What the fuck can we learn from the word “fuck”? Let’s start with the following caveats that I
haven’t carefully vetted: The first
English language television use of fuck allegedly was uttered by Kenneth Tynan
on November 13, 1965 on a satirical television BBC3, and the first U.S. movie
to use fuck was M*A*S*H* released in 1970.
According to Collider.com, of the “15 Most Profane Movies of All Time,”
the lowest frequency of fuck is ‘One Day Removals’ (2008) with 320 and the
highest, ‘Swearnet: The Movie’ (2014) with 935.
We know that some form of fuck can and is used as virtually
any part of speech. So, when in doubt
about what next to say, “fuck it.”
Gratuitously using the word fuck broadcasts that your intellect is as
impoverished as is literally using “literally” when “figuratively” is
warranted.
But my point extends well beyond the word “fuck.” Rather, it follows from my previous posting
on mega-identity. Saying fuck is much
less about rationally communicating than it is about letting your interlocutor
know who you are and your internal attitude toward yourself and the world. Although I have not done relevant research, I
strongly believe that the more gratuitously one says fuck, the lower they are
on the “openness” dimension of personality, and are especially closed to and/or
incapable of conversing in an agreeable and/or problem-solving manner.
I found little that specifically addressed the issues, but
for those who understandably want at least a modicum of “science” to support my
opinions, consider the following: “Results revealed that groups exposed to
profanity and were permissive of swearing were more likely to demonstrate
deviant behavior that spread beyond swearing (i.e., less task focus and less
formal language) as compared to groups not exposed to profanity. Furthermore,
exposure to swearing decreased the quality of group decisions and increased
group polarization.” So, if for no other
reason than concern for our current and future children, maybe you should
expand your fuckin vocabulary and ensure that you do not have a
profanity-related mega-identity.
Guadagno, R.E.,
Muscanell, N.L., Gitter, S. (2023). What the Fork? The Impact of Social Norm
Violation on User Behavior. In: Meschtscherjakov, A., Midden, C., Ham, J. (eds)
Persuasive Technology. PERSUASIVE 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol
13832. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30933-5_6.
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