Motherfucker
Motherfucker (also contracted forms mother and mofo and, phonetically, in African American Vernacular English, muthafucka) is a common insult and profanity in the English language and is widely considered obscene. By virtue of its history of usage, motherfucker generally is regarded as African-American in origin. Literally, it accuses one of violating possibly the oldest taboo known to humankind, incest. However, as with most epithets, its use is pejorative, rather than literal. The power of the word was that it attacked one's sense of manhood. The cause of countless barroom brawls and streetfights, it is purported to have sparked at least one prison riot. Many consider motherfucker one of the most offensive profanities. "Delete Expletives", a study published in 2000, found that British people consider it second only to cunt in severity. Motherfucker has taken on additional meanings through continued use, its evolution being shaped primarily by, again, the African-American community. It has come to mean a formidable or inexorable force, as in the threat: "Payback is a bitch, but revenge is a muthafucka." It is also an expletive expression of disgust or contempt: "Now, ain't that a muthafucka!" Motherfucker also has come to be used in some circles as a general pronoun or synonym for "thing" or "person". The initials M.F. became a common, more polite substitute for motherfucker, as did the term Maryland farmer in the 1960s and 1970s. The result is an oft-recounted, if apocryphal, tale of the clueless Maryland Farmers Association writing a letter of protest to a prominent African-American in the news. It seems he called a Capitol Hill politician a "jive Maryland farmer," and the association's members were mightily offended. The growing use of motherfucker in popular culture may mean the term through time has become less offensive to some, but some see its increasing ubiquity as a sign of the general coarsening of society. Other common replacements are those phrases meant to bear a resemblance to the original word, including "brother Tucker," "mother trucker," and other combinations of similar words.
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