Throughout time, there have been many words considered “explicit” in the English language. However, there is one word that stands out from the rest of these bad words, and that word is “fuck.” Not only is this word considered one of the most inappropriate within the English vocabulary, but it is also one of the most diverse and broadly used of the explicit words. In this paper you will learn even though the Merriam-Webster Dictionary only contains two formal definitions of the word fuck, there are many different ways of using this word which has popped up into the mainstream culture of today. The history of the word fuck dates back thousands of years, however, according to Dr. Paul Booth of Keele University, the earliest use of the f word …show more content…
The word was commonly deemed as extremely inappropriate and a sin in many religions. Still to this day, a good amount of people hold the same beliefs about this word, however, it contains a big exception. To many people, it depends on how you use the word in context to determine the vulgarity of the given statement. Christine Christie, a professor in the Department of English and Drama at Loughborough University, would agree with this statement, saying the word fuck or any other explicit words “can produce impoliteness effects in some contexts, but not in all cases” (Christie n.p.). In general, using the f word more in the context of sexual intercourse is when people will become more sensitive to hearing the word, and therefore putting themselves at a higher probability of being offended. However, using it in the context of common slang, the person hearing the statement will most likely not be as sensitive to or not even offended at all to it. The f word has slowly become more engrained into the mainstream culture of our world, and is still doing so to this very point in time. However, it’s growing at an increasing rate with time as a result to the rapid change of culture within recent
People even today use crude language,like the commonly used word,”Nigger” (20 Steinbeck). This word is used in pop culture frequently and is a common word in some communities. Another example would be when,”Son-of-a-bitch”was stated (27 Steinbeck). This is a recurring word used in western language that people use when they are angry or mad at someone. This is already language teens see and hear in America, so why is vulgar language so bad when it’s in writing?
The “F Word” is an essay about an Iranian girl’s struggle with finding who she is, in a foreign land known as the U.S. It acknowledges her inner struggle with an outward showing character of herself that she holds, her name. During the essay the reader learns about how the girl fights her inner feeling of wanting to fit in and her deep rooted Iranian culture that she was brought up to support. Firoozeh Dumas, the girl in the book, and also the author of the essay, uses various rhetorical tactics to aid her audience in grasping the fact that being an immigrant in the U.S. can be a difficult life. To demonstrate her true feelings to the audience as an immigrant in the U.S., she uses similes, parallelism, and even her tone of humor.
In the modern society, millions of people realize that several offensive words with insulting taboo meanings heavily disturb their daily lives and break some special groups of people’s respect to push them to feel like outsiders of the whole society. As a result, more and more people join some underway movements to eliminate the use of these offensive words in people’s everyday speech and writing. However, these offensive words themselves are not the culprit, the bad meanings people attach are the problems and some other functions of the words are useful in the society. Christopher M. Fairman the author of “ Saying It Is Hurtful, Banning It Is Worse” also argues that although
and it came down to seven but the list is open to amendment, and in fact, has been changed, uh, by now. The original seven words were sh*t, p*ss, f*ck, c*nt, c*cks*cker, m*therf*cker, and t*ts.
Swearing has the ability to get someone in a whole load of trouble at the dinner table with their mother but could also be their choice of words when they accidently stub their toe on the coffee table in the living room. Natalie Angier discusses this controversial topic of words that shouldn’t be said in her article feature in The New York Times, “Almost Before We Spoke, We Swore”. Provoked by a recently proposed bill to increase fines for using swear words on television, Angier analyzes not only the impact of swearing, but also where the desire to speak obscene words comes from. She references many credible studies and sources as she unfolds her argument. She uses a diverse slew of studies, experiments, and famous pieces of literature and
The n-word evolved from the word “negro,” meaning “black,” as early as the 17th century as intentionally derogatory (Price, “Straight Talk About the N-Word”). “Faggot” originated with the Middle English “fagot,” meaning a bundle of sticks that was usually burdensome (dictionary.com). This word then became a term for a contemptible woman circa 1590, and circa 1910, the word picked up a ‘g’ and became a highly derogatory reference to flamboyant, gay men (dictionary.com). This word, in particular, could be speculated to have been chosen for gay men because they were a contemptible burden on society at the time. “Slut” originated in 1402 as a slovenly, untidy woman; later in the 15th century, the near modern usage of “a sexually promiscuous woman” appeared. (dictionary.com). The scarlet letter Hester wears is modeled after centuries of shameful branding. In England, under the Poor Law Act of 1697, after receiving relief from their parish, the poor were required to wear a badge of blue or red cloth in an open and visible manner. This was meant to discourage them from collecting additional aid unless they were highly desperate, as few people wanted to be seen doing this while wearing such a “shameful” branding (Hindle, “Dependency, Shame and Belonging: Badging the Deserving Poor,
The word "fuck" appears three or four times at the end of the book (201-204). Holden is as shocked by the word as the reader and he spends the ...
