“Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits!”
– George Carlin.
In 1972, the late, and great, standup comedian George Dennis Carlin (who sadly departed this world at the age of 71, back in 2008…you will be missed!), broke new ground in the world of publicly-broadcast profanities.
His famous routine, “Seven Words you can *NEVER* Say on Television” was so controversial that it landed him in court! Carlin won when it was determined that his profane rant did not breech his right to freedom of speech under the Constitution of the United States of America. It was such a landmark case that it was taught in American schools, something that Carlin himself acknowledged in an interview shortly before his death.
Swearing is as much a part of life as flowers, bees and crying babies. Swearing is relaxing, stress-relieving, fun, controversial, dangerous, impolite, comedic, condemned…and has a long and varied history, as colourful as the language itself. Come on…You’ve always wanted to know the histories of these particular words. Admit it! Now go ahead…read them. You know you want to…
A History of the Profane
If the message-boards on IMDB* are anything to go by, a large percentage of people firmly believe that swearing was not invented prior to the 1900s, and that prior to the dawn of the 20th Century, everyone was courteous, clean-mouthed and contented.
Wrong!
Swearing has a history that, like all facets of language, goes back centuries. In the case of swearing, as far back as language itself. It would be almost impossible to pinpoint when swearing itself started, but the words themselves can be dated or broken down with surprising accuracy. So lock the door and earmuff the parrot, wrap the kids’ mouths up with duct-tape and make sure granny isn’t dropping by with a tray of homemade cookies anytime soon…
The first swear-words were likely linked to religion. In the Medieval world, religion was the center of everyone’s lives. To say something bad about the Church could get you in hot water (literally, if you weren’t careful!), so profanities (that is, swear-words with religious attachments) were only uttered when the user was particularly vexed. Among these were…
Damn
This word is used as frequently in speech as salt and pepper are used in seasoning your food. Damn, and it’s variations, comes from the Latin word ‘Damnum‘, which meant, variously ‘Cost’, ‘Penalty’, or ‘Fine’ (as in a fine to be paid). It is related closely to the more likely Latin word: ‘Damnare‘, which means ‘to judge‘, from which we get the English word ‘Condemn‘. So ‘the condemned’ literally means ‘the judged’ or the one upon whom judgement has (or will) been passed. Hence the term: ‘Damn you to Hell!’, or literally, to bring Hell’s judgement upon you. Heavy stuff!
‘Damn’ as a word, descendant from Latin, entered the English vocabulary in the 1300s. From the 1700s up until the 1930s, it was considered highly offensive. It was avoided in print, and was certainly not allowed on radio or film! Its religious and judging history caused it to be considered as very rude, and it was not a word to be uttered within earshot of others!
Although not the first time it was mentioned on film, Clark Gable’s historic line from the 1939 film ‘Gone with the Wind‘; “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!“, only made it past the Hays Code censors because under the terms of the Code, a swear-word was allowed in the script of a film-adaptation of a novel, if the word appeared in the novel itself…which it did!
‘Damn’ is hardly considered a highly offensive word these days, and is used freely by a wide range of people in almost any age group. But its exclusion from polite language shows us how guarded we once were in our speech.
Hell
‘Hell’, and its combinations and variations, has been around ever since the dawn of Christianity. Once considered highly offensive, to send someone to, or wish they’d go to Hell, is now a commonly-used profanity.
Then there’s the curses we use to insult a person’s parentage and background. Although rather tossed around today, these words once had serious and significant social stigmas attached to them, and were considered highly offensive words. Whether or not they still are, is a matter for debate.
Bitch
Once used as a word exclusively against women, this word comes from the correct term for a female dog (a convenience that some people, including Bart Simpson, have used, for getting away with using the word!). ‘Bitch’ comes from the Norse word ‘Bikkja’ (also meaning ‘female dog’).
The Oxford Dictionary dates it as far back as 1000.A.D. For those who like reading old documents, this particular word appears in Samuel Pepy’s famous 1660s diary on a number of occasions. Don’t believe me? Search for Pepy’s diary online (it is out there) and read it. In modern times, ‘Bitch’ has expanded to mean more than women and dogs, but to include anything or anyone of low worth, submissiveness and/or over whom someone else has control.
Bastard
Sometimes used jokingly, this word is still hurled around as an insult as freely today as it ever was. Known since Medieval times, to be called a ‘bastard’ was a considerable insult. A ‘bastard’ is, in essence, a child born outside of lawful wedlock. To be labeled a bastard suggested that your mother and/or father were of loose morals or commitments. That your mother slept around and that your father was a rake, cad and philanderer.
As a ‘bastard’, you were an illegitimate child. In past times, being an illegitimate child was a serious issue. The word ‘Bastard’ comes from the Latin ‘Bastardus‘ and further back, to ‘Bastum‘. A ‘bastum’ was a saddle-bag worn on a horse’s back, and which held the rider’s personal possessions. The implication was that the child was born to someone who had a one-night-stand and then rode off the next day…hence ‘bastard’.
To be a bastard had serious legal implications in the United Kingdom. From the 1200s onwards, a child born as a bastard was not allowed to inherit…ANYTHING. If his, or her parents died, the child could not hope to inherit any money, any land, any titles, any privileges or concessions whatsoever. They would be left destitute, a burden of the State. All worldly possessions of the parents, along with anything worth inheriting, was given to the firstborn legitimate child (born within wedlock). This law remained in effect until 1926!
