WhyEleutheria

The
by F-word
is the F-word
Delacroix
considered so much more offensive than the other 250,000 words
ItÕs
in the
justEnglish
a word,language?
after all,
Whyanisold-fashioned,
it banned fromAnglo-Saxon,
most U.S. publications?
four-letter word. Actu
ally, thatÕs perhaps itÕs only real sin: being Anglo-Saxon, born and bred. It likely
originated with tribes residing south of the English Channel in the Germanic la
nds of Angln and Saxon, or in Scandinavia. It could have been introduced to Brit
ain by settlers arriving from those regions following the departure of the Roman
legions after Rome fell in 476 A.D. Over the next 600 years, the Anglo-Saxon to
ngue absorbed bits, pieces and chunks of the ancient native lingo along with wor
ds and expressions borrowed from immigrant and invader vocabularies until it gra
duallytheevolved
When Normansinto
of northern
what wouldFrance
becomeconquered
the English
England
language.
in 1066, they made French
the preferred language of the ruling class which used fancy-sounding, Latin-flav
ored words like pederasty, cunnilingus, fellatio, sodomy and succubus Ñ words that
have never been banned despite having meanings nastier than that of the F-word
(which really isnÕt all that nasty when you consider its primary meaning Ñ humanityÕs
greatest pleasure.) The French, being, unfortunately, French, looked down on the
conquered, earthy Anglo-Saxons and found everything about them to be dirty, unc
outh and vulgar, including their short, frank terms for the sex act, sexual orga
ns, and bodily waste. Banning the F-word (along with the Anglo-Saxon four-letter
words for vagina, penis, feces and urine) was a matter of social-class distinct
ion English
The and snobbery
eventually
back then,
rediscovered
and perhaps
theirstill
ballsis.(testicles to you Francophiles)
and threw off the French yoke centuries ago. Still, the F-word retains its forbi
dden-fruit power. Maybe that explains why such a large segment of AmericaÕs youth
has adopted it as a favorite expression. Perhaps saying it out loud makes them f
eel empowered. TheyÕve expanded its meaning to include connotations of surprise, d
elight, dismay, horror, sarcasm, disappointment, humor, anger, love, hatred, lus
t Ñ and they use its various forms in innovative ways as verbs, nouns, adverbs an
d adjectives. The word has become almost an entire language in itself among the
young,
By banning
poorit,
andthe
disenfranchised
Normans only made
who use
it stronger.
it most. Maybe it was one of the battle
cries shouted by the Brits as they drove the French from their shores. Maybe it
was banned, not because it was so profane, but because it was so powerful. Mayb
e every time itÕs spoken today, it enables the speaker to feel a little bolder, a
little tougher, a little more free. Perhaps it provides a small, satisfying tast
e of insurrection.