Motherfucker
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Motherfucker (sometimes spelled muthafucka or mutherfucker) is a common[citation needed] insult and profanity in North American English and in other varieties of the English language and is considered highly offensive and inappropriate. It has been suggested that the term was once used in a more literal sense, insinuating that a person has performed incestuous acts with one's mother,[1] but there is no evidence of this. The first attested sense (from 1918) is "An obnoxious, despicable, or contemptible person; a very unpleasant person"[2]; a moron, an idiot or backstabber.[3][4] A study published in 2000 found that British people consider it second only to "cunt" in severity.[4] The obscenity is occasionally used among friends as a sarcastic expression of affection.
The word appears in George Carlin's Seven Words You Can't Say On Television. In one HBO special, he comments that at one point, someone asked him to remove it, since, as a derivative of the word "fuck," it constituted a duplication.[5] He later added it back, claiming that the bit's rhythm doesn't work without it.[5]
Jim Dawson's comprehensive book on the subject, The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words, was published by Feral House in 2009.
[edit] Variants
Like many well-used and widely-offensive terms, motherfucker has a large list of derivative terms. Motherhumper, motherfugger, mothersucker, motherlover, motherflower, motherfocus, and many more are sometimes used in polite company or to avoid censorship.[1] The participle, motherfucking is often used as an emphatic, in the same way as the less strong fucking. The verb to motherfuck has a wide variety of meanings although it is less common. You can also use the term Morknepper, derived from the dansh equilivant to "motherfucker".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Motherfucker
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, revision of Sept. 2008.
- ^ motherfucker - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
- ^ a b Hargrave, Andrea Millwood (2000). Delete Expletives? London: Advertising Standards Authority, British Broadcasting Corporation, Broadcasting Standards Commission, Independent Television Commission.
- ^ a b Carlin, George.. On Location: George Carlin at Phoenix. [DVD]. HBO Home Video.
