View source for Fuck

{{Short description|English-language profanity}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Other uses}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox profanity
| title =
| part_of_speech = Variable 
| type = [[vulgarism]]
| image = 2017.04.15 -TaxMarch Washington, DC USA 02382 (34019086796).jpg
| alt = A protester holding a cardboard sign that reads "FUCK YOUR WAR"
| caption = A protester's sign using the word ''fuck'' on [[Tax March|Tax March Day]], April 15, 2017 in [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| pronunciation = {{IPAc-en|f|ʌ|k}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/fuck |title=FUCK <nowiki>|</nowiki> Pronunciation in English |encyclopedia=[[Cambridge Dictionary]] |access-date=2025-04-27}}</ref>
| lit = [[Sexual intercourse]]
| fig = Disdain
| note = ''Fuck'' is also used as an [[intensifier]] and has various derivatives,  such as ''fucker'', ''fucking'', etc.<!--Dummy edit-->
}}
'''''Fuck''''' ({{IPAc-en|f|ʌ|k}}) is [[profanity]] in the [[English language]] that often refers to the act of [[sexual intercourse]], but is also commonly used as an [[intensifier]] or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to around 1475.{{sfn|Sheidlower|2009|p=3}} In modern usage, the term ''fuck'' and its [[morphological derivation|derivatives]] (such as ''fucker'' and ''fucking'') are used as a [[noun]], a [[verb]], an [[adjective]], an [[Expletive infix|infix]], an [[interjection]] or an [[adverb]]. There are many common phrases that employ the word as well as [[Compound (linguistics)|compounds]] that incorporate it, such as ''[[motherfucker]]'' and ''[[wikt:fuck off|fuck off]]''.

==Offensiveness==
It is unclear whether the word has always been considered a [[pejorative]] or, if not, when it first came to be used to describe (often in an extremely angry, hostile, or belligerent manner) unpleasant circumstances or people in an intentionally offensive way, such as in the term ''[[motherfucker]]'', one of its more common usages in some parts of the [[List of countries where English is an official language|English-speaking world]]. Some English-speaking countries censor it on television and radio. Andrea Millwood Hargrave's 2000 study of the attitudes of the British public found that ''fuck'' was considered the third-most-severe profanity, and its derivative ''motherfucker'' second. ''[[Cunt]]'' was considered the most severe.<ref name="Hargrave">{{cite web |last=Millwood Hargrave |first=Andrea |title=Delete Expletives?: Research Undertaken Jointly by the Advertising Standards Authority, British Broadcasting Corporation, Broadcasting Standards Commission and the Independent Television Commission |publisher=Advertising Standards Authority |year=2000 |access-date=June 1, 2013 |url=http://www.ligali.org/pdf/delete_expletives.pdf |archive-date=January 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105151536/http://www.ligali.org/pdf/delete_expletives.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Nevertheless, the word has increasingly become less of a pejorative and more publicly acceptable, an example of the "[[dysphemism treadmill]]" or [[Semantic change|semantic drift]] known as ''melioration,'' wherein former [[Pejorative|pejoratives]] become inoffensive and commonplace.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://journalism.uoregon.edu/~tbivins/J496/readings/LANGUAGE/euphemism_defandlist.pdf |title=Euphemism definitions and list |publisher=University of Oregon |access-date=June 1, 2013 |work=Persuasion and Ethics |last=Bivins |first=Tom |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103103431/http://journalism.uoregon.edu/~tbivins/J496/readings/LANGUAGE/euphemism_defandlist.pdf |archive-date=November 3, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Christian|first=Brian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ld-_V58W0PUC|title=The Most Human Human: What Talking with Computers Teaches Us About What It Means to Be Alive|date=2011-03-01|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-385-53307-2|pages=208|language=en|access-date=December 24, 2021|archive-date=July 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722091356/https://books.google.com/books?id=ld-_V58W0PUC|url-status=live}}</ref> Because of its increasing usage in the public forum, in 2005 the word was included for the first time as one of three vulgarities in [[The Canadian Press]]'s ''Canadian Press Caps and Spelling'' guide. Journalists were advised to refrain from censoring the word but use it sparingly and only when its inclusion was essential to the story.<ref name="CPmanual">{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/1.524788 |title=New edition of Canadian Press handbook includes infamous four-letter word |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430213520/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/08/14/CP_manual_adds_four-letter_expletive20050815.html |archive-date=April 30, 2008 |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=August 14, 2005|url-status=live |access-date=June 1, 2013}}</ref> According to linguist Pamela Hobbs, "notwithstanding its increasing public use, enduring cultural models that inform our beliefs about the nature of sexuality and sexual acts preserve its status as a vile utterance that continues to inspire moral outrage." Hobbs considers users rather than usage of the word and sub-divides users into "non-users", for whom "the word belongs to a set of taboo words, the very utterance of which constitutes an affront, and any use of the word, regardless of its form (verb, adjective, adverb, etc.) or meaning (literal or metaphorical) evokes the core sexual meanings and associated sexual imagery that motivate the taboo"; and "users", for whom "metaphorical uses of the word ''fuck'' no more evoke images of sexual intercourse than does a ten-year-old's 'My mom'll kill me if she finds out' evokes images of murder" so that the "criteria of taboo are missing."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hobbs |first=Pamela |title=''Fuck'' as a metaphor for male sexual aggression |journal=[[Gender and Language]] |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=149–176 |doi=10.1558/genl.v7i2.149 |year=2013 |issn = 1747-6321 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224022106/http://home.earthlink.net/~p37954/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/Fuck.pdf |url=http://home.earthlink.net/~p37954/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/Fuck.pdf |archive-date=February 24, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Etymology==
===Germanic cognates===
The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' states that the ultimate etymology is uncertain, but that the word is "probably cognate" with a number of [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] words with meanings involving striking, rubbing and having sex or is derivative of the [[Old French]] word that meant 'to have sex'.<ref name=oed>"Fuck." ''[[OED Online]]''. Draft Revision, June 2008. [[Oxford University Press]]. Accessed August 26, 2008 [http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50090566 OED.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120000310/http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50090566 |date=November 20, 2008 }} http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/previous-updates/march-2008-update/ </ref>

