I recently watched an interview on YouTube between Larry David and Ricky Gervais (highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it) and they discuss using curse words in what they write. They both agreed that if used correctly it can actually enhance a script. If you live in America, they still ‘beep’ out swear words. Television stations think that my innocent ears could not bear to hear the word ’shit’, yet they believe if they say ’shi(part of the t) *beep*’ that somehow we have been protected and everything will be alright. I would love to be able to watch the Daily Show and not have some of the funniest parts beeped out. It should be my choice if I want my television to censor content or not.
In all of this, I find that the most interesting part about channels like Comedy Central, TNT, and so-forth is that they censor these words on a voluntary basis (network cable channels are outside of the FCC’s influence).
So, I thought it might be interesting to do a some quick research to figure out where these words actually came from.
SHIT
The word shit appeared about 1,000 years ago and can be traced back to Old Norse origin ’skíta’. It first leaked into Old English as ’scitte’ and from there forming into Middle English as ’sch?tte.’ Anglo-Saxon books use ’scittan’ as a reference to when the cattle had diarrhea. For most of its history it was spelled ’shite’ though evidence of its now modern spelling can be found in books dated as far back as the mid-1700’s. Even today we find remains of the world in the Icelandic language. The words ’skítur’ (noun) and ’skíta’ (verb) are still used.
FUCK
The word fuck, much like shit (and actually the majority of common curse words), came from languages with a Germanic background. It is believed that it came into our language from the Dutch around the 15th century. The word was so taboo that a small amount of documents remain that would allow us to have a better understanding of its origins. The reason that little evidence remains was that people at the time were too afraid to write the word down.
Using my handy “American Heritage Dictionary” it says that the first recorded instance in English literature was in a satirical poem called “Flen, Flyss” (c.1500). The word was not only disguised as a Latin word but encrypted as gxddbov which has been decrypted as fuccant, pseudo-Latin for “they fuck.”
ASSHOLE
The word asshole is from the word arse, which according to the Oxford English Dictionary has been in use since the 11th century to refer to the ass of an animal. Starting roughly around 14th century it was used to refer to a person’s buttocks. Around 1500 the combined form ‘arsehole’ was first used in its literal form to refer to the anus. The metaphorical use that refers to the worst place in a region (e.g., “the asshole of the world”) is first attested in print in 1865. Its use to refer to a despicable person is first record in 1933.
To the rest of the English speaking world, the word ass is still interpreted as donkey.
CUNT
Yet another curse word (and some say the most offensive curse word) with origins stemming from Germanic cultures. They used the word ‘kunton’, which appeared as ‘kunta’ in Old Norse. The actual origin of ‘kunton’ is largely unknown though some theories exist. It didn’t have much success finding much about this word, so I took the easy route and went to Wikipedia. Some things in life can be easy, right?
There are cognates in most Germanic languages, such as the Swedish, Faroese and Old Norwegian kunta, Frisian kunte, Dutch kut, and German kott. While kont in Dutch refers to the buttocks, kut is considered far less offensive in Dutch speaking areas than cunt is in the English speaking world.
Relationships to similar-sounding words such as the Latin cunnus (vulva), and its derivatives French con, Spanish coño, and Portuguese cona, have not been conclusively demonstrated. Other Latin words related to cunnus: cuneatus, wedge-shaped; cuneo v. fasten with a wedge; (figurative) to wedge in, squeeze in, leading to English words like cuneiform (wedge-shaped).
It was commonly used in the 13th century as its anatomical meaning. It did not appear in any major dictionary of the English language from 1795 to 1961, when it was included in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary with the comment “usu. considered obscene”. Its first appearance in the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1972.
MOTHERFUCKER
This curse word was originally a North American slang, and has spread to other varies forms of English. It is believed that the word ‘motherfucker’ dates back to 1918. Unlike the other words we’ve discussed, all other forms of the word have only been recorded in the 20th century.
We all know what the word means literally. This word is very cut and dry. Being as it is a fairly new word with respect to the other words listed here, not much more information exists. The word can have several non-literal meanings as well. In the 1960’s for example, the word was often used in reference to a talented musician, e.g. “that guy is a real motherfucker, man.”
BITCH
The words actual meaning is used to refer to female dogs and other canines. Its second meaning (in reference to a female anyway) has been traced as a far back as around 1400. The first reference can be cited to Chester Pl. (p. 181) ‘Whom calleste thou queine, skabde biche?’ I wasn’t able to find a lot of information on the word beyond that. This was an easy one for me.
