The Enduring Power of a Good F**k

Swearing can be good for you

If you are the sensitive type and reading the letters C F K U ordered into a swear word doesn’t appeal to you — then you’d better not read on.

Have you ever thought about why we say ‘fuck’ or where ‘fuck’ comes from?

Words are a combination of letters that provide us with diction. A word is just a sound. Vowels are for volume and consonants are for clarity. So, why is it that when you organise C F K U into FUCK that it becomes so charged?

Words come, they evolve, some stay and some go.

Fuck

It’s just a word. We can use it as a verb, a noun, or an exclamation. On its own, we can use it in phrases to express annoyance, contempt, or impatience.

So, where did it come from?

In times of plague, when the population had been decimated, the king encouraged his people to go forth and procreate. Couples would get time to themselves by hanging a sign outside their door that said F.U.C.K.

Fornicating Under Consent of the King.

Under no circumstances were they to be disturbed.

It’s a great story, but it’s a load of bollocks. We tend to think of all our swear words as being Anglo Saxon, the only real Anglo Saxon swear word is shit.

Fuck came about later. The first records of it emerged during the thirteen or fourteen hundredths. It had nothing to do with fornicating under the consent of the king. Its real origin is much more sinister.

Lexicographers think it goes back to the Latin word pugnari meaning to fight or engage in battle. The early records of fucking were all about hitting, and in particular, hitting women.

Fuck has been incredibly enduring. Although, it doesn’t have the same shock value as it once had. Today, that is reserved for the C-word, a word that seems to offend Americans much more than people in other parts of the world.

In Scotland, we use c**t in a myriad of circumstances. There is something magical about the way it ignites from the Scots’ tongue. We rarely use it as a term for a woman’s genitals. It is more often employed as a term of endearment than aggression.

When Ricky Gervais was walking in Edinburgh, two police officers recognised him. They smiled, shook his hand and one said:

“See you, Ricky, you’re a funny c**t.”

And Billy Connolly will tell you that don’t have to be a total c**t:

“What do you think of the prime minister?”

“He seems like a bit of a c**t to me.”

The funniest man on the planet explains its use better than anyone.

Back to fucking

Of all the other swear words that have fallen out of use, fuck has kept going. As a taboo, it has remained strong. Perhaps this is down to its versatility.

Confused:

What the fuck? (WTF)

Don’t care:

Fuck it!

Emphasis:

Fuck yeah!

Surprised:

Fuck me!

Intensifier:

Fucking unbelievable.

Tmesis:

This is my favourite. Tmesis is a linguistic phenomenon in which we separate a word or phrase into two parts, with other words between them.

Abso-fucking-lutely.

Stress relief

Fuck has amazing power. Research has shown that using traditional swear words, like fuck, can increase your tolerance to pain.

Researchers asked participants to hold their hands in a bucket of ice water while they timed how long they could stand the pain. They found that repeatedly saying ‘fuck’ had an analgesic effect and the participants could stand the pain for 33% longer.

They also tried made-up words like ‘twizpipe’ and ‘fouch’. These brought on humourous responses but had no impact on the time the participants could cope with the freezing water.

I find it useful when dealing with idiots. When I meet people who tell me the earth is flat or they won’t take the Covid vaccine because they don’t know what is in it (one was eating a hotdog at the time) I repeat the words ‘fuck off’ in my head.

Fuck off. Fuck off. Fuck off. Fuck off. Fuck off. Fuck off. FUCK OFF.

“I’m sorry. Did I say that last one out loud?”

At fucking last

I don’t agree with the indiscriminate use of swearing. I worked with a few people whose every second word was a swear word. Too much swearing is laziness. It shows a lack of imagination or vocabulary.

Using swear words as fillers lessen their impact. Save your fucks for the time you stub your toe. It is scientifically proven to help. And save them for special occasions.

A colleague once asked me:

“How come you don’t swear?”

“I swear. I just save them for the time when I need them. When you hear me swear, you will know I’m fucking serious.”

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