The word has probable [[cognate]]s in other Germanic languages, such as German {{lang|de|ficken}} ('to fuck'); [[Dutch language|Dutch]] {{lang|de|fokken}} ('to breed', 'to beget'); Afrikaans ''fok'' ('to fuck');<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2021-09-28|title=When a word is befok ... (AGW 2021)|url=https://vloek.co.za/leesstof/kongresmateriaal/when-a-word-is-befok-agw-2021|access-date=2021-12-11|website=vloek.co.za|language=af-ZA|archive-date=October 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009063645/https://vloek.co.za/leesstof/kongresmateriaal/when-a-word-is-befok-agw-2021|url-status=live}}</ref> Icelandic ''fokka'' ('to mess around', 'to rush');<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Kroonen|first=Guus|publisher=Brill|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/851754510|title=Etymological dictionary of Proto-Germanic|date=2013|isbn=978-90-04-18340-7|location=Leiden|oclc=851754510|access-date=December 11, 2021|archive-date=June 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613073911/http://www.worldcat.org/title/etymological-dictionary-of-proto-germanic/oclc/851754510|url-status=live}}</ref> dialectal [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] {{lang|no|fukka}} ('to copulate'); and dialectal [[Swedish language|Swedish]] {{lang|sv|focka}} ('to strike', 'to copulate') and {{lang|sv|fock}} ('[[penis]]').<ref name=oed /> This points to a possible etymology where [[Common Germanic]] ''*fuk(k)ōn-''from the verbal root ''*fug-'' ('to blow')<ref name=":0" /> comes from an [[Indo-European language|Indo-European]] root ''*peuk-'', or ''*peuĝ-'' ('to strike'),<ref>{{Cite web|title=J. Pokorny's Indo-European Etymological Dictionary|url=https://indo-european.info/pokorny-etymological-dictionary/index.htm|access-date=2021-12-11|website=indo-european.info|archive-date=August 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822180629/https://indo-european.info/pokorny-etymological-dictionary/index.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> cognate with non-Germanic words such as Latin {{lang|la|pugno}} ('I fight') or {{lang|la|pugnus}} ('fist').<ref name=oed /> By application of [[Grimm's law]], this hypothetical root also has the Pre-Germanic form *''pug-néh<sub>2</sub>-'' (<nowiki>'to blow'</nowiki>),<ref name=":0" /> which is the etymon of, amongst others, Dutch ''fok(zeil)'' ('foresail').<ref>{{Cite web|title=Zoekresultaten|url=https://etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/fok1|access-date=2021-12-11|website=etymologiebank.nl|archive-date=October 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023021751/https://www.etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/fok1|url-status=live}}</ref> There is a theory that ''fuck'' is most likely derived from German or Dutch roots, and is probably not derived from an Old English root.<ref name="Sheidlower1998"/>

===False etymologies===
One reason that the word ''fuck'' is difficult to trace etymologically is that it was used far more extensively in common speech, rather than in easily traceable documents or writings. There exist multiple [[urban legends]] that advance [[false etymology|false etymologies]], including the word allegedly being an [[acronym]]. One of these urban legends is that the word ''fuck'' originated in Irish law. If a couple was caught committing [[adultery]], the two would be punished "For Unlawful [[carnal knowledge|Carnal Knowledge]] In the Nude", with "''FUCKIN"'' written on the [[stocks]] above to denote the crime. A variant of this legend alleges church clerks to have recorded the crime of "Forbidden Use of Carnal Knowledge". Another legend places the origin on a  royal permission allegedly granted during the [[Middle Ages]]. Due to the [[Black Death]] and the consequent scarcity of resources, villages and towns supposedly attempted to control population growth by requiring permission to engage in intercourse. Royal permission (usually from a local magistrate or lord) is said to have required placing a sign visible from the road reading: "''[[Fornicating]]/Fornication Under Consent of King",'' later shortened to ''FUCK''. This story is not supported by written evidence, and has been proven false, but has persisted in oral and literary traditions for many years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/fuck.asp |title=snopes.com: Etymology of Fuck |date=July 8, 2007 |work=Snopes.com |access-date=December 9, 2013 |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417143143/http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/fuck.asp |url-status=live }}</ref>

Another legendary etymology, first made popular by the [[Radio in the United States|American radio]] show ''[[Car Talk]],'' says that the phrase ''fuck you'' derives from ''pluck yew'' in connection with a misconception regarding the [[V sign#Origins|origins of the V sign]]. This misconception states that English archers believed that those who were captured by the French had their index and middle fingers cut off so that they could no longer operate their [[English longbow|longbows]], and that the V sign was used by uncaptured and victorious archers in a display of defiance against the French. The addition of the phrase ''fuck you'' to the misconception came when it was claimed that the English yelled that they could still ''pluck yew'', ([[Taxus baccata|yew]] wood being the preferred material for longbows at the time), a phrase that evolved into the modern ''fuck you''.<ref name="Sheidlower1998"/> In any event, the word ''fuck'' has been in use far too long for some of these supposed origins to be possible. Since no such acronym was ever recorded before the 1960s according to the [[lexicographer|lexicographical]] work ''[[The F-Word (book)|The F-Word]]'', such claims create at best a so-called "[[backronym]]".{{sfn|Sheidlower|2009|p=1}}

==Grammar==
In terms of its parts of speech, ''fuck'' has a very flexible role in English grammar, functioning as both a [[Transitive verb|transitive]] and [[intransitive verb]], and as an [[adjective]], [[adverb]], [[noun]], and [[interjection]].<ref name="oed" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=McCulloch |first1=Gretchen |author1-link=Gretchen McCulloch |title=A Linguist Explains the Syntax of 'Fuck' |url=https://the-toast.net/2014/12/09/linguist-explains-syntax-f-word/ |website=[[the Toast]] |access-date=January 12, 2021|date=December 9, 2014|url-status=live|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101101133/https://the-toast.net/2014/12/09/linguist-explains-syntax-f-word/}}</ref>
[[File:English-fuck-OED.png|alt=Senses, uses and colloacations of fuck, its derived words, and compounds in the Oxford English Dictionary|thumb|Fuck and related constructions in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'']]
Although the word itself is used in its literal sense to refer to sexual intercourse, its most common usage is figurative—to indicate the speaker's strong sentiment and to offend or shock the listener.<ref name="Salon">{{cite web|last=Mohr|first=Melissa|date=May 11, 2013|title=The modern history of swearing: Where all the dirtiest words come from|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/05/11/the_modern_history_of_swearing_where_all_the_dirtiest_words_come_from/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607114222/http://www.salon.com/2013/05/11/the_modern_history_of_swearing_where_all_the_dirtiest_words_come_from/|archive-date=June 7, 2013|access-date=June 3, 2013|work=Salon|ref=none}}</ref> Linguist Geoffrey Hughes found eight distinct usages for English curse words, and ''fuck'' can apply to each. For example, it fits in the "curse" sense (''fuck you!''), as well as the "personal" sense (''You fucker'').<ref name="Hughes" /> In the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', more than a hundred different senses, usages and [[Collocation|collocations]] (like ''fuck around, fuck with s.o., fuck you, fuck me, fuck it'') are identified for ''fuck,'' its derived forms (like ''fucker, fuckee, fuckability''), and [[Compound (linguistics)|compounds]] with ''fuck'' (e.g. ''fuckfest, fuckhole, fuckface'').<ref name=":1" />

==Early usage==
In 2015, [[Paul Booth (historian)|Paul Booth]] argued he had found "(possibly) the earliest known use of the word 'fuck' that clearly has a sexual connotation": in English court records of 1310–11, a man local to [[Chester]] is referred to as "Roger Fuckebythenavele", probably a nickname. "Either this refers to an inexperienced copulator, referring to someone trying to have sex with the navel, or it's a rather extravagant explanation for a dimwit, someone so stupid they think that this is the way to have sex", says Booth.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Paul |last=Booth |author-link=Paul Booth (historian) |title=An early fourteenth-century use of the F-word in Cheshire, 1310–11 |journal=Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire |volume=164 |year=2015 |pages=99–102|doi=10.3828/transactions.164.9 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pearl |first1=Mike |title=We Interviewed the Historian Who Just Found the Oldest Use of the Word 'Fuck' |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-historian-just-found-the-oldest-use-of-fuck-920/ |access-date=October 24, 2015 |work=Vice |date=September 13, 2015 |quote=Paul Booth: "The significance is the occurrence of (possibly) the earliest known use of the word 'fuck' that clearly has a sexual connotation." |archive-date=October 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017101232/http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/this-historian-just-found-the-oldest-use-of-fuck-920 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wordsworth |first1=Dot |title=The remarkable discovery of Roger Fuckebythenavele: An exciting discovery in the records of the County Court of Chester – but it's probably not the oldest F-word |url=http://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/09/the-remarkable-discovery-of-roger-fuckebythenavele/ |access-date=October 24, 2015 |work=The Spectator |date=September 26, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101114206/http://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/09/the-remarkable-discovery-of-roger-fuckebythenavele/ |archive-date=November 1, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11861720/Earliest-use-of-f-word-discovered-in-court-records-from-1310.html |title=Earliest use of f-word discovered in court records from 1310 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |author=Emily Gosden |date=September 13, 2015 |access-date=October 24, 2015 |archive-date=October 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019223225/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11861720/Earliest-use-of-f-word-discovered-in-court-records-from-1310.html |url-status=live }}</ref> An earlier name, that of [[John le Fucker]] recorded in 1278, has been the subject of debate, but is thought by many [[philologist]]s to have had some separate and non-sexual origin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Read |first1=Allen Walker |title=Milestones in the History of English in America |chapter = Where Does That Word Come From? |date=2002 |publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham, North Carolina |isbn=0-8223-6526-X |pages=277–300|url=https://archive.org/details/milestonesinhist0000read/}}</ref>

