The use of the term "FUCK"

What the FUCK is going on with y'all?

You might be thinking it is an awkward topic. Well, it is but alongside with its awkwardness you must agree that it is an extremely important word in the English language. It is so important that out of thousands of words that start with the letter "F", FUCK is the only one referred to as the "F-word".

Because of its important and the numerous emails requesting an explanation of the word FUCK, I together with the Flabbergasting English group have decided to post on the use of the term FUCK.

First of all, I would like to let you know that it is not a cool word to be used amongst your parents, teachers, bosses, or any other people you consider to be respected as an authority.

Second of all, it is considered to be a FOUL LANGUAGE. That is, you do not want to use this term at a job interview, church service, Sunday school, or with the principal and/or your teachers.

Okay, now that you are schooled with the social part of the word FUCK, we can start the pragmatical part, which means the usage itself by people who speak English natively or as a second language. This term is used in movies, series (some equivalent words such as "freak", "freaking", "frigging"), and definitely in songs. In addition, it is important to know that intonation and situation together will define what the word exactly means.

Check out the picture above.

EXAMPLES:

Bruno Mars, in his cool song "Billionaire" he says "I wanna be a billionaire so freaking bad..." freaking = fucking which means "so much, very much..." so in this passage fucking only emphasizes how much he wants to be billionaire. Got it?

Oh fuck! = "Oh gosh!" it is usually used when someone is having a problem like he got caught on camera shoplifting. When the security guard approaches him, he goes like "Oh fuck! I got caught!"

Fuck yeah! = Hell yeah! = Heck yeah! = Oh yeah! - Generally used when something doing okay It is also used when either you excitedly accept an invitation or your team score a goal. Like, "Hey, wanna go to the party, I got two tickets 100% off". and you go "Fuck yeah, baby! ". 

Fuck you = Screw you = You already know it! If you don't, fuck you! (Just kidding!)

Shut the fuck up = shut up - It is usually used when someone says something really stupid or when the person is really mad. "Hey, I know why your girl broke up with you. It is because you are tall." and you go "What? Man, shut the fuck up your stupid!"

Those are only a few examples. Hope it helps you understand it better when you hear those. Have a fucking nice day!

Rodrigo Honorato

ESL Teacher

rphingles@yahoo.com.br