F@#$. S%^&. B@$%&

Call #: REF PE 3724.03H84 2006

Have you ever wondered why we swear? Click here for a psychological reasoning as to why people do it.

First off, I have to say thanks to Tarra for even showing this book to me. Had it not been for her I don't think I would have ever seen this book.

To quote Tarra on something really quick. Looking for this book was like looking for a book in the "restricted section of Hogwarts library" (bahahaha)

Just like the last book, I'm going to do another trio of words (in this case) to at least showcase the book off. The only difference is they'll be the most commonly used swear words in the United States.
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Starting with the 3rd most commonly used swear word: B*tch

Bitch has the longest history among animal terms as an insult, extending from the fourteenth century to the present, during which time it has steadily lost force through generalization. Although the etymology lies in late Old English bicche, a female dog, the word was not used demeaningly in the earliest period of the language, as the cognate Old Norse term bikkja was.

Aside from a quick excerpt taken from the book itself, the word was used originally to talk about a promiscuous or sensual woman.

Today the term can be used as a wounding personal insult in both British and American English, but is less prominent in Australian and other global varieties. The overall semantic trend in modern English has been generalization, since it can also be applied to a man, to a difficult situation or a complaint, and used as a verb meaning "to complain or criticize." In American slang a "shift to opposite" is also apparent in that bitching and bitchin' can be used to mean "very, wonderful or excellent," a sense recorded from about 1957.

2nd most commonly used swear word: Sh*t
There is evidence that the term for "shit" stemmed from the excretion from the body. This is seen in different languages and their forms of the word "shit."

The word itself has always been seen as an insult, in the form of a noun that has always had a picturesque history. Funny thing is, it's always had a male reference.

The origin of this word, as well as its use, was not always the negative connotation that it has now. It was a common term in the Anglo-Saxon for diarrhea.

As much as I would love to write more on this word, there's just a bunch of information behind its usage throughout films and text, which essentially show the evolution of the word from its everyday use to its negative connotation is has gained through the years.

Although, for the sake of viewing pleasures here's a table that was in the book :)

(I advise clicking on the photo for a larger view)

Most commonly used swear word: F*ck

First off, there is quite a lot of information on this word, bahaha. It's considered the "most powerfully taboo term for copulation over several centuries." In fact, it is still regarded as unmentionable by the vast majority of middle-class people.

Did you know: It was unlisted in the dictionary from 1728 until 1965 only to be removed anyways by a man by the name of Dr. Johnson.

Obviously, this word has its roots grounded in vast obscenity or pornography, which was brought to court in 1959.

Because of its modernity, etymologist actually do not know where the the origins of this word come from. Despite having similar words in other languages mean "copulation" the origins just don't match up.

To this day, the word still has its ties to copulation, but the popularity of this word has come, unfortunately, from Hollywood and its usage in many films. Sadly, that's about all there was to grab from this section. Wish I could write more, but it is time to do some homework :)


Sorry that this wasn't as great as it could have been. I'm not one for etymology, which is probably why this wasn't all that interesting to myself either. If you're into that kind of thing, shoot look up these words for yourself. Also, the book was kind of dry, BUT it is funny knowing that we have this book here at the University of Portland.

PS. If you couldn't tell, this was definitely written in two different days. I've been sick for the past week and the last place I wanted to be was ... the library. Although there aren't many people using the library, it's still a place where germs can be spread. Being sick over the summer is totally not fun, so it wouldn't have been fair for others to get sick because of my account.