Otherwise, the usually accepted first known occurrence of the word is found in [[Code (cryptography)|code]] in a poem in a mixture of [[Latin]] and English composed in the 15th century. The poem, which satirizes the [[Carmelite]] friars of [[Cambridge, England|Cambridge]], England, takes its title, "[[Flen flyys]]", from the first words of its opening line, ''Flen, flyys, and freris'' ('Fleas, flies, and friars'). The line that contains ''fuck'' reads ''Non sunt in coeli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk''. [[Substitution cipher|Deciphering]] the phrase ''gxddbou xxkxzt pg ifmk'', here by replacing each letter by the previous letter in [[alphabetical order]], as the English alphabet was then, yields the [[macaronic]] ''non sunt in coeli, quia fuccant vvivys of heli'', which translated means, 'They are not in heaven, because they fuck the women of [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]]'. The phrase was probably encoded because it accused monks of breaking their vows of celibacy;<ref name="Sheidlower1998">{{cite journal |title=Revising the F-Word |last=Sheidlower |first=Jesse |journal=Verbatim: The Language Quarterly |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=18–21 |date=Autumn 1998}}</ref> it is uncertain to what extent the word ''fuck'' was considered acceptable at the time. The stem of ''fuccant'' is an [[Dog Latin|English word used as Latin]].<ref name="ah">{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|fuck}}</ref> In the [[Middle English]] of this poem, the term ''wife'' was still used generically for 'woman'.<ref group="‡">{{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/woman |title=woman |work=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |access-date=July 8, 2020 |archive-date=June 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200624223156/https://www.etymonline.com/word/woman |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[William Dunbar]]'s 1503 poem "Brash of Wowing" includes the lines: "Yit be his feiris he wald haue fukkit: / Ye brek my hairt, my bony ane" (ll. 13–14).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dunbar |first1=William |title=Selected poems |date=2003 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=0415969433 |page=45 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RsuWgURbZzQC&pg=PA45 |access-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-date=July 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722091356/https://books.google.com/books?id=RsuWgURbZzQC&pg=PA45 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The oldest known occurrence of the word in adjectival form (which implies use of the verb) in English comes from the margins of a 1528 manuscript copy of [[Cicero]]'s ''[[De Officiis]]''. A monk had scrawled in the margin notes, "fuckin Abbot". Whether the monk meant the word literally, to accuse this abbot of "questionable monastic morals", or whether he used it "as an intensifier, to convey his extreme dismay" is unclear.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.openculture.com/2014/02/the-very-first-written-use-of-the-f-word-in-english-1528.html |title=The Very First Written Use of the F Word in English (1528) |last1=Marshall |first1=Colin |date=February 11, 2014 |website=openculture |access-date=February 25, 2014 |archive-date=March 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301150850/http://www.openculture.com/2014/02/the-very-first-written-use-of-the-f-word-in-english-1528.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[John Florio]]'s 1598 Italian–English dictionary, ''A Worlde of Wordes'', included the term, along with several now-archaic, but then-vulgar synonyms, in this definition:
* Fottere: ''To jape, to sard, to fucke, to swive, to occupy.''<ref name="Hughes">{{cite journal |last1=Hughes |first1=Geoffrey |title=Fuck |journal=An Encyclopedia of Swearing: The Social History of Oaths, Profanity, Foul Language, and Ethnic Slurs in the English-Speaking World |date=2006 |url=http://www.omnilogos.com/2014/11/fuck.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150124223531/http://www.omnilogos.com/2014/11/fuck.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 24, 2015}}</ref>
Of these, "occupy" and "jape" still survive as verbs, though with less profane meanings, while "sard" was a descendant of the Anglo-Saxon verb ''seordan'' (or ''seorðan'', [[Old Norse|ON]] ''serða''), to copulate; and "swive" had derived from earlier ''swīfan'', to revolve i.e. to swivel (compare modern-day "screw"). As late as the 18th century, the verb ''occupy'' was seldom used in print because it carried sexual overtones.<ref>{{cite book |last=Silverton |first=Peter |author-link=Joe Bloggs |date=2011 |title=Filthy English: The How, Why, When and What of Everyday Swearing |publisher=Portobello Books |location=London |isbn=9781846274527 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSErq0ssG74C&pg=PT25 |access-date=July 4, 2018 |archive-date=January 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127113927/https://books.google.com/books?id=xSErq0ssG74C&pg=PT25 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref group="‡">{{cite web |title=occupy |work=Oxford Dictionaries |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/occupy |access-date=July 4, 2018 |archive-date=July 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705003751/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/occupy |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A 1790 poem by [[St. George Tucker]] has a father upset with his bookish son say "I'd not give [a fuck] for all you've read". Originally printed as "I'd not give ------ for all you've read", scholars agree that the words ''a fuck'' were removed, making the poem the first recorded instance of the now-common phrase ''I don't give a fuck''.{{sfn|Mohr|2013|pp=215–216}}

Farmer and Henley's 1893 dictionary of slang notes both the adverbial and adjectival forms of ''fuck'' as similar to but "more violent" than ''bloody'' and indicating extreme insult, respectively.<ref name="Salon"/>

According to an article in the journal ''[[Science (journal) | Science]]'', research shows that when humans switched to processed foods after the spread of agriculture, they put less wear and tear on their teeth, leading to an overbite in adults. This overbite is said to make it easier to produce "f" and "v" sounds, and humorously, cleared the way for words like "Fuck".<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 March 2019 |title=Ancient switch to soft food gave us an overbite—and the ability to pronounce 'f's and 'v's |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-switch-soft-food-gave-us-overbite-and-ability-pronounce-f-s-and-v-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019212621/https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-switch-soft-food-gave-us-overbite-and-ability-pronounce-f-s-and-v-s |archive-date=19 October 2023 |author=Ann Gibbons |access-date=15 November 2023 |website=Science.org}}</ref>

==Modern usage==
The modern usage and flexibility of ''fuck'' was established by the mid-to-late 19th century, and has been fairly stable since.<ref name="Salon"/> Most literally, to ''fuck'' is to have sex, but it is also used as a more general [[Expletive attributive|expletive]] or intensifier.<ref name="dictionary.com" group="‡">{{Dictionary.com|fuck|access-date=February 9, 2021}}</ref>

