While I might get struck by cosmic lightning, I just deleted a very well known blog off my listings. Supposedly a writer and appreciator of literature, yet still blog-bogged down with the now clichéd “fuck.”
Now this is a wonderful word. Spoken properly, it rolls off the lips, beginning with the curl of the under lip beneath the teeth with “fff….” and cleansing the emotion with the hiss of the sudden expulsion of breath in the “uck” that cuts the word sharp and clear. It stops me in my tracks when I hear it emanating from another room in the house, and has the same experienced effect on my husband when he hears it from me (unless accompanied by a boom or a crash that sounds like it needs help). It holds such power, says so much, covers a specific range of human emotion and reaction like no other word can, and yet it is starting to lose its impact because of overuse, going the way of the cliché very soon if it is not placed on the literary endangered species list.
I don’t have time for research on this, but I wonder how long “fuck” has endured? Surely a century or so, no? I cannot tell, for the classics I have read did not contain the word, although the rage or despair that would have drummed it up clearly existed. Finally allowed its freedom, it has unwisely imbibed in everyday life to the point of being clownish and ignored, read over and barely noticed anymore.
I will hold the word dear to my heart and promise to take it out and unleash its power only when it is appropriate to the occasion, when it still will say something and not be lost in meaningless conversation nor abused into oblivion.
I promise; when next you hear it from me, you will be aware of its necessity. Take joy and admiration in its use.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
i agree with you that the word is incredibly overused and probably because of that over rated as well.
oh, and the word has ‘allegedly’ been around since the 16th century, changing views and apparently changing ways of its use.