In Boondock Saints, Rocco swears up a storm by screaming the ‘f’ word in different ways. After Rocco finished yelling, Connor says, “Well, that certainly illustrates the diversity of the word.” In efforts to try to keep this essay clean as possible with such a dirty word, Rocco uses the word to describe the brothers, the situation, and his frustration. Overall, making it a diverse word by using the word as a verb, an adjective, and a noun.
Secondly, words such as fuck produce an atmosphere for adults, or mature people. One term that is used quite extensively lately is "adult language." This term branches off of the common idea that children should and would not use such words until they are older and have a more concrete knowledge of what they are really saying. Thus, by using a w...
In the article “In praise of the “F” Word” Mary Sherry discusses the “F” word, which means failure. Basically Mary Sherry stated that the kids of today are getting cheated out of a good education. They are passing through the school system because some are good kids and they do not create any problems in the classroom. But, at the same time employers are also being cheated because they expect graduates to have the basic skills. She also stated that Diplomas are considered meaningless because most of these kids who were awarded one could not read or write properly and therefore, they are back in night school along with adults who are trying to get their G.E.D.
Firoozeh Dumas’s essay “The "F” Word” is not what people think it would be about. When people hear the someone mention the “F” word all sorts of things pop into their head. Yet, Firoozeh Dumas twist the meaning of her title to something people wouldn't think when they heard the title. Dumas takes a stereotype in the title to grab our attention. People in the American Society judge people by more than just the color of their skin, for instance in Firoozeh’s case it was her name. Society has an image of what everyone should be like from their looks the the name they go by. In the article Firoozeh Dumas tries to explain her experience as an immigrant from Iran to the US. Dumas tries to show how hard it was for her to come to America and live
The evolution of profanity began in the sixteenth century, and it evolves with each generation. Profanity is recognized in many Shakespearean works, and has evolved into the profane language used today. Some cuss or curse words have somehow maintained their original meanings throughout hundreds of years, while many others have completely changed meaning or simply fallen from popular vocabulary.
For this assignment, I chose to abstain from the use of profanity. I chose to give up profanity because it is something that I know will be difficult for me. I also chose this particular activity to give up because I associate my use of profanity with a very hard time in my life. Since that time, I have worked very diligently to be a better person and to erase the aspects of the person that I used to be. By giving up the use of profanity, I will be able to start erasing another aspect of that person that I did not like very much. One reason why abstaining from the use of profanity will be so difficult for me is because of how long I have been using profanity. I started using profanity at a fairly young age, probably 5th or 6th grade, and since then I use profanity every day, multiple times a day. I think I started using profanity because in the 6th grade my mother had a stroke and during that time I felt like no one was listening to me. My family was very wrapped up in my mom’s care and I felt like I was being forgotten about. I remember one day in class I used profanity in front of the whole class and my teacher stopped what she was doing and addressed my profanity use in front of everyone. At that moment, I realized that by using profanity I could get attention. In the past, I have tried to abstain from profanity; however, it has never lasted very long. I remember one time I was able to abstain from profanity for about a week. However, once I started using profanity again, I realized that trying to stop was a lost cause.
In Alice in Wonderland, queer meant to be odd or strange to the late 1800s readers; there was no other meaning for the word for their generation. Time skip to the early 1900s, where queer was beginning to be used to address a person’s sexuality as being gay or lesbian. It didn’t start out as referring to homosexuality, but due to the amount of times the word queer was used in articles, newspapers and even among people about gay clubs or homosexuals, the word stuck. One notable example was the Los Angeles Times describing a gay club as “composed of the ‘queer’ people” (“Queer”). Queer was frequently used as a negative slur in the 1950s against homosexuals up till the 1980s, where the younger LGBT (the group name for people who fall under lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) members started to use the word queer to identify themselves as a way of self-reassurance and to fight against rising homophobia and the AID crisis (even calling themselves “Queer Nation”). The 1990 New York pride march was when LGBT members decided to “reclaim the word as their own” (Marusic). Queer is still debated among the LGBT community as being offensive, but most members consider it a neutral term (“queer”). Queer has even widened its audience over the past few years as it’s developed less to refer to someone as gay or lesbian but to anyone who doesn’t fit the “norm” regarding gender or sexuality (Ogle). Due to the many forms of queer over the years, Alice in Wonderland’s queer has ambiguity to present day readers. When people of today’s culture see the word queer, they immediately think of gays and lesbians; because of the complexity of the definition of the word, people from 2016 and those of the late 1800s have different denotations and connotations (negative and positive), leaving a sense of confusion over the
Where do Cuss words come from, and what do they really mean? Originally it began as cursing. These are the words and phrases that you say in order to curse someone. It was some sort of supernatural or magical belief. Nowadays, people know that telling someone to “Go to Hell” will not actually curse them there, no matter how angrily it is said. The evolution of profanity continues to change with each generation. Some cuss words have somehow maintained their original meanings throughout hundreds of years, while many others have completely changed meaning or simply fallen out of use. The meaning behind a word is what makes it acceptable or unacceptable. Veterinarians use the word “bitch” on a regular basis, and think nothing of it. The meaning of the word is female dog. It is a fine word to use in that profession, or...