Insertion of the [[trochaic]] word ''fucking'' can also be used as an exercise for diagnosing the [[wikt:cadence|cadence]] of an English-language word. This is the use of ''fuck'' or more specifically ''fucking'' as an [[infix]], or more properly, a [[tmesis]] (see [[expletive infixation]]). For example, the word ''in-fucking-credible'' sounds acceptable to the English ear, and is in fairly common use, while *''incred-fucking-ible'' would sound very clumsy (though, depending on the context, this might be perceived as a humorous [[improvisation]] of the word). ''Abso-fucking-lutely'' and ''motherfucking'' are also common uses of ''fuck'' as an [[affix]].<ref name="McMillan">{{cite journal | last = McMillan | first = James B. | year = 1980 | title = Infixing and Interposing in English | journal = American Speech | volume = 55 | issue = 3 | pages = 163–183 | doi = 10.2307/455082 | jstor = 455082}}</ref> While neither dysphemistic nor connected to the sexual connotations of the word, even the vacuous usages are considered offensive and gratuitous, such as ''This is fucking awesome!''<ref name="dictionary.com" group="‡" /> ''Fuck'' has colloquial usage as a [[verb]], [[adverb]], [[adjective]], [[Conjunction (grammar)|conjunction]], [[interjection]], [[noun]], and [[pronoun]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vernon |first1=Jesse |title=A Scholarly Explication of ''Fuck'' |url=https://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/09/24/a-scholarly-explication-of-fuck |website=[[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]] |access-date=March 4, 2021 |date=September 24, 2009 |archive-date=May 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517230352/https://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/09/24/a-scholarly-explication-of-fuck |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Tank on Flamenco Beach 2.jpg|thumb|"WTF?" [[Aerosol paint|spray painted]] on the rear of a [[M4 Sherman|Sherman tank]] left over from US military shelling practice on [[Flamenco Beach]] on the island of [[Culebra, Puerto Rico]]|320x320px]]

{{anchor|WTF}}
The word ''fuck'' is a component of many acronyms, some of which—like [[SNAFU]] (Situation Normal: All Fucked Up) and [[FUBAR]] (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition)—date as far back as [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2005|title=fubar, ''adj''.|encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|edition=third}}</ref> [[MILF]] (Mother I'd Like to Fuck) and variations of the first letter are widely seen in pornographic contexts.<ref name="dictionary.com-milf" group="‡">{{cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronyms/milf/|title=MILF|work=[[Dictionary.com]] Unabridged|publisher=[[Random House]]|access-date=February 9, 2021|archive-date=March 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304153538/https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronyms/milf/|url-status=live}}</ref> Many more recent coinages, such as the shorthand ''[[wikt:WTF#English|WTF]]?'' for '[[wikt:what the fuck#English|what the fuck]]',<ref name="dictionary.com-wtf" group="‡">{{Dictionary.com|WTF|access-date=February 15, 2021}}</ref> ''STFU'' for '[[shut the fuck up]]',<ref name="dictionary.com-stfu" group="‡">{{cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronyms/stfu/|title=STFU|work=[[Dictionary.com]] Unabridged|publisher=[[Random House]]|access-date=February 15, 2021|archive-date=January 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113121550/https://www.dictionary.com/e/acronyms/stfu/|url-status=live}}</ref> or ''FML'' for 'fuck my life',<ref name="dictionary.com-fml" group="‡">{{cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/fml/|title=FML|work=[[Dictionary.com]] Unabridged|publisher=[[Random House]]|access-date=February 15, 2021|archive-date=April 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417043900/https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/fml/|url-status=live}}</ref> have been widely extant on the Internet, and may count as examples of [[internet meme]]s. Many acronyms will also have an ''F'' or ''MF'' added to increase emphasis; for example, ''OMG'' ('[[wikt:oh my God|oh my God]]') becomes ''OMFG'' ('oh my fucking God'). Abbreviations involving ''fuck'' can be considered less offensive than ''fuck'' itself.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carey |first1=Stan |title=OMFG! Sweary Abbreviations FTFW! |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/04/omfg-ffs-wtf-a-deep-dive-into-sweary-abbreviations.html |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |access-date=February 15, 2021 |date=April 27, 2015 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507154651/https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/04/omfg-ffs-wtf-a-deep-dive-into-sweary-abbreviations.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Although the word is proclaimed vulgar, several comedians rely on ''fuck'' for comedic routines. [[George Carlin]] created several literary works based upon the word, including his routine "[[seven dirty words]]"—words that were [[bleep censor]]ed on US television.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bella |first1=Timothy |title=The '7 Dirty Words' Turn 40, but They're Still Dirty |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/05/the-7-dirty-words-turn-40-but-theyre-still-dirty/257374/ |website=The Atlantic |access-date=February 15, 2021 |date=May 24, 2012 |archive-date=January 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102214426/http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/05/the-7-dirty-words-turn-40-but-theyre-still-dirty/257374/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

"Fuck all" is a widely recognised expression meaning "None, or very little".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fuck-all#google_vignette|title=FUCK ALL &#124; English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary|access-date=December 21, 2023|archive-date=February 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218185421/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fuck-all#google_vignette|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fuck+all|title=Definition of FUCK ALL|website=www.merriam-webster.com|access-date=December 31, 2023|archive-date=May 22, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522094411/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fuck%20all|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Examples of more recent usage===
In 1928, English writer [[D. H. Lawrence]]'s novel ''[[Lady Chatterley's Lover]]'' gained notoriety for its frequent use of the words ''fuck'' and ''fucking''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Robertson |first1=Geoffrey |title=The trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/22/dh-lawrence-lady-chatterley-trial |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=February 9, 2021 |date=October 22, 2010 |archive-date=December 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201211541/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/22/dh-lawrence-lady-chatterley-trial |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Catcher in the Rye]]'' by [[J. D. Salinger]] featured the use of ''fuck you'' in print. First published in the United States in 1951, the novel remains controversial to this day due in part to its use of the word,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Slawenski |first1=Kenneth |title=Holden Caulfield's Goddam War |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2011/02/salinger-201102 |website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |access-date=February 9, 2021 |date=January 20, 2011 |archive-date=March 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327142427/https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2011/02/salinger-201102 |url-status=live }}</ref> standing at number 13 for the most banned books from 1990 to 2000 according to the American Library Association.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=85714 |title=ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000 |publisher=American Library Association |date=July 20, 2009 |access-date=January 13, 2014 |archive-date=September 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928090419/http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bbwlinks&Template=%2FContentManagement%2FContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=85714 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The first documented use of the word ''fuck'' on live British television has been attributed to theatre critic [[Kenneth Tynan]] in 1965, though it has been claimed Irish playwright [[Brendan Behan]] used the word on [[Panorama (TV series)|''Panorama'']] in 1956 or the man who painted the railings on Stranmillis Embankment alongside the River Lagan in Belfast, who in 1959 told Ulster TV's teatime magazine programme ''Roundabout'' that his job was "fucking boring".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/16/tvs-five-magic-moments Television's magic moments] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714225459/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/16/tvs-five-magic-moments |date=July 14, 2014 }} ''[[The Guardian]]'', August 16, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2013.</ref> The [[Sex Pistols#today programme|Bill Grundy incident]] was a controversy that ensued in 1976 when ''Today'' host [[Bill Grundy]] interviewed the [[Sex Pistols]], after guitarist [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]] called Grundy a "dirty fucker" and a "fucking rotter".<ref>{{cite news |author=Mark Lawson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/feb/05/broadcasting.britishidentityandsociety |title=Has swearing lost its power to shock? &#124; UK news |newspaper=The Guardian |date=February 5, 2004 |access-date=November 11, 2011 |location=London |archive-date=August 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821044158/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/feb/05/broadcasting.britishidentityandsociety |url-status=live }}</ref>

