Reader Discretion Warning: Post is littered with 4 letter and other swear words. Do NOT proceed if expletives offend you.

IS FUCK STILL A 4 LETTER WORD?

“It takes 46 muscles to frown but only 4 to give them the finger” - Bart Simpson

I have to clarify at the onset itself that I in no way mean that children should begin to use it or that it should even be used in formal references but what I am pondering over is if it still has that shock-value that it used to be associated with?

I remember in school when Bullshit was a major swear word as was Bloody and Bastard or better still, all three of them strung together.
But I guess the parameters have changed.

While in India recently, I was quite surprised initially and them bemused to open prominent national dailies only to see full page colour ads placed by the Australian Tourism Board asking, “So Where The Bloody Hell Are You?”

And anyone who has heard the latest Hip-Hop hits will know that the lyrics there make the Australian ad seem like a nursery rhyme.

I guess people over 35 will still recoil instinctively when they hear FUCK being uttered but does the new generation care, or to use their phraseology, do they even give a shit?

And as the wildly popular recording of the OSHO ‘sermon’ says, the word FUCK can have many many different grammatical meanings.

As a Transitive Verb: John fucked Mary
Intransitive Verb: Mary was fucked by John
Noun: Mary is a fine fuck
Adjective: Mary is fucking beautiful

It can also denote the following 'emotions':

Fraud: I got fucked at the used car lot
Ignorance: Fuck if I know.
Trouble: I guess I’m fucked now.
Aggression: Fuck You!
Displeasure: What the fuck is going on here?
Difficulty: I can’t understand this fucking question.
Suspicion: What the fuck are you doing here?
Enjoyment: I had a fucking great time.
Request: Get the fuck out of here
Hostility: I am going to knock your fucking head off.
Greeting: How the fuck are you?
Apathy: Who gives a fuck
Innovation: Get a bigger fucking hammer.
Anxiety: Today is going to be really fucked.
and lastly
Surprise: Fuck, you scared the shit out of me.


For me personally the word lost its edge when the retail giant French Connection began making clothes boldly emblazoned with the word artfully miss-spelt as FCUK and sold them at exorbitant prices. the crazy prices automatically made them the must haves and once it became fashionable it was no longer taboo. Infact it was such a success that whole new phrases sprung around it. Infact when the first shop opened in San Francisco there were huge billboards all over the city grandly proclaiming it as “San Francisco’s First FCUK”

Aah Fashion… The great leveller.

Ciao Till my next post…. When will that be?? FCUK if I know.