Motherfucker

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Freedom of speech sign held by a demonstrator at a protest in San Francisco, California.

Motherfucker (sometimes abbreviated as mofo, mf, or mf'er) is an English-language vulgarism.

While it is usually considered highly offensive, it is rarely used in the literal sense of one who
engages in sexual activity with another person's mother, or his or her own mother. Rather, it
refers to a mean, despicable, or vicious person, or any particularly difficult or frustrating situation.
Alternatively, it can be a term of admiration, for instance in the jazz community.
Contents

1Variants

2History and popular culture

3Literature

4See also

5References

6External links

Variants
Like many widely used offensive terms, motherfucker has a large list of minced
oaths. Motherhumper, motherfugger, mother
f'er,mothersucker, mothertrucker, motherlover, mofo, fothermucker, motherflower, motherkisser a
nd many more are sometimes used in polite company or to avoid censorship. [citation needed] The
participle motherfucking is often used as an emphatic, in the same way as the less
strong fucking. The verb to motherfuck also exists, although it is less common. Conversely, when

paired with an adjective, it can become a term denoting such things as originality and masculinity,
as in the related phrase "bad ass mother fucker". Use of the term as a compliment is frequent in
the jazz community, for example when Miles Davis addressed his future percussionist Mino
Cinelu: "Miles...grabbed his arm and said, 'You're a motherfucker.' Cinelu thanked Miles for the
compliment."[1]

History and popular culture

The word dates back at least to the late 19th century, with a Texas court in 1889 recording a
defendant being called a "God damned mother-fcking, bastardly son-of-a-bitch"[2]and in 1917 a
black U.S. soldier called his draft board "You low-down Mother Fuckers..." in a letter.[3]
In literature, Norman Mailer, in his 1948 novel "The Naked and the Dead" uses it occasionally,
disguised as motherfugger,[4] and used it in full in his 1967 novel "Why Are We in Vietnam?".
[2]
In Kurt Vonnegut's classic novel Slaughterhouse-Five the word is used by one of the soldiers in
the story leading to the novel being often challenged in libraries and schools. Vonnegut joked in
a speech, published in the collection Fates Worse Than Death, that "Ever since that word was
published, way back in 1969, children have been attempting to have intercourse with their
mothers. When it will stop no one knows."[5]
In popular music, the first mainstream release to include the word was the 1969 album Kick out
the Jams by MC5. The title track, a live recording, is introduced by vocalist Rob Tyner shouting
"And right now... right now... right now it's time to... kick out the jams, motherfuckers!". This was
quickly pulled from stores, and an edited version was released with the words "brothers and
sisters" overdubbed on the offending word. At about the same time, the Jefferson
Airplane released the album Volunteers, the opening track of which, We Can Be Together,
included the line "up against the wall, motherfucker", a popular catch phrase among radical
groups at the time. This attracted less attention. The word was strongly implied, but not said
explicitly, in Isaac Hayes' huge 1971 hit song "Theme from Shaft". Though rarely broadcast, the
word has since become common in popular music, particularly in hip hop.
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.[6] He later added it back, claiming that the bit's rhythm
doesn't work without it.[6]
The word has become something of a catchphrase for actor Samuel L. Jackson, who frequently
utters the word in his movies.[7] His use of the word helped him overcome a
lifelong stuttering problem.[8]

Literature

The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty

Words by Jim Dawson[9] is a history of the word in black
culture and in American literature, film, comedy and music.

See also
Linguistics portal

References

Incest

Maternal insult

1.

^ Cole, George (2007). The Last Miles: The Music of Miles Davis,
19801991. U of Michigan P. p. 90. ISBN 9780472032600.
Retrieved 10 March 2013.

2.

^ a b "How Mofo Got Its Mojo", Forrest Wickman, 14 February 2013,

Slate

3.

^ "Freedom Struggles", 2010, by Adriane Danette Lentz-Smith

4.