The word began to break into cinema when it was uttered once in the film ''Vapor'' (1963) and in two Andy Warhol films – ''Poor Little Rich Girl'' (1965) and ''My Hustler'' (1965),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbIrkIgQ3e4|title=First films to use 'fuck' and 'cunt' words in movie history (1963–1976)|website=YouTube|date=February 18, 2019 |access-date=February 19, 2019|archive-date=February 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229175749/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbIrkIgQ3e4&gl=US&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> and later in each of two 1967 British releases, ''[[Ulysses (1967 film)|Ulysses]]'' and ''[[I'll Never Forget What's'isname]]''. It was used several times in the 1969 British film ''[[Bronco Bullfrog]]''.<ref>[http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/bronco-bullfrog-1969 BBFC page for Bronco Bullfrog] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124154333/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/bronco-bullfrog-1969 |date=November 24, 2016 }}, under "insight" section – ''LANGUAGE: Infrequent strong language ('f**k') occurs, as well as a single written use of very strong language ('c**t') which appears as graffiti on a wall.''</ref> According to director [[Robert Altman]], the first time the word ''fuck'' was used in a major American studio film was in 1970's ''[[MASH (film)|M*A*S*H]]'', spoken by Painless during the football match at the end of the film.<ref>''M*A*S*H'' (1970) DVD commentary</ref>

