The F-Word (book)
   HOME





The F-Word (book)
''The F-Word'' is a book by lexicographer and linguist Jesse Sheidlower surveying the history and usage of the English word ''fuck'' and a wide variety of euphemisms that replace it. Sheidlower examines 16th and 17th century poetry, 20th century literature, and 21st century media uses of the word. The book was first published in 1995 by Random House, which also published the second edition in 1999. Oxford University Press published a revised and expanded third edition in 2009, featuring a foreword by comedian Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion and cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis Black's .... References * Elias, Justine. (September 15, 2009)Plain talk: Jesse Sheidlower gives the f-word its due.''The Boston Phoenix''. * Sheidlower, Jesse. (2009)''The F-word''(third edition). New York: Oxford Universi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Jesse Sheidlower
Jesse Sheidlower (born August 5, 1968) is a lexicographer, editor, author, and programmer. He is past president of the American Dialect Society, was the project editor of the Random House ''Dictionary of American Slang'', and is the author of '' The F-Word'', a history of the word "fuck"; he is also a former editor-at-large at the ''Oxford English Dictionary''. ''New York Magazine'' named him one of the 100 smartest people in New York, and he serves as a judge for the annual "literary-celeb-studded" Council of Literary Magazines and Presses spelling bee. He is currently an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University. Sheidlower was a language consultant for Amazon's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's '' The Man in the High Castle'', and in January 2021, he launched the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, a website tracing the origin of terms in science fiction literature. Biography Sheidlower attended the University of Chicago. He was interested in astrophysics as a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Fuck
''Fuck'' () is profanity in the English language that often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to around 1475. In modern usage, the term ''fuck'' and its morphological derivation, derivatives (such as ''fucker'' and ''fucking'') are used as a noun, a verb, an adjective, an Expletive infix, infix, an interjection or an adverb. There are many common phrases that employ the word as well as Compound (linguistics), compounds that incorporate it, such as ''motherfucker'' and ''wikt:fuck off, fuck off''. Offensiveness It is unclear whether the word has always been considered a pejorative or, if not, when it first came to be used to describe (often in an extremely angry, hostile, or belligerent manner) unpleasant circumstances or people in an intentionally offensive way, such as in the term ''motherfucker'', one of its more common usages in ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Euphemism
A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes to downplay. Euphemisms may be used to mask profanity or refer to Dysphemism#Taboo terms, topics some consider Word taboo, taboo such as mental or physical disability, sexual intercourse, bodily excretions, pain, violence, illness, or death in a polite way. Etymology ''Euphemism'' comes from the Greek language, Greek word () which refers to the use of 'words of good omen'; it is a compound of (), meaning 'good, well', and (), meaning 'prophetic speech; rumour, talk'. ''Eupheme (deity), Eupheme'' is a reference to the female Greek spirit of words of praise and positivity, etc. The term ''euphemism'' itself was used as a euphemism by the ancient Greeks; with the meaning "to keep a holy silence" (speaking well by not speaking at ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the following decades, a series of acquisitions made it into one of the largest publishers in the United States. In 2013, it was merged with Penguin Group to form Penguin Random House, which is owned by the Germany-based media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Penguin Random House uses its brand for Random House Publishing Group and Random House Children's Books, as well as several imprints. Company history 20th century Random House was founded in 1927 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint from publisher Horace Liveright, which reprints classic works of literature. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random", which suggested the name Random ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books by decree in 1586. It is the second-oldest university press after Cambridge University Press, which was founded in 1534. It is a department of the University of Oxford. It is governed by a group of 15 academics, the Delegates of the Press, appointed by the Vice Chancellor, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford. The Delegates of the Press are led by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's chief executive and as its major representative on other university bodies. Oxford University Press has had a similar governance structure since the 17th century. The press is located on Walton Street, Oxford, Walton Street, Oxford, opposite Somerville College, Oxford, Somerville College, in the inner suburb of Jericho, Oxford, Jericho. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Lewis Black
Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion and cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis Black's Root of All Evil'' and makes regular appearances on ''The Daily Show'' delivering his "The Daily Show recurring elements#Back in Black with Lewis Black, Back in Black" commentary segment, which he has been doing since ''The Daily Show'' was hosted by Craig Kilborn. He was voted 51st of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time by Comedy Central in 2004 and was voted 5th in Comedy Central's Stand Up Showdown in 2008 and 11th in 2010. In 2015, he appeared as the voice of Anger in the Pixar film Inside Out (2015 film), ''Inside Out'', a role he reprises in the Inside Out 2, 2024 sequel. Lewis Black is also a spokesman for the Aruba Tourism Authority, appearing in television ads that first aired in late 2009 and 2010. He has served as a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Word Taboo And Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties
''Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties'' is a nonfiction book by law professor Christopher M. Fairman about freedom of speech, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, censorship, and use of the word ''fuck'' in society. The book was first published in 2009 by Sphinx as a follow-up on the author's article "Fuck", published in 2007 in the ''Cardozo Law Review''. It cites studies from academics in social science, psychoanalysis, and linguistics. Fairman establishes that most current usages of the word have connotations distinct from its meaning of sexual intercourse. The book discusses the efforts of conservatives in the United States to censor the word from common parlance. The author says that legal precedent regarding its use is unclear because of contradictory court decisions. Fairman argues that once citizens allow the government to restrict the use of specific words, this will infringe upon freedom of thought. The book received a most ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Works About Philology
Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * John D. Works (1847–1928), California senator and judge * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album), a Pink Floyd album from 1983 * ''Works'', a Gary Burton album from 1972 * ''Works'', a Status Quo album from 1983 * ''Works'', a John Abercrombie album from 1991 * ''Works'', a Pat Metheny album from 1994 * ''Works'', an Alan Parson Project album from 2002 * ''Works Volume 1'', a 1977 Emerson, Lake & Palmer album * ''Works Volume 2'', a 1977 Emerson, Lake & Palmer album * '' The Works'', a 1984 Queen album Other uses *Good works, a topic in Christian theology * Microsoft Works, a collection of office productivity programs created by Microsoft * IBM Works, an office suite for the IBM OS/2 operating system * Mount Works The Everett Range () is a rugged, mainly ice-covered range nearly long between Greenwell Glacier and Ebbe Glacier in no ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Linguistics Books
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds and equivalent gestures in sign languages), phonology (the abstract sound system of a particular language, and analogous systems of sign languages), and pragmatics (how the context of use contributes to meaning). Subdisciplines such as biolinguistics (the study of the biological variables and evolution of language) and psycholinguistics (the study of psychological factors in human language) bridge many of these divisions. Linguistics encompasses many branches and subfields that span both theoretical and practical applications. Theoretical linguistics is concerned with understanding the universal and fundamental nature of language and developing a general theoretical framework for describing it. Applied linguistics seeks to utilize the scientific findings of t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1995 Non-fiction Books
1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government no longer providing public funding, marking the beginning of the Information Age. America Online and Prodigy (online service), Prodigy offered access to the World Wide Web system for the first time this year, releasing browsers that made it easily accessible to the general public. Events January * January 1 ** The World Trade Organization (WTO) is established to replace the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). ** Austria, Finland and Sweden join the European Union. * January 9 – Valeri Polyakov completes 366 days in space while aboard then ''Mir'' space station, breaking a duration record. * January 10–January 15, 15 – The World Youth Day 1995 festival is held in Manila, Manila, Philippines, culminating in 5 million people ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Works About Profanity
Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * John D. Works (1847–1928), California senator and judge * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album), a Pink Floyd album from 1983 * ''Works'', a Gary Burton album from 1972 * ''Works'', a Status Quo album from 1983 * ''Works'', a John Abercrombie album from 1991 * ''Works'', a Pat Metheny album from 1994 * ''Works'', an Alan Parson Project album from 2002 * ''Works Volume 1'', a 1977 Emerson, Lake & Palmer album * ''Works Volume 2'', a 1977 Emerson, Lake & Palmer album * '' The Works'', a 1984 Queen album Other uses *Good works, a topic in Christian theology * Microsoft Works, a collection of office productivity programs created by Microsoft * IBM Works, an office suite for the IBM OS/2 operating system * Mount Works, Victoria Land, Antarctica See also * The Works (other) * Work (other) Work may refer to: * Work ( ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]