The F Word

Fuck is an English-language word, a profane word which refers to the act of sexual intercourse and is also commonly used to denote disdain or as an intensifier. Its origin is obscure; it is usually considered to be first attested to around 1475, but may be considerably older. In modern usage, the term fuck and its derivatives can be used in the position of a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb. There are many common phrases that employ the word, as well as compounds incorporating it, such as motherfucker.

Offensiveness

The word's use is considered obscene in social contexts, but may be common in informal and familiar situations. It is unclear whether the word has always been considered vulgar, and if not, when it first came to be used to describe unpleasant circumstances or people in an intentionally offensive way, such as in the term motherfucker, one of its more common usages in some parts of the English-speaking world. In the modern English-speaking world, the word fuck is often considered highly offensive. Most English-speaking countries censor it on television and radio. Andrea Millwood Hargrave's 2000 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. Fuck has become increasingly less vulgar and more publicly acceptable, an example of the "dysphemism treadmill", wherein vulgarities become inoffensive and commonplace. Fuck was included for the first time as one of three vulgarities in the Canadian Press's Canadian Press Caps and Spelling guide in 2005 because of its increasing usage in the public forum. Journalists were advised to refrain from censoring the word but use it sparingly and only when its inclusion was essential to the story.

The term remains a taboo word to many people in English-speaking countries.

Etymology

The Oxford English Dictionary states that the ultimate etymology is uncertain, but that the...