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In an "interesting" thread of comments we began to look at the word fuck in several different uses. Most of them were interjections and verb uses as would be expected.

But, perhaps dialectally, the word can easily be used as a noun, and even an adjective.

I would like to see how many different parts of speech can the word fuck be used as in its unmodified form. (i.e. no fucking, fucked, etc.). Pluralization of noun or conjugation to fucks is the only acceptable variant.

The answer must provide real-world examples (i.e. no mere cramming of the word into a sentence and claiming it's an adverb!) And, I will even accept different verb types, adjectives, nouns, etc. (e.g. If you can find a grammatical way to use it as a helper verb, my hat is off to you.)

If you wish to get extra credit, then you can answer with some of the variants above, but only after you have made an answer per the above rules.

The winner should have both the most varied and interesting answers!

Just to make it clear, this is a word-game, and as such will be a bit broad or POB.

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  • 3
    How many parts of speech do you think there are? You may find a range of opinions in ELU.
    – bib
    Mar 5, 2014 at 20:53
  • 3
    As many as you got. How many is that?
    – John Lawler
    Mar 5, 2014 at 21:46
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    Is it just in Australia that we have our own version of the Buffalo sentence? [Fck fcking fcked fcker fcking fckups fck fcking fcked fcking fckup fcking fcker's fck] (uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/…) means 'Gosh that very unpleasant drunk man who is frequently scammed by very incompetent people just ruined that incompetent copulating man's act of the horizontal tango'.
    – long
    Mar 5, 2014 at 22:30
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    I really think that using f*ck on this post is stretching reasonable propriety to its breaking point. The whole post is about fuck and its linguistic versatility, I think we should be allowed to write it. At the very least, it makes absurdly incomprehensible sentences like @long's example a bit easier to parse.
    – terdon
    Mar 6, 2014 at 2:37
  • 3
    This page, with all comments expanded, has 117 instances of "fuck"
    – Cruncher
    Mar 6, 2014 at 14:55

6 Answers 6

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  • Noun: "Like fuck you will!."
    • Also, since this is contested: Hard as fuck or Yes, thank you, I'd love a fuck.
  • Pronoun: "I hit fuck-face over there with a baseball bat." (both cheating and plagiarizing @Joe but you said nothing about hyphenated forms)
  • Adjective: "He's fucked!"
  • Verb: "I love to fuck while eating duck."
  • Adverb: "It was fuck hard", yes, apparently it is used by some.
  • Conjunction: "I went swimming, fuck the cold." (as in, I went swimming despite the cold.)
  • Preposition: don't think it's possible.
  • Interjection: "Fuck! I was sure I could find a preposition!"

Extra brownie points (abandoning all pretense at seriousness):

  • Auxiliary verb:

    • progressive aspect : He fucking sleeping dude!
    • epistemic modality : Wikipedia's example of How dare you! could be expressed in a single Fuck!.
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  • 3
    That's not a conjunction, just an interjection.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Mar 5, 2014 at 22:14
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    You know, the word pace can be a preposition when used in sentences like “Nor, pace Mr. Smith, was I for one moment defending immorality in the journalist.” It originated as the ablative singular of Latin pax meaning peace, as in pāce tuā. But I feel like fuck could move into that sort of slot pretty slickly. It would make a nice antonym to the preposition pace.
    – tchrist ♦
    Mar 6, 2014 at 2:33
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    You forgot "modal particle". As in: "Just fucking do it."
    – Tim Seguine
    Mar 6, 2014 at 19:47
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    You, sir, are an artist! I declare you the winner! Please pick up your prize at the SE offices.
    – David M
    Mar 7, 2014 at 13:34
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    @TimSeguine true, but I did not want to give Nike free advertising.
    – terdon
    Mar 7, 2014 at 15:58
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Here you go, the f-word used in all parts of speech, with a classical music background (this is a classic): http://youtu.be/7LZSUYoNPMs

The transcript in its entirety (sorry for all the f-bombs!):

One of the most interesting words in the English language today is the word ‘fuck’. It is a magical word. Just by its sound it can describe, pain, pleasure, hate and love. In language it falls into many grammatical categories. It can be used as a verb both transitive: “John fucked Mary” and intransitive: “Mary was fucked by John” and as a noun: “Mary is a fine Fuck”. It can be used as an adjective: “Mary is fucking beautiful”. As you can see, there are not many words with the versatility of fuck. Besides the sexual meaning there are also the following uses. Ignorance: Fucked if I know. Trouble: I guess I am fucked now! Fraud: I got fucked at the used car lot. Aggression: Fuck you! Displeasure: What the fuck is going on here? Difficulty: I can’t understand this fucking job! Incompetence: He is a fuck-off! Suspicion: What the fuck are you doing? Enjoyment: I had a fucking good time! Request: Get the fuck out of here! Hostility: I’m going to knock your fucking head off! Greeting: How the fuck are you? Apathy: Who gives a fuck. Innovation: Get a bigger fucking hammer. Surprise: Fuck! You scared the shit out of me. Anxiety: Today is really fucked. [HiveFunnies] Source: LYBIO.net And it is very healthy too! If every morning you do it as a transcendental meditation just when you get up first thing repeat the mantra: ‘Fuck you’ : five time. It clears your throat too!

