Wikipedia gives a rather good introduction to the word "Fuck"
"Fuck is an English word that, as a transitive verb, means "to have sexual intercourse with.
In the modern English-speaking world, the word fuck is often considered highly offensive. Most English-speaking countries censor it on television and radio. A study of the attitudes of the British public found that fuck was considered the third most severe profanity and its derivative motherfucker second. Cunt was considered the most severe (Hargrave, 2000). Some have argued that the prolific usage of the word fuck has de-vulgarized it, an example of the "dysphemism treadmill". Despite its offensive nature, the word is common in popular usage.
The highly profane term remains a taboo word to many people in English-speaking countries, while others feel the word remains inappropriate in social etiquette when used by a male in the presence of women. The word also carries a sacrilegious connotation to some. Many religious people oppose the use of profane, vulgar, and "curse" words which they see as offensive to a deity. Finally, it is considered highly offensive to utter the word in the presence of children.
Non-English-speaking cultures tend to recognize the word's vulgarity. However, it generally is not censored as frequently in those forums.
Proof of the more relaxed attitude about this English word in non-English countries was very publicly visible on billboards around the downtown of Paris, France in the early 1990s. They featured a woman sticking her tongue out in defiance, along with the slogan "Préservatifs Fuck le SIDA" ("Condoms fuck AIDS")
The Canadian Press now considers the word to be commonplace and has added usage advice to the Canadian Press Caps and Spelling guide."
There are several theories regarding the word's origin (some say as long as 500 years old). It seems to be generally agreed that word has Anglo Saxon/Germanic roots related to words such as rubbing, striking and having sex.
Okay, so much for the word 'fuck.' The English language is peppered with other curse words - a brief sample being: Bastard, Bugger, Crap, Toss(er), Prick and everyone's least favourite, the 'C' word.
Bastard literally means born out of wedlock. As far as I'm concerned it's open to debate as whether it's an insult or a genuine swearword.
Bugger has a literal meaning of anal intercourse. However, the strange thing is, more people are offended by Fuck than Bugger. If taken literally..."Fuck Me" means have 'sexual intercourse with me' and "Bugger Me" means 'have anal intercourse with me.' Bugger is rarely considered an extreme curse-word. In fact, many don't really see it as swearing. It seems that if you want to insult and shock anal intercourse doesn't do the trick nearly as effectively as sexual intercourse.
Toss is slang for male masturbation. A Tosser is a male masturbator, and as an insult is fairly innocuous. And why not? We've all had a solitary sexual experience on occasion. All pretty straightforward so far.
Crap is faeces. Yep, a smelly old turd. It is widely used and causes relatively little offence, yet we're talking about a bowel movement here.
Prick/Dick is a penis. It's usage is relatively common, but it lags some way behind 'Fuck' (sexual intercourse) when it comes to shock value.
Lastly, that nasty old "C" word - a vagina. Strangely - when one compares it's literal translation to other curses - this is reported to be the most offensive of swearwords - way, way ahead of 1. Fuck (Sexual Intercource) 2. Bastard (Born out of Wedlock) 3. Bugger (Anal Intercourse) 4. Toss (Male Masturbation) 5. Crap (Faeces) and 6. Prick/Dick (Penis).
It seems that swearing is in the ear of the (conditioned) listener. Personally...I couldn't give a toss/shit/fuck/bugger.
Okay, so much for the word 'fuck.' The English language is peppered with other curse words - a brief sample being: Bastard, Bugger, Crap, Toss(er), Prick and everyone's least favourite, the 'C' word.
Bastard literally means born out of wedlock. As far as I'm concerned it's open to debate as whether it's an insult or a genuine swearword.
Bugger has a literal meaning of anal intercourse. However, the strange thing is, more people are offended by Fuck than Bugger. If taken literally..."Fuck Me" means have 'sexual intercourse with me' and "Bugger Me" means 'have anal intercourse with me.' Bugger is rarely considered an extreme curse-word. In fact, many don't really see it as swearing. It seems that if you want to insult and shock anal intercourse doesn't do the trick nearly as effectively as sexual intercourse.
Toss is slang for male masturbation. A Tosser is a male masturbator, and as an insult is fairly innocuous. And why not? We've all had a solitary sexual experience on occasion. All pretty straightforward so far.
Crap is faeces. Yep, a smelly old turd. It is widely used and causes relatively little offence, yet we're talking about a bowel movement here.
Prick/Dick is a penis. It's usage is relatively common, but it lags some way behind 'Fuck' (sexual intercourse) when it comes to shock value.
Lastly, that nasty old "C" word - a vagina. Strangely - when one compares it's literal translation to other curses - this is reported to be the most offensive of swearwords - way, way ahead of 1. Fuck (Sexual Intercource) 2. Bastard (Born out of Wedlock) 3. Bugger (Anal Intercourse) 4. Toss (Male Masturbation) 5. Crap (Faeces) and 6. Prick/Dick (Penis).
It seems that swearing is in the ear of the (conditioned) listener. Personally...I couldn't give a toss/shit/fuck/bugger.
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