Under the Legitimacy Act of 1926, British bastards could claim inheritance from their parents if said parents died intestate (without leaving a valid will). Prior to this, a bastard had no rights of inheritance. The fact that it took until the 1920s for this to happen shows what a stigma being a bastard really was.
Next comes probably the most controversial batch of swear-words, which continue to carry more weight than any of the others in our expletive-laden modern society. The words relating to bodily waste, sex, and other taboo subjects.
Shit/Crap
Okay, now we’re getting into the heavier stuff…A favourite swear-word for centuries, ‘shit’ comes from the Old English ‘scite‘, meaning ‘dung’, and the Ancient Greek ‘Skatos‘, from which we get ‘scat’.
It’s often believed that the word ‘Crap’, meaning more or less the same thing as ‘Shit’, came from famous lavatory salesman, Thomas Crapper! True? …False. ‘Crap’ comes from the Latin ‘Crappa‘, or ‘chaff’ (as in ‘separate the wheat from the chaff’). It’s from this etymology that we get ‘crap’ meaning ‘waste’ or ‘rejected matter’, since ‘crappa’ (chaff) would be left behind after the wheat had been threshed to get the grains out.
Cunt
The female genitals and the vagina, cunt’s history could come from almost anywhere. But like ‘Fuck’, it is strongly believed to come from German. Specifically an old form of German, and the word ‘Krozte‘…prostitute. It’s most famous use in English comes from the number of ‘Gropecunt Lanes’ that proliferate English towns and cities throughout the British Isles.
Fuck
Aaah…fuck!
Yes, we’d get there in the end!
And there’s nothing like discussing fuck while listening to Vivaldi’s ‘Spring‘ from the Four Seasons Suite.
Although the film above has purely comedic purposes, it is more or less correct. ‘Fuck’ comes from the German and Dutch words ‘Fuk’ and ‘Fokken’, meaning ‘strike’ and ‘breed’ (verb) respectively. Although this may not be entirely correct, the Oxford Dictionary says that its origins are most likely Germanic.
Its first appearance in English comes from the late 1400s (approx, 1475) where it appeared in an (appropriately coded!) poem titled ‘Flen Flyys‘ (‘Fleas and Flies’). Why was the poem coded? Because if it was read, one might realise it was actually written as an insult to the friars (brothers, or monks) of Cambridgeshire in England, suggesting that the religious order was not as chaste and devout as one might expect monks to be!
‘Fuck’ was so controversial that it didn’t even appear in a dictionary until 1775! The dictionary, written by Christian minister John Ash, also included a definition of ‘Cunt’!
Through over five hundred years, ‘Fuck’ has lost none of its controversy, although it has started courting humor of late. A few years back, American author Adam Mansbach wrote the now infamous (and if you’ve read it…really funny!) children’s book: “Go the Fuck to Sleep!“. The book originally started as a Facebook joke, when Mansbach complained about the difficulties of getting his young daughter to sleep, and said: “Look out for my forthcoming children’s book: “Go the _ to Sleep!”. The book was eventually written by Mansbach when the overwhelming response from readers was that they’d love to see such a book, just to prove one existed!
Since its release in mid-2011, the book has become quite famous, and was notably read by actor Samuel L. Jackson. Later on, Mansbach released a more G-rated version of the book, designed to be read TO children.
Of course, ‘Fuck’ doesn’t mean the same thing in every language. During WWII, Allied soldiers making their way across Europe in 1944 and 1945 came across the Austrian town of…Fucking (pronounced ‘Fooking’). Ever since this chance encounter, the town of Fucking has had to repeatedly replace street-signs that have been stolen from within the town-limits by eager tourists…
Historic Profanities
Swearing, cursing and insulting others has been around for centuries. And has been practiced by some of the greatest users of the English Language, from Sam Pepys to Stephen Fry. Even William Shakespeare!
Anyone who’s had to study ‘Macbeth’ in school probably remembers Lady Macbeth’s famous line: “Out! Out! Damn spot!” But Shakespeare went a bit more bravely than that into the sea of linguistic suicide…
These are not, strictly speaking, swear-words as we might know them today. They’re more like insults. Each will be accompanied by an explanation, since the context is rather old nowadays. Each quote is followed by the play in which it appears. The master of the English Language was a great insulter, and here are a selection of some of the finest insults that appeared in his written works:
“There’s no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune!” – Henry VI.
In Elizabethan times, stewed prunes (and prunes in general) were the favoured snack of prostitutes…
“Thou misshapen dick!” – Henry VI (ouch!!)
No explanations needed there. ‘Dick’ transcends the historical barriers…
“Thou Bitch-Wolf’s son!” – Troilus and Cressida.
Again, not much of an explanation needed.
“This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horseback-breaker, this huge hill of flesh!” – Henry VI.
Basically…lazy.
“You dried neat’s tongue, you bull’s pizzle, you stock-fish!” – Henry VI
A neat’s tongue is a sheep’s tongue. All the way up to Victorian times, neat’s tongue was a popular dish…hungry, anyone? A pizzle? You can guess. As for a stock-fish? Something fit only for boiling in water to make soup with, to be thrown out at the end of the process. In other words…something practically worthless.
To think that swearing never existed before our time is of course, completely incorrect. Different words were used and the same words might have held different meanings, but the truth is that, no matter how far back you go, in search of a squeaky-clean happy-chappy world that perhaps your grandparents might have told you once existed in the dim and distant past…swearing has always been a fact of life.
*IMDB – Internet Movie DataBase (imdb.com)