===Use in politics===
[[File:Berkeley_8_27_17-7123_(36887356645).jpg|thumb|320x320px|[[Antifa (United States)|Antifa]] rally at [[2017 Berkeley protests|Berkeley protests]] on August 27, 2017]]
''Fuck'' is not widely used in politics, and the use of the word by politicians often produces controversy. Some events include:
* In 1965, US President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] said to the Greek ambassador [[Alexandros Matsas]] when he objected to American plans in [[Cyprus]], "Fuck your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If these two fellows continue itching the elephant they may just get whacked by the elephant's trunk, whacked good".<ref>Deane, Philip. ''I Should Have Died''. pp. 113–114 {{ISBN|0-241-89038-1}}. {{ISBN|978-0-241-89038-7}} ASIN: B000XYDADM</ref><ref>Blum, William. ''Killing hope: [[US military]] and [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] interventions since [[World War II]]'': Publisher: Zed Books Ltd; 2nd edition (July 9, 2003); {{ISBN|1-84277-369-0}}; {{ISBN|978-1-84277-369-7}} [https://archive.org/details/pdfy-q0ULBH2DJICRS3Vg/page/n214 <!-- pg=215 quote=fuck your parliament and your. --> Internet Archive]</ref>
* Former British [[Secretary of State for Defence]] [[Denis Healey]] reported that the penultimate [[List of British representatives at Aden|High Commissioner of Aden]] (1965–1967), [[Richard Turnbull (colonial governor)|Sir Richard Turnbull]], stated that, "When the British Empire finally sinks beneath the waves of history, it will leave behind it only two memorials: one is the game of Association Football and the other is the expression 'Fuck Off'."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6OOsoqSKaw&t=55m42s |title=BBC documentary (2004) – ''Empire Warriors: Mad Mitch and His Tribal Law'' |website=[[YouTube]] |date=February 14, 2017 |access-date=September 22, 2017 |archive-date=January 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127113932/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6OOsoqSKaw&t=55m42s |url-status=live }}</ref>
* During debate in February 1971 in the [[House of Commons of Canada]], Canadian Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] mouthed the words "fuck off" at [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|MP]] [[John Lundrigan]], while Lundrigan made some comments about unemployment. Afterward, when asked by a television reporter what he had been thinking, Trudeau famously replied: "What is the nature of your thoughts, gentlemen, when you say '[[fuddle duddle]]' or something like that?". "Fuddle duddle" consequently became a [[catchphrase]] in Canadian media associated with Trudeau.<ref>Montcombreaux, Charles. [http://www.themanitoban.com/2004-2005/1117/article.php?section=culture&article=01 "Flip the Bird: How Fuck and "The Finger" Came to Be"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215133406/http://www.themanitoban.com/2004-2005/1117/article.php?section=culture&article=01 |date=February 15, 2008 }} {{cite news |url=http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-571-2955-20/that_was_then/politics_economy/trudeau_fuddle_duddle |title=? |date=November 17, 2004 |work=Vol 92, Issue 13 |publisher=[[The Manitoban]] |access-date=November 28, 2008 |archive-date=February 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218215249/http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-571-2955-20/that_was_then/politics_economy/trudeau_fuddle_duddle |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The first accepted modern use in the [[British House of Commons]] came in 1982 when [[Reg Race]], [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP for [[Wood Green (UK Parliament constituency)|Wood Green]], referred to adverts placed in local newsagents by prostitutes which read "Phone them and fuck them." ''[[Hansard]]'', the full record of debates, printed "F*** them", but even this euphemism was deprecated by the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker]], [[George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy|George Thomas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1982/feb/03/licensing-of-sex-establishments#S6CV0017P0_19820203_HOC_296 |title=Licensing of sex establishments |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |access-date=August 20, 2009 |archive-date=June 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629214421/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1982/feb/03/licensing-of-sex-establishments#S6CV0017P0_19820203_HOC_296 |date=3 February 1982 |url-status=live }} HC Deb February 3, 1982 vol. 17 cc321–66: "[[David Sullivan (publisher)|Conegate]] Ltd. provides opportunities for prostitutes to operate. The shop in [[Lewisham]] was recently raided by the police and was the subject of a court case. When two women who had been accused of daubing the shop with paint were acquitted by the [[magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]] it was revealed in the national newspapers that Conegate had been operating a list of sexual contacts in the shop, the heading of which was 'Phone them and ... them'."</ref>
* During the George W. Bush presidency, a vehicular bumper sticker with the words ''Buck Fush'' (a [[spoonerism]] of "Fuck Bush") gained some popularity in the US.<ref>{{cite web |title=Buck Fush and the Left |url=https://www.dennisprager.com/buck-fush-and-the-left/ |website=The Dennis Prager Show |publisher=Salem National |access-date=March 13, 2019 |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731221545/https://www.dennisprager.com/buck-fush-and-the-left/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In June 2004, US Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] told [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] senator [[Patrick Leahy]], "Go fuck yourself." Coincidentally, Cheney's outburst occurred on the same day that the Defense of Decency Act was passed in the Senate.<ref>Dewar, Helen & Dana Milbank. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp%2Ddyn/articles/A3699%2D2004Jun24.html "Cheney Dismisses Critic With Obscenity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803125332/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html |date=August 3, 2017 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', June 25, 2004</ref>
* In February 2006 [[Morris Iemma]], [[Premiers of New South Wales|Premier]] of the [[States and territories of Australia|Australian state]] of [[New South Wales]], while awaiting the start of a [[Council of Australian Governments]] media conference in [[Canberra]], was chatting to [[Victoria (Australia)|Victorian]] [[Premiers of Victoria|Premier]] [[Steve Bracks]]. Not realizing microphones were recording, he said, "Today? This fuckwit who's the new CEO of the [[Cross City Tunnel]] has ... been saying what controversy? There is no controversy."<ref>{{cite news |title=Anger good, swearing bad: Iemma |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/anger-good-swearing-bad-iemma/2006/02/11/1139542438523.html |newspaper=The Age |access-date=July 12, 2015 |date=February 11, 2006 |archive-date=January 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116100438/http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/anger-good-swearing-bad-iemma/2006/02/11/1139542438523.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The exchange referred to the newly appointed CEO of the recently opened Cross City Tunnel toll road within Sydney.
* In 2007, [[U.S. Senator]] [[John Cornyn]] objected to [[John McCain]]'s perceived intrusion upon a Senate meeting on immigration, saying, "Wait a second here. I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line." McCain replied "Fuck you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room."<ref name="mccainvscornyn">{{cite news |url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2007/05/mccain_cornyn_cursing_showdown.html |title=McCain, Cornyn Engage in Heated Exchange |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=May 18, 2007 |access-date=June 21, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516091524/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2007/05/mccain_cornyn_cursing_showdown.html |archive-date=May 16, 2008 }}</ref>
* In April 2007, [[New Zealand]] Education Minister [[Steve Maharey]] said "fuck you" to [[Jonathan Coleman (politician)|a fellow MP]] during parliamentary question time. He apologized shortly afterwards.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10432760 |title=A couple of quick words from the Minister ... whoops |newspaper=[[New Zealand Herald]] |author=Audrey Young |date=April 5, 2007 |access-date=October 19, 2007 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929205434/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10432760 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In December 2008, recorded telephone conversations revealed Illinois Governor [[Rod Blagojevich]] trying to "sell" an appointment to the Senate seat that [[Barack Obama]] resigned after being elected president. In the phone conversation, Blagojevich said in reference to his power to appoint a new senator, "I've got this thing and it's fucking golden and I'm just not giving it up for fuckin' nothing." In the recorded conversations, Blagojevich also referred to Obama as a "motherfucker" and repeatedly said, "fuck him". When speaking of the Obama administration's request that [[Valerie Jarrett]] be appointed as Obama's replacement, Blagojevich complained, "They're not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them." Blagojevich also said [[Tribune Company]] ownership should be told to "fire those fuckers" in reference to ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' editors critical of him.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://cbs2chicago.com/local/rod.blagojevich.wiretaps.2.883438.html |title=Governor Blagojevich: In His Own Words |publisher=[[WBBM-TV|CBS 2 Chicago]] |date=December 9, 2008 |access-date=February 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211104456/http://cbs2chicago.com/local/rod.blagojevich.wiretaps.2.883438.html |archive-date=December 11, 2008}}</ref>
* In December 2009 in [[Dáil Éireann]] (the lower house of the Irish Parliament), [[Paul Gogarty]] responded to heckles from [[Emmet Stagg]] with the outburst, "With all due respect, in the most [[unparliamentary language]], fuck you, Deputy Stagg. Fuck you."<ref name="cppgogarty"/><ref name="rtegogarty"/> Gogarty immediately withdrew the remarks and later made a personal statement of apology.<ref name="cppgogarty"/> Reporting of the outburst quickly spread by media and the Internet.<ref name="rtegogarty">{{Cite news |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1211/politics.html |title=Gogarty sorry for 'unparliamentary language' |publisher=[[RTÉ.ie|RTÉ News, Ireland]] |author=RTÉ |date=December 11, 2009 |access-date=January 8, 2010 |archive-date=January 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108075938/http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1211/politics.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A subcommittee of the Dáil's [[standing committee]] on procedure and privilege produced a 28-page report on the incident.<ref name="cppgogarty">{{cite web |url=http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/committees30thdail/standingprocedureandprivilegesd/reports/20100525.pdf |title=Report on Parliamentary Standards |author=Committee on Procedure and Privileges |date=May 12, 2010 |publisher=Oireachtas |access-date=October 23, 2010 |location=Dublin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018150844/http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/committees30thdail/standingprocedureandprivilegesd/reports/20100525.pdf |archive-date=October 18, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* On March 23, 2010, [[Vice President of the United States|US Vice President]] [[Joe Biden]] whispered into President [[Barack Obama]]'s ear, "This is a big fucking deal" when referring to the US health care reform bill. His words were picked up by microphones and video.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/23/barack-obama-healthcare-biden-gaffe U.K. newspaper article on Biden gaffe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116100438/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/23/barack-obama-healthcare-biden-gaffe |date=January 16, 2016 }} Accessed March 25, 2010.</ref>
* On May 3, 2010, Canadian senator [[Nancy Ruth]] advised representatives of women's groups to "shut the fuck up" on access to abortion, in the run-up to the [[36th G8 summit]].<ref>[https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/804529--what-s-behind-shut-the-f-up "What's behind 'shut the f--- up' – thestar.com"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021021944/http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/804529--what-s-behind-shut-the-f-up |date=October 21, 2012 }}. www.thestar.com. Retrieved May 5, 2010.</ref>
* In late 2012, the then-[[Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States|US House Speaker]] [[John Boehner]] was visiting the [[White House]], where he saw then [[Senate Majority Leader]] [[Harry Reid]] in the lobby. Boehner was under great stress about the impending [[fiscal cliff]], and Reid had also accused him of running a "dictatorship" in the house. Boehner saw Harry Reid, pointed his finger at him, and told him, "Go fuck yourself!" Reid replied by saying, "What are you talking about?" Boehner then repeated what he had told him and left.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fuck Is An Obscene English-Language Word: Offensiveness Etymology {{!}} PDF {{!}} Fuck {{!}} Linguistics |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/403532279/Fuck |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>
* In late 2016, Philippine President [[Rodrigo Duterte]] reacted to the [[European Parliament]]'s criticism over the prevalence of unsolved extrajudicial killings which occurred during his "[[Philippine Drug War|War on Drugs]]" by lashing out at EU politicians, claiming that they were "hypocrites" whose colonial-era ancestors had killed "thousands" of Arabs and other peoples during the colonial period.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-21/philippines-duterte-gives-middle-finger-to-eu/7866288 |title=Philippines' Duterte gives middle finger to European Union after criticism of drug war |date=September 21, 2016 |publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=September 21, 2016 |archive-date=September 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921121437/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-21/philippines-duterte-gives-middle-finger-to-eu/7866288 |url-status=live }}</ref> Upon making an [[The finger|obscene hand gesture]], Duterte stated that he told EU politicians, "When I read the EU condemnation I told them 'fuck you.' You are only doing it to atone for your own sins" and "They do not want a safe Philippines. They want it to be ruled by criminals. Oh, well, I'm sorry. That is your idiotic view".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/philippine-president-rodrigo-duterte-flings-profanities-at-eu-tells-adversaries-hes-watching-them-20160921-grkwho.html |title=Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte flings profanities at EU, tells adversaries he's 'watching them' |last=Murdoch |first=Lindsay |date=September 21, 2016 |website=Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=September 21, 2016 |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107071829/https://www.smh.com.au/world/philippine-president-rodrigo-duterte-flings-profanities-at-eu-tells-adversaries-hes-watching-them-20160921-grkwho.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Duterte also said, in response to growing international criticism, the "EU now has the gall to condemn me. I repeat it, fuck you."<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/145146/duterte-turns-ire-on-eu-calls-them-hypocrites-and-uses-f-word |title=Duterte turns ire on EU, calls them hypocrites and uses 'F' word |last=Salaverria |first=Leila B. |date=September 20, 2016 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |access-date=September 21, 2016 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108110617/https://globalnation.inquirer.net/145146/duterte-turns-ire-on-eu-calls-them-hypocrites-and-uses-f-word |url-status=live }}</ref>
* On June 10, 2018, [[Robert De Niro]] sparked controversy during the [[72nd Tony Awards]] as he cursed US President [[Donald Trump]] with the word during the live broadcast. He started with the sentence: "I'm gonna say one thing: Fuck Trump." He clenched his two fists in the air, and ended his remarks by saying "It's no longer down with Trump, it's fuck Trump!" He received a standing ovation from the audience, which was mostly celebrities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-tonys-de-niro/robert-de-niro-uses-f-bomb-against-trump-on-live-tv-idUSKBN1J709U|title=Robert De Niro uses F-bomb against Trump on live TV|publisher=Reuters|date=June 11, 2018|access-date=June 11, 2018|archive-date=June 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180611050932/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-awards-tonys-de-niro/robert-de-niro-uses-f-bomb-against-trump-on-live-tv-idUSKBN1J709U|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://people.com/movies/tonys-2018-robert-de-niro-trump-bleeped/|title=Robert De Niro Says 'F— Trump' at Tony Awards and Gets a Standing Ovation|magazine=People|last=Miller|first=Mike|date=June 10, 2018|access-date=June 11, 2018|archive-date=June 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180611100757/https://people.com/movies/tonys-2018-robert-de-niro-trump-bleeped/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/robert-de-niro-throws-f-bombs-at-trump-during-tony-awards|title=Robert De Niro throws F-bombs at Trump during Tony Awards|publisher=Fox News|last=Mikelionis|first=Lukas|date=June 11, 2018|access-date=June 11, 2018|archive-date=June 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180611055342/http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/06/11/robert-de-niro-throws-f-bombs-at-trump-during-tony-awards.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
*On August 5, 2019, [[Beto O'Rourke]] after learning of [[2019 El Paso shooting|a mass shooting]] in his home town of [[El Paso, Texas]] stated "He's been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don't know, like, members of the press, what the fuck?" referring to Donald Trump when asked for his reaction to the shooting.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=John F. |last2=Lippman |first2=Daniel |title=Can the F-Bomb Save Beto? |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/09/06/beto-orourke-f-bomb-228038/ |website=[[Politico]] |access-date=March 7, 2021 |date=September 6, 2019 |archive-date=March 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301230636/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/09/06/beto-orourke-f-bomb-228038/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*During a virtual live telecast Senate hearing on August 21, 2020, Senator [[Tom Carper]] shouted: "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" over a video chat that was being broadcast nationwide.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/21/tom-carper-hot-mic-postal-hearing-399950 |title=Hot mic: Tom Carper drops F-bomb in Postal Service hearing. Politico. August 21, 2020. |website=[[Politico]] |date=August 21, 2020 |access-date=August 28, 2020 |archive-date=August 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824125300/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/21/tom-carper-hot-mic-postal-hearing-399950 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* During his October 9, 2020 appearance on ''[[The Rush Limbaugh Show]]'', US President [[Donald Trump]] stated in a threat to [[Iran]], "If you fuck around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/09/trump-iran-rush-limbaugh-428363|title=Trump drops the F-bomb on Iran|last=Choi|first=Matthew|date=October 9, 2020|website=Politico|language=en|access-date=October 9, 2020|archive-date=October 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009221951/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/09/trump-iran-rush-limbaugh-428363|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2021, "[[Let's Go Brandon]]" became a political [[slogan]] and [[internet meme]] used as a euphemism for "Fuck [[Joe Biden]]", the [[president of the United States]].
* In 2022, [[President Joe Biden]] said to the mayor of [[Fort Myers Beach, Florida]], "No one fucks with a Biden," to which Mayor Ray Murphey responded, "Yeah, you're goddamn right."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Seddiq |first1=Oma |title=Hot mic catches Biden cursing to defend his family name while surveying Hurricane Ian damage |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-caught-joking-hot-mic-no-one-fucks-with-biden-2022-10 |website=Business Insider |publisher=Insider |access-date=6 October 2022 |archive-date=October 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006190647/https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-caught-joking-hot-mic-no-one-fucks-with-biden-2022-10 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* On June 28, 2023, Wisconsin state senator [[La Tonya Johnson]] proclaimed mid session on the senate floor, "Fuck the suburbs, because they don't know a goddamn thing about how life is in the city."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.foxnews.com/media/wisconsin-state-senator-suburbs-amid-debate-crime-spreading-cities | title=Wisconsin state senator says 'f--- the suburbs' amid debate on crime spreading from cities | website=[[Fox News]] | date=June 29, 2023 | access-date=July 12, 2023 | archive-date=July 11, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711013448/https://www.foxnews.com/media/wisconsin-state-senator-suburbs-amid-debate-crime-spreading-cities | url-status=live }}</ref>
* On June 24, 2025, US President Donald Trump said "We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing,".<ref>https://www.npr.org/2025/06/24/nx-s1-5443337/trump-expletive-israel-iran</ref>

