking ass!"
15. Denial "I didn't fucking do it."
16. Perplexity "I know fuck all about it."
17. Apathy "Who really gives a fuck, anyhow?"
18. Greetings "How the fuck are ya?"
19. Suspicion "Who the fuck are you?"
20. Panic "Let's get the fuck out of here."
21. Directions "Fuck off."
22. Disbelief "How the fuck did you do that?"

It can be used in an anatomical description- "He's a fucking asshole."

It can be used to tell time- "It's five fucking thirty."

It can be used in business- "How did I wind up with this fucking job?"

It can be maternal- "Motherfucker."

It can be political- "Fuck Dan Quayle!"

It has also been used by many notable people throughout history:

"What the fuck was that?" Mayor of Hiroshima
"Where did all these fucking Indians come from? General Custer
"Where the fuck is all this water coming from? Captain of the Titanic
"Thats not a real fucking gun." John Lennon
"Who's gonna fucking find out?" Richard Nixon
"Heads are going to fucking roll." Anne Boleyn
"Let the fucking woman drive." Commander of Space Shuttle"Challenger"
"What fucking map?" Mark Thatcher
"Any fucking idiot could understand that." Albert Einstein "How the fuck did you work that out?" Pythagoras
"You want what on the fucking ceiling?" Michaelangelo
"Fuck a duck." Walt Disney
"Why?- Because its fucking there!" Edmund Hilary
"I don't suppose its gonna fucking rain?" Joan of Arc
"Scattered fucking showers my ass." Noah
"I need this parade like I need a fucking hole in my head."
John F. Kennedy

"Let's fuck."

on who is saying it

But she's no stickler for formalities, and she likes to pretend I'm rough around the edges.

How the fuck should I know?

If the fray allowed me to checkmark your sub-post, I would.

If you top-post it, I will.

It can be an action verb (John really gives a fuck), a passive verb (Mary really doesn't give a fuck), an adverb (Mary is fucking interested in John), or as a noun (Mary is a terrific fuck). It can also be used as an adjective (Mary is fucking beautiful) or an interjection (Fuck! I'm late for my date with Mary.)

Give is the verb. Fucking is an adjective, not an adverb. Terrific is an adjective, Mary is the noun. Dumbass.

Jack

With regards to language, that is. Why, among any words describing the same function or phenomena, are some considered off-color and others euphemistic? I can see some utility (not much, but some) in dividing proper names (feces, urine, penis) from colloquial names (poop, pee, twanger), but not for placing barriers up twixt those same colloquialisms and arbitrarily offensive vernacular for the same things (shit, piss, cock).

And what about using it to decribe the sex act--does "having sex" or "making love" sound better?

Better how, one wonders? "Having sex" is more effectively generic, I suppose. "Making love" traditionally speaks to more "meaningful" sex, but I think when it's insisted upon as a terminology, there's something else in the relationship that's failing; couples who love one another can fuck just fine, thanks, or have sex when they don't have the energy. They can make love if they feel like it, of course, but if the relationship's healthy, love's already made; they just need to do something with it.

I like the Anglo-Saxon bluntness of the word fuck; I love the way it seems to add an adjective or an adverb to the act it describes without that adjective or adverb being a constant (i.e., fucking a stranger is different from fucking your wife, but fucking either is different from having sex or making love with either).

Interestingly enough, did you know that you can use the word fuck in a PG-13-rated movie, but NOT if it refers to sex? "Fuck you," or even, "I'm gonna fuck you up!" is apparently appropriate for your kids, but, "Good God, I'd like to fuck her!" apparently requires the presence of a legal guardian.

That may seem like a complete divergence, but when I was a kid, I would often appeal to the ratings system when defending my use of language in the house. I argued for hours about the word "damn" after noting that Captain Kirk used the word in the G-rated Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Sometimes those arguments went very, very badly. :(

How about "He knew her in the biblical sense"--is that a good one?

No. It would be ludicrous for me, of all people, to argue for the virtue of brevity, but that's just plain unwieldy.

Let's call it "Kabluking" (with the "K" always capitalized to show emphasis)--would that be dirty, clean, or only silly?

Heh . . . I like it. I don't know how descriptive it is, but I'm all for making up words. Bonus: it sounds sort of like Kabuki. I love Kabuki.

Was George Carlin a comic genius or a vulgar airhead?

I don't think one could make much of a case for his being an airhead; genius, maybe, but that term is always debatable.

Should some of us really clean up our verbal act when posting on a board like this one?

Fuck off. Sorry--I meant to say, the interests of civility are only tangentially served by insistence on decency, which is, in turn, only temporarily served by suppressing speech, or limiting the wide palette of available words to those deemed acceptable by some unnamed, essentially unaccountable illuminatus.

"...it's just a simple little word..."

True, but it carries enormous weight.

Some say it's onomatopaeic, some say it's an acronym, most say it's extraordinarily ugly coming from teenage girls' mouths as their only expletive or descriptive.

But it's just a simple little word, a gutteral sound, so why does it engender such ferocious human response?

Well, language defines everything, and forbidden words are most powerful by virtue of being...ahh...verboten.

People are still offended by "fuck"? Holy shit, I hope they stay the fuck out of Manhattan today!

You are correct, Jack, that "give" is the verb in those examples.

Not sure that it justifies the "Dumbass" comment, however.

Follow the link - I didn't write it.

pfft.