"F" WORD My obsession with words naturally (and inevitably) goads me to consider the so-called socially unacceptable ones, especially the infamous "F" word. Although I am prepared to expound upon this subject, I am at the same time reluctant to do so, a reluctance that is surely indicated by the "word" I've chosen to be the heading for this essay. If had any balls (as the saying has it), I'd have simply entitled it "FUCK." But I haven't entitled it FUCK. I've entitled it "F Word." In another way, though, this seems somehow appropriate, because it underscores the very essence of the subject, i.e., the dirty mystique surrounding the word, "Fuck." To begin with, I'm amazed at its utter plasticity. The word seems to be used for everything, as the following phrases make clear:
Fuck you. Go fuck yourself. Fuck off. What the fuck. You miserable fuck. Fuck's sake.
The list could be longer, but I'm sure you get the point. I'm also surprised at its longstanding placement at the top of the list of taboo utterances. Frankly, I don't get it. I'm sure it started out as such a horrible word because of its association with sexual coitus. In fact, it probably gained its notoriety during the Victorian Age, which would support my personal belief that we create our own problems. Like this word. Taken by itself, it is a mere phoneme, a sound. We have injected it with the ugliness it seems to bear (which means that it's our ugliness, not the poor word's). And it seems to make no difference that it refers to things or activities that have nothing to do with sexual congress. Who hasn't heard someone (if only a character in a movie) erupt with, "Fuck!"? And the eruption has nothing to do with sex. They're usually just plain pissed off. But even if it does have a connection with sexual intercourse, so what? Here's a little thought experiment. Make a list of words or phrases that refer to having sex and call up images in your mind associated with the words/phrases:
having sex fucking engaged in coitus making love doing it boffing being intimate
Does the word doing it prompt your brain to call up a different image in your head than the word fucking? If you were to ask someone (in a hypothetical situation) what they just saw when they looked in the window, and they replied, "A couple having sex," would you get a different visual than you would have gotten if they'd said, "making love," or, "fucking"? If you do get a different visual, then your brain works differently than mine, because, if someone were to say any of those words to me it wouldn't matter; I'd have the same pictures in my head. The choice of the words would make no difference whatsoever. But if such is indeed the case (and I truly believe it is), then why is the word still taboo? I've thought about this for some time now, and the only answer I can come up with is that it's forbidden just because of its own notoriety. In other words, it's forbidden because it's forbidden. There is no rational reason for its banishment from decent society. It simply has a bad rep. The reason for its banishment is emotional, not rational. If you can think of another reason it remains so taboo (other than emotional), I'd love to hear it. Send me an email. If it truly is a rational explanation, I will be happy to post it.
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