===Use in marketing===
In April 1997, clothing retailer [[French Connection (clothing)|French Connection]] began branding their clothes with ''fcuk'' (usually written in lowercase), stating it was an [[acronym]] for "French Connection United Kingdom". Its similarity to the word ''fuck'' caused controversy.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1258961.stm "Time called on FCUK posters"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016134430/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1258961.stm |date=October 16, 2010 }}, BBC News, April 4, 2001</ref> French Connection produced a range of T-shirts with messages such as "fcuk this", "hot as fcuk", "cool as fcuk", "fcuk fashion", etc.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bines |first1=Ari |title=FCUK By French Connection Is Coming & It's BOLD AF |url=https://www.bustle.com/p/fcuk-by-french-connection-is-coming-its-bold-af-19261889 |website=[[Bustle (magazine)|Bustle]] |access-date=February 24, 2021 |date=October 23, 2019 |archive-date=June 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613003157/https://www.bustle.com/p/fcuk-by-french-connection-is-coming-its-bold-af-19261889 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

In 2009, the European Union's [[OHIM]] trade marks agency disallowed a German brewery to market a beer called "[[Fucking Hell]]". The brewery sued, and on March 26, 2010 got permission to market the beer. The company argued that it was actually named after the Austrian village of Fucking (now spelled [[Fugging, Upper Austria|Fugging]]) and the German term for light beer, ''hell'' (which is simply the word for "light-coloured").<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/german-beer-can-call-itself-fking-hell |title=German beer can call itself fking hell |publisher=RNW.nl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329153706/http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/german-beer-can-call-itself-fking-hell |archive-date=March 29, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''[[Iancu v. Brunetti]]'' is a [[United States Supreme Court]] case in which the owner of the clothing brand [[FUCT (clothing)|FUCT]] (supposedly standing for "Friends U Can't Trust") sued the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office|Patent and Trademark Office]], which refused to trademark the name for being "scandalous" under the [[Lanham Act]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Supreme Court to weigh foul language trademark – CNN Video |url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/04/13/friends-u-cant-trust-trademark-case-supreme-court-unfiltered-sot-vpx.cnn |access-date=April 18, 2019 |work=CNN |archive-date=April 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417103902/https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/04/13/friends-u-cant-trust-trademark-case-supreme-court-unfiltered-sot-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/atv-trending-videos/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that a provision in {{uscsub|15|1052|a}} of the Act, denying registration to any trademarks seen as consisting of immoral or scandalous matter, was an unconstitutional restriction of applicants' [[freedom of speech (United States)|freedom of speech]].<ref name="fortune decision">{{cite web | url = http://fortune.com/2019/06/24/fuct-clothing-meaning-supreme-court/ | title = FUCT Clothing Can Now Get Trademark Protection, Supreme Court Rules | first = Terry | last = Collins | date = June 24, 2019 | access-date = June 24, 2019 | work = [[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] | archive-date = June 24, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190624171307/http://fortune.com/2019/06/24/fuct-clothing-meaning-supreme-court/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Band names===
The word ''fuck'' has been used in a number of band names, such as [[Fucked Up]], generally based on common compounds. Many of these bands fall into the genres of [[Punk rock|punk]] and [[Heavy metal music|metal]], while some fall into the categories of [[electronic rock]] and pop, such as [[Holy Fuck]]<ref name="exclaimmag">{{cite web |author=Sutherland, Sam |title=What the Fuck? Curse Word Band Names Challenge The Music Industry |url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/what_fuck-curse_word_band_names_challenge_music |work=Exclaim! Magazine |year=2007 |access-date=October 30, 2007 |archive-date=January 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103013030/http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/what_fuck-curse_word_band_names_challenge_music |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Fuck Buttons]]<ref name="vice">{{cite web |author=Lindsay, Cam |title=How do Fuck Buttons Pronounce Their Name to Children? |url=https://www.vice.com/da/article/how-the-fuck-buttons-talk-to-children/ |work=Vice |year=2013 |access-date=November 11, 2022 |archive-date=March 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307200408/https://www.vice.com/da/article/6e54k6/how-the-fuck-buttons-talk-to-children |url-status=live }}</ref>

