What the fuck?! Taboo words and cussing!

Shhh… don’t say the ‘F-word’! Difficult area of research: affected by the ‘taboo’ and destructive notion of swearing: it makes you look bad, social ill, corrupts language Cuss control Academy : run workshops to reduce vulgarity, profanity, and offensive slang: ‘The ten tips of taming the tongue’ President of the Academy: we swear because we are lazy The Clean Airwaves bill

‘Sticks and stones…’ Publishers and lexicographers have been unwilling to include swear words for fear of offending the literate public Oxford Dictionary : four letter words appeared in early 1970’s Random House publisher agonised for decades: not until 1987

It’s a sickness to society! “We live… in an age defined by the smashing of taboos. It’s all part of the assault… on the suburban, the respectable. But as taboos get smashed, new ones emerge… so the frontiers of shockability get pushed ever outwards…” “…Embodies an absence of self restraint, increasing casualty bespeaks an erosion of public values and consideration of others”

Attitudes in Australia Softening social attitude towards swear words… a general symptom of lightening up …. That we all have at some point abused an uncooperative computer or printer or laughed at a raunchy joke at a bar We laugh, almost on reflex!

Why do we swear? Catharsis: the almost instinctive BASTARD! Emitted when you stub your toe Straightforward : bump your head, get caught going through a red light swearing. David Crystal: ‘ expressive’/’emotional ’ function of language: release excessive nervous energy Considered as ‘venom cleansing’

Why do we swear? Abusive: requires a target audience, to inflict harm Motive is nasty as your language use “ You fuckwit!” Social: you old bastard In relaxed settings, where people are comfortable, their language comprises of high degrees of swearing ‘Fuck! You sure bought a lot of beer!’ ‘Fucking fantastic!’ ‘Put your shit over there and come and have a drink’ Imbues their language with colour and emotion Flattens the hierarchy

Semantic changes Attitudes towards swearing, as encoded in cultural constructs such as taboo or church rules, have the belief that certain words used in certain ways have symbolic power : a reflexive relationship The view that certain words have power invests these words with power : manifests and reinforces it

Origins of F**K Latin: Future or O.E- French: Foutre or German: Fricken Physical violence, to hit To engage in sexual acts Blend between Latin (FU) and German (CK) Dutch: fokken, Swiss: focka: striking/ thrusting/ pushing type meaning Shit, Turd, Arse and Fart: Anglo-Saxon origin F***, Crap, bum, C** and Twat: uncertain Fornicate Under Command of the King: During time of great plague Wide spread in the 1800s but liberated in the 1960s

F*** Me! It started as a taboo word because of its referential function: a sexual act but has now gravitated towards a more emotional outlet: ……acting as an intensifier- however it no longer intensifies.

How do we define it? “You fucking fuck, fuck you” “I don’t give a flying fuck” “fuck someone off”“fuck someone up”“fuck someone over” “Fuck head” “fuck off” “fuck up” “fucker” “fucking” “fuck-a-duck” Finite Verb [subject and tense]: you’ve gone and fucked it now Gerund [verbs –ing]: Stop fucking around. Adjective: You’re a fucking retard Adverb: that’s fucking ridiculous Exclamative: Fuck! That’s big dog! Noun: Get the fuck out of here! Negative command: Don’t fuck with me Infinite verb: Try not to fuck up this time

- Displeasure: ‘What the fuck is going on?!’ - Intensifier: ‘It’s fucking hot in here!’ - Abuse: ‘ You fucking fuckwit. Don’t fuck with me!’ - Go figure: ‘Oh fuck it’ - Lost: ‘Where the fuck are we?’ - Perplexed: ‘I know fuck all about it’ - Suspicious: ‘Who the fuck are you?’ - Disbelief: ‘How the fuck did that happen?’

How to define it?  Oxford fails  Collins dictionary gives a variety of derivatives  Macquarie dictionary gives a variety of grammatical phrases Difficult because the word seems to grow legs and move about

Why is it still a ‘taboo word’? The taboo still lurks but not as strong as twenty years ago. YET institutions claim that it is ‘taboo in all sense’ even though admitting the word is rarely used referentially. C. S. Lewis believes that we lack a language that can comfortably talk about sex