Fcukheds and azwipes...A tribute to the English language (Part 23 of 46)

I really appreciate usage of certain words. I am unsure of what the fascination is behind such usage, but we as Americans spend a great deal of our time using them. If I had a nickel for every time I've used or heard one of these words, I can tell you I would not be in my office right now. Where did these words come from. Are they the product of the school yard. Who was the first person to call someone an "a**wipe" and when did the word "a**hole" first make an appearance in conversation. Which came first "doo doo head" or "s**thead"? And what of the all encompassing granddad of them all, that wonderful four lettered friend of ours. You know the one to which I refer. Used by someone on the phone today in fact in conjunction with the word "head", as a synonym for "idiot". Can you imagine if Dostoevsky had called the novel "The F**khead"? The word just rolls right out of your mouth, in fact I would venture to guess that anyone who is reading this right now is either saying this word in their head right now or it just slipped out audibly. Another nickel for me. The amount of words that come out of someone when they are very angry can be quite a spectacular barrage of four, five, and seventeen letter curse words. There is even a 43 letter Bulgarian curse word that rhymes with "alacrity." We've come a long way since Carlin's pivotal seven which are now "the seven words you probably won't hear on Sesame Street, but you will everywhere else on television". The question you have to ask yourself is Do you think the guy who gives voice to "Elmo" ever curses?...and if he does, does he curse in "Elmo" voice? Can you imagine if the conversation about Mr. Hooper (between Big bird, Bob, David, Olivia, Maria, et al.) went something like this "He f**king died you big yellow dumb-a**...he's dead...do you f**king get it...he's not coming back!!!" OK, so I went a little too far there sorry folks. That moment scarred me emotionally as a child (I was nine, but that is another story altogether.."but that is another story" (can you believe that I want to be a pediatric surgeon?)

Do you think that Mother Teresa ever cursed?...I mean she lived an awfully long time to not curse just once....seriously...we are all teenagers at least once in our lives!

Does anyone else remember the time when "cursing" meant to inflict physical or karmic harm on a person, place or thing through ritual magic? uh...me neither.

Just amazing what kind of creativity can go into language. The evolution of words is astounding. I am always amazed to find new words in the dictionary that have only been used with regularity for the last 5 years or so, "D'oh", for instance, is now actually printed as a word with a definition in many dictionaries around the world. and what a world we live in...

Alas....off to school to infect my mind with mathematics....

Cheers.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"If I had a nickel for every cigarette you smoked, I'd be dead."