===''F-bomb''===
The phrase ''dropping an F-bomb'' usually refers to the unanticipated use of the word ''fuck'' in an unexpected setting, such as public media, a play on the nickname for the [[hydrogen bomb]] (the "H-bomb")<ref name="dictionary.com-f-bomb" group="‡">{{dictionary.com|f-bomb|access-date=March 4, 2021}}</ref> and the [[shock value]] that using the word ''fuck'' in discourse carries. The term was first reported in a newspaper (''[[Newsday]]'') in 1988 when Hall of Fame baseball catcher [[Gary Carter]] used it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/08/14/the_f_bomb_and_gary_carter_did_the_late_mets_catcher_invent_the_phrase_.html |title=The F-Bomb and Gary Carter: Did the late Mets catcher invent the phrase? |date=August 14, 2012 |work=Slate Magazine |access-date=November 16, 2015 |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117031806/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/08/14/the_f_bomb_and_gary_carter_did_the_late_mets_catcher_invent_the_phrase_.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2012 it was listed, for the first time, in the mainstream ''[[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Italie |first=Leanne |title=F-bomb makes it into mainstream dictionary |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/13/f-bomb-makes-it-mainstream-dictionary/ |newspaper=The Washington Times |access-date=August 15, 2012 |archive-date=August 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815100944/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/13/f-bomb-makes-it-mainstream-dictionary/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Censorship==
In the United States, the word is frequently edited out of music and films when broadcast on TV, such as in the film ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'', when [[John Goodman]]'s character repeatedly yells, "This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass". It was censored on television as "This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/22717626/lebowski_on_the_web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830043147/https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/22717626/lebowski_on_the_web |archive-date= August 30, 2008 |title=Lebowski on the web |url-status=dead |magazine=Rolling Stone }}</ref>

Still, in 1971, the [[United States Supreme Court|US Supreme Court]] decided that the public display of ''fuck'' is protected under the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First]] and [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth amendments]] and cannot be made a criminal offense. In 1968, Paul Robert Cohen had been convicted of [[Breach of the peace|disturbing the peace]] for wearing a jacket with the slogan "Fuck the Draft" (in a reference to conscription in the [[Vietnam War]]). The conviction was upheld by the court of appeals and overturned by the Supreme Court in ''[[Cohen v. California]]''.<ref>''[[Cohen v. California]]'', 403 US 15 (1971).</ref>

==Common alternatives==
{{Main|Minced oath}}

In conversation or writing, reference to or use of the word ''fuck'' may be replaced by any of many alternative words or phrases, including ''the F-word'' or ''the F-bomb'' (a play on ''[[A-bomb]]'' and ''[[H-bomb]]''), or simply, ''eff'' or ''f'' (as in ''What the eff/F'' or ''You effing/f'ing fool''). Also, there are many commonly used substitutes, such as ''flipping'', ''frigging'', ''fricking'', ''freaking'', ''[[feck]]'', ''fudge'', ''flaming'', ''forget'' or any of a number of similar-sounding nonsense words. In print, there are alternatives such as, ''F***'', ''F––k'', etc.; or a string of non-[[alphanumeric]] characters, for example, ''@$#*%!'' and similar (especially favored in [[comic book]]s).<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Lexicon of Comicana|last=Walker|first=Michael|date=March 21, 2000|publisher= iUniverse |isbn=978-0595089024|language=en}}</ref>

A replacement word that was used mainly on [[Usenet newsgroup|Usenet newsgroups]] is ''[[fsck]]'', derived from the name of the Unix ''f''ile ''s''ystem ''c''hec''k''ing utility.<ref>{{cite newsgroup |first=David D. Jr. |last=Huff |title=Re: Mandrake 8.2 Musings |newsgroup=alt.os.linux.mandrake |year=2002 |url=https://groups.google.com/group/alt.os.linux.mandrake/msg/3641a310fcc6ed93?dmode=source |quote=At some point in your Linux career you should ask yourself: 'If there are 3.4&nbsp;million successful, happy Mandrake users...what the ''fsck'' is wrong with me?' |access-date=May 10, 2016 |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110153828/http://groups.google.com/group/alt.os.linux.mandrake/msg/3641a310fcc6ed93?dmode=source |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/oldversions/jarg415.txt |title=fscking |work=[[The Jargon File]] |date=September 24, 1999 |author-link=Eric S. Raymond |last=Raymond |first=Eric S |quote=fcking: /fus'-king/ or /eff'-seek-ing/ adj. [Usenet; common] ''Fucking'', in the expletive sense (it refers to the Unix filesystem-repair command fsck(1), of which it can be said that if you have to use it at all you are having a bad day). Originated on {scary devil monastery} and the [[Bastard Operator From Hell|bofh.net]] newsgroups, but became much more widespread following the passage of {[[Communications Decency Act|CDA]]}. Also occasionally seen in the variant 'What the fsck?'{{hair space}}|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5mVBHbWKJ?url=http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/oldversions/jarg415.txt |archive-date=January 3, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Language|Human sexuality|Society}}
*[[Army creole]]
*[[Four-letter word]]
*[[Harcourt interpolation]]
*[[List of common false etymologies of English words#Profanity|List of common false etymologies of English words]]
*[[List of films that most frequently use the word fuck|List of films that most frequently use the word ''fuck'']]
*[[Madonna on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1994|Madonna on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' in 1994]]
*[[Profanity]]
*''[[Russian warship, go fuck yourself]]''
*[[Seven dirty words]]
*[[Sexual slang]]
*[[The finger]] (aka the middle finger), a related hand gesture
*[[The Pope Song]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Dictionaries===
{{Reflist|group=‡}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sheidlower |first1=Jesse |title=[[The F-Word (book)|The F-word]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-975155-6 |edition=3rd|year=2009}}
*{{cite book |last1=Mohr |first1=Melissa |title=Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing |date=2013 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0199742677}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|n=no|q=no|s=no|b=no|v=no}}
{{Sexual slang}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuck}}
[[Category:English profanity]]
[[Category:English words]]
[[Category:Etymologies]]
[[Category:Interjections]]
[[Category:Sexual slang]]