Of course there is an array of curse words that I didn’t cover but I thought I’d focus my attention on the more commonly used ones. Some words that I did want to add really had little to no information. For example, the word ‘cock’ is a Middle and Old English word but beyond that I was not able to find anymore information about it. Who knows, maybe I didn’t dig deep enough. Searching for the word ‘cock’ finds many sites and images that I wasn’t intending to look for.
oooooh, I can be first.
I recently commented on just this word : fuck. It is a fascinating word and, correctly, originates in the German (fricken - to strike). The fascination with the word comes about through its usage. It can be:
noun - I don’t give a fuck
verb
adjective - john’s doing all the fucking work
particle
phrasal verb (transitive and intransitive)
adverbial usage - Shiryl talks to fucking much
expletive
pejorative
intensifier
as part of a word - absofuckinglutely
et al
my fav: I don’t fucking give a fucking fuck
The most wonderful example of its potential usage was in the Monty Python radio sketch: usages of the word Fuck (monolouged by an American actor.
dismay - Aww, fuck it
trouble - I guess I’m really fucked now
difficulty - I’m don’t understand this fucking question
inquiry- Who the fuck was that
dissatisfaction - I don’t like what the fuck is going on here
incompetence - he’s a fuck off
dismisal - why don’t you go outside a go fuck yourself
A wonderful word
Oh man, spent half hour writing and I think it got rejected because I mentioned the words that are supposed to being commented on… bummer
f word comes from the german - fricken - meaning ‘to strike’ by the way
Your post got rejected? Did you get any type of error message? I don’t see any record of the post.
EDIT: For some reason Akismet thought that was spam. Should see it now.
No big deal, really I was just commenting on the Monty python sketch “usages of the word fuck”. That and the fact that it is a word that occupies about 30 pages of entries in the Oxford dictionary of English usage.
It is an amazing word regarding its breadth of use and meaning.
i fucked myself really hard
Interesting - plus, when I say those words, somehow it always makes me feel better too.
Holy fuck, I dont know what the fuck to fucking think.
i beleive the work cock was originally used as another name for a faucet or a tap.
I was taught the origin of the word fuck a little differently.
I was taught that back in england when the kings ruled the lands and poor people were peasants they needed to have approval from the king in order to procreate. After they were granted this approval they had to hang a sign on the door that said F.U.C.K. which stood for “Fornication Under Consent of the King”.
Half of the UK dont use “fuck” We use “Fock”, Same thing really.
Fock that focking shit man, We pronounce fuck usually as “Fock”… FUCK A DOODLE DOO! MUTHER FUCKERS!
I LOVE THE WORD FUCK. I MEAN…..THE USE OF IT CAN BE VEY BROAD AND IT COME IN HANDY QUITE A BIT. PEOPLE SAY THAT THOSE WHO USE ALOT OF CURSE WORDS DONT KNOW HOW TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES OR THAT THEY HAVE A SMALL VOCABULARY AND I DONT FND THIS TO BE TRUE AT ALL. I FEEL LIKE CUSS WORDS ARE EXPRESSIONS IN THEMSELVES. MOTHAFUCKAS KNOW WHAT IT IS WHEN U COMBINE THESE WORDS WITH A TONE A VOICE…..JUST AS U WOULD COMBINE THAT TONE OF VOICE WITH WHATEVER OTHER EXPRESSIVE WORDS OR PHRASES…..JUST LIKE A COMMENTER SAID….I DONT FUCKING GIVE A FUCKING FUCK
A word I heard often, while in The Royal Navy, was duckrun, when referring to arse.
Has anyone any comments on this and maybe an origin?
I haven’t heard it used for the past 55 years
I wanna know all of the 13 cuss words! Anyone know were I can find them?
1. Fuck
2. Motherfucker
3. Ass hole
4. Shit
5. Damn
6. Dammit
7. G-D Dammit
8. Bitch
9. Son of a Bitch
10.Bastard
11.Cunt
12.Shit
13.ass
oh Shit I used Shit twice. I need one more , ahhhh Piss?
“Fuck” does *not* come from the German word “fricken,” which is a fictional word. In fact, the word meaning “to strike” is “schlagen.” The German word for “to fuck” is “ficken.”
fuck fuck figitty fuck fuck