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  • Very funny! But DISQUALIFIED! Too many variants! I'm looking for the unmodified f-word here!!!!
    – David M
    Mar 5, 2014 at 20:57
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    You have to admit, @DavidM, that variety is the spice of life and that most uses of the f-word in its unmodified form, short of "Fck you!", "What the fck?", "He wants to fck", "She is a good fck", are cram-jobs, if you'll pardon the expression. :-)
    – Kristina Lopez
    Mar 5, 2014 at 21:01
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    Hahahahahahahahaha! Plus one for the comment.
    – David M
    Mar 5, 2014 at 21:07
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    To see it done right, check this out!
    – David M
    Mar 6, 2014 at 0:50
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  • Noun: "Fuck you, you fuck."
  • Pronoun: "I hit fuck over there with a baseball bat."
  • Adjective: "And they leave a fuck stain on my couch."
  • Verb: "They fuck all the time."
  • Adverb: "She fuck(ing) screams so loud, I got a noise complaint."
  • Conjunction: "I take Viagra, fuck I last all night."
  • Preposition: "Come fuck me later."
  • Interjection: "Fuck! I stubbed my toe."
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  • 2
    Not buying the adverb Joe. You know that should be "f*cking". :-)
    – Kristina Lopez
    Mar 5, 2014 at 21:14
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    @KristinaLopez, I'm obviously trying to shoehorn it in, but I disagree; I think it qualifies the verb quite nicely. Using "f'ing screams" is more just a filler. As I'm sure we all know, a fuck scream is very different than a normal scream.
    – Joe
    Mar 5, 2014 at 21:22
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    ok, I'm withdrawing my comment... "fck scream" could work, but I'd be inclined to insert a hyphen. ("She fck-screams so loud, I got a noise complaint.") :-)
    – Kristina Lopez
    Mar 5, 2014 at 21:25
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    Your preposition is actually a proposition, not the same thing!
    – terdon
    Mar 5, 2014 at 21:51
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    That preposition is more than just a stretch—it's nonsensical. It would, if it made sense, make for a great possible fuckquences (like sequences, but fucktual): “The fuck you fucking fuck, fuck?” (In real English: “What the fuck are you fucking with, you fuck?”)
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Mar 5, 2014 at 22:18
2

An important contribution to research on fuck is the classic article by Quang, English sentences without overt grammatical subject.

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0

Here is another video where the versatility of the word Fuck is explained.

Transcript

Osho used this sketch on the word fuck first in a talk in 1980 and repeated it again in this later talk. We have seen the original of this sketch being attributed to Jack Wagner, George Carlin and Monty Python - no one seems to be sure.

"When Friedrich Nietzsche declared, "God is dead," he himself became utterly helpless no consolation, no hope, no meaning. He had to go through a long process of insanity.

Nietzsche seems to me to be the most important figure that has dominated the world in this century. Without any argument his statement has infiltrated into every mind. But he was not aware of the implications. I have no problem if God is dead. There is no need to mourn his death.

The problem is that if God is dead, then you lose the most important word in your language and you will need a substitute. God was one end, one extreme, and when one extreme disappears from your mental vision, the necessary and inevitable is that you will fall to the other extreme.

And that's what has happened, Milarepa. Instead of God, `fuck' has become the most important word in our language. Even if Friedrich Nietzsche comes back, he will be surprised and he will try to resurrect somehow the dead God, because this is stupid. But you will need a whole report on it, a whole research.

One of the most interesting words in the English language today is the word `fuck'. It is a magical word. Just by its sound it can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love. In language it falls into many grammatical categories. It can be used as a verb, both transitive, "John fucked Mary," and intransitive, "Mary was fucked by John", and as a noun, "Mary is a fine fuck." It can be used as an adjective, "Mary is fucking beautiful." As you can see, there are not many words with the versatility of fuck. Besides the sexual meaning, there are also the following uses:

• Ignorance: Fucked if I know.
• Trouble: I guess I am fucked now!
• Fraud: I got fucked at the used car lot.
• Aggression: Fuck you!
• Displeasure: What the fuck is going on here?
• Difficulty: I can't understand this fucking job.
• Incompetence: He is a fuck-off.
• Suspicion: What the fuck are you doing?
• Enjoyment: I had a fucking good time.
• Request: Get the fuck out of here.
• Hostility: I'm going to knock your fucking head off.
• Greeting: How the fuck are you?
• Apathy: Who gives a fuck?
• Innovation: Get a bigger fucking hammer.
• Surprise: Fuck! You scared the shit out of me!
• Anxiety: Today is really fucked.

And it is very healthy if every morning you do it as a transcendental meditation just when you get up, first thing, repeat the mantra "fuck you" five times; it clears your throat too!

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  • 3
    Funny, but I was looking for description of the actual parts of speech, not the mere usage.
    – David M
    Mar 6, 2014 at 3:39
  • This not only doesn't answer the question, it's also the exact same transcript, bar the irrelevant background on Osho and Nietzsche as @Kristina's answer above.
    – terdon
    Mar 6, 2014 at 13:38
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A friend on our sister site Arqade @MBraedley suggested this gem, but he didn't post it as I had hoped:

Use of the F-word in Canada.

Though many of the references are over my head as being too Canada specific, this is a brilliant piece of artistry!

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