^ "Dear Jon Stewart: Thanks For The Ride, Motherfucker", 23 June

2105, Bruce Buschel

5.

^ Vonnegut, Kurt (1992). Fates Worse Than Death. New York:

Berkeley Books. p. 76.ISBN 0-425-13406-7.

6.

^ a b Carlin, George (1978). On Location: George Carlin at

Phoenix (DVD). HBO Home Video.

7.

^ Jensen, Jeff (4 August 2006). "Kicking Asp". Entertainment

Weekly. Retrieved 21 June2010.

8.

^ "Samuel L. Jackson Needs Certain Swear Word To Stop His

Stutter.". Huffington Post. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.

9.

^ Dawson, Jim (2009). The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of

the Mother of All Dirty Words. Los Angeles, Calif.: Feral
House. ISBN 978-1-932595-41-3.

External links
Look up motherfucker in
Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.
Look up BAMF in
Wiktionary, the free
dictionary.

Sexual slang

General

Anilingus
Banjee
Bareback
Baseball metaphors for sex
Blue balls
Bottom

Camel toe
Cantonese profanity
Chickenhead
Circle jerk
Cock tease
Cornhole
Cougar
Cunt
Daisy chain
Deep-throating
Dick
Dirty Sanchez
Dogging
Donkey punch
Douche
Felching
Fuck
Girlfriend experience
Glory hole
Hogging
Hot Karl
Italian profanity
Latin profanity
Mama-san
Mammary intercourse
Mandarin Chinese profanity
Mat
Mile high club
Motherfucker
Nookie
Party and play
Pearl necklace
Pegging
Pirate
Pussy
Quickie
Rusty trombone
Saddlebacking

Serosorting
Shemale
Slut
Snowballing
Soggy biscuit
Switch
Teabagging
Tits
Top
Top, bottom and versatile
Turkey slap
Twat
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
Wanker
Whale tail
Whore

LGBT-specific

Bara
Bear
Beard
Bi-curious
Breeder
Bugchasing
Chicken
Chickenhawk
Chub
Daddy
Down-low
Dyke
Fag hag
Fruit
Gay-for-pay
Lipstick lesbian
Queen
Soft butch
Swish
Trade

Troll
Twink
U-Haul lesbian

Ass to mouth
Bukkake
Centerfold
Clothed female, naked male (CFNM)
Clothed male, naked female (CMNF)
Creampie
Cum shot
Deep-throating
Downblouse
Facial
In pornography

Felching
Fluffer
Gang bang
Golden Age of Porn
Insert
MILF/DILF
Money shot
Paysite
Point-of-view
Rosebud
Stunt cock
Upskirt

In popular culture

List of films that most frequently use the word "fuck"

Human sexuality

Sexology
Sexual slur
Terminology of homosexuality

Incest

Accidental incest
Avunculate marriage
Consanguine marriage
Cousin marriage (List of cases)
Covert incest
Incest

Inbreeding
Incest between twins
Motherfucker
Parallel and cross cousins
Snokhachestvo
Sibling incest
Child incestuous abuse

Article 809 of the Korean Civil Code

Consanguinity
Cousin marriage law in the United States by state
Cousin marriage court cases in the United States
Laws regarding incest

Mahram
Muth v. Frank
Laws regarding incest in the United States
Prohibited degree of kinship
Ten Abominations

Incest in the Bible

Incest in folklore
Incest in popular culture
Culture

Incest in film and television

Incest in literature
Incest pornography
Incest taboo
Jewish views on incest

Theory

Science

Coefficient of relationship
Genetic sexual attraction

Inbreeding depression
Pedigree collapse

Electra complex
Jocasta complex
Psychology

Oedipus complex
Phaedra complex
Westermarck effect

Alvarez case
Armando Lucero
Colt clan incest case
Fritzl case
Goler clan

Cases

Maria Ersdotter
Moe incest case
Mongelli case
Patrick Stbing
Sheffield incest case

Categories:

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Sexuality and gender-related slurs

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Sexual slang

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