The F-Word: Amazon.ca: Random House: Books

Product Description

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Here, in one convenient, comprehensive volume, is the complete story of the word still considered the most vulgar utterance in the English language. You guessed it--it's the F word.

Book Description

This is the book everyone had waited for. Here, in one convenient, comprehensive volume, is the complete story of the word still considered the most vulgar utterance in the English language. Rather than tired clichés or graceless jokes, The F-Word contains page after page of actual, uncensored examples of the word in all its varied and robust use, from its first appearance in English in the fifteenth century.

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

3.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars F'in fabulous reference for the lexicon geek, July 9 2004

By

Shelley Gammon "Geek" (Kaufman, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The F-Word (Paperback)

Thanks to ADHD, I have a hard time focusing for any length of time on the written word, but I love reference books and I love the English language. I have numerous lexicons from American Slang, to quotations, scientific dictionaries, etc. This one is not for the kids, but it has come in helpful a number of times.

I used to feel pretty hip, but now that my teen years are far behind me, I no longer know everything - and I am really feeling like an old codger when I hear a new phrase on TV or in a movie I've never heard before.

If someone has remolded the "F-word" into another word or phrase, it's in this little dictionary. Almost an encyclopedia of the F-word. Each entry gives an approximate date of usage (some usages are timeless, and used for over a hundred years, some are over a hundred years old and just aren't used at all. If the phrase or word first showed up in a book or movie, that reference is also given. Examples are cited and the origins of how each word evolved (as appropriate) are also noted.

As needed, a listing will note if it is a colloquialism for an age group, racial group, sexual lifestyle group, etc.

I had no idea what Stevie Wonder's song "Bad Mamma Jamma" meant until reading the definition in this text!

The illustrations are clever, and surprisingly not vulgar, considering what book they are in. This is far more than just a snicker-fest - although you can sit down and read it and giggle here & there, it is truly a reference book for American slang at its worst.

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1.0 out of 5 stars WHY do we NEED THIS word??, Sep 17 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The F-Word (Paperback)

Are we so unintelligent that we must use words like this in our language? Truly intelligent people don't need to use words like this to convey a thought or opinion. In a world where children speak disrespectfully to parents and every sentence spoken by many people contains an obscenity is it really necessary to focus on what many consider the most useless word in the English Lanuage? Reader's Digest carried an article in their Dec 1998 issue about this word's uselessness. We no longer need consent of a king to fornicate, must we glamorize this word to keep it alive? Does Random House think this is the type of book we as Americans NEED to read? They have certainly scraped the bottom of the barrel publishing this book. I've got a suggestion.. instead of reading this book, why don't we drop it from our language? There are certainly other words that can be substituted for "The F Word", and other books too.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful dictionary!, April 8 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The F-Word (Paperback)

I can't imagine wanting to sit down and read any other dictionary from cover to cover. A fun and informative read that manages to bring scholarly rigor to its slangy subject.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Never thought such a weird book could be so fascinating!
If you're the type who has actually sat reading a dictionary, you'll love this book. I had no idea this word had such a rich history or variety of usage! Read more

Published on April 2 1999

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible
I was expecting an interesting book about the history of the F word. What I got was a small book that looked like it had been made on a copy machine, and was filled with extremely... Read more

Published on Jan 11 1999