THE BACKGROUND OF THE NEGATIVE WORD "MOTHERFUCKER"

English is a language that originated from the Anglo Saxons. Three tribes made up the Anglo Saxons- the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. The first type of English language used is called Old English. As a result of many words borrowed from languages like Latin, French, and Greek, the grammar of English changed over time to what is called Middle English and subsequently to Modern English which is used today. Many words from the morphology, syntax and semantics of Old English have survived into Modern English. Most of them however, have since assumed new meanings and sometimes, spellings. On the other hand, many new words have entered into the vocabulary of English. One of these new words is "motherfucker".

Nobody can fully give a detailed background information on the etymology of "motherfucker". However, most lexicons admit that the word originated in the United States of America. The word is used by virtually everybody. What differs however, is the context of usage. The word is considered profane and vulgar. Those who use it publicly are therefore the members of the lower class in the society who care less about their public image than the members of the upper and middle classes. I am still new in the United States. But I have discovered that even those who scowl their faces and block their ears each time the word is used in the public, roar into laughter on other occasions when the word is used in private by persons close to them.

Many attempts by English language experts to find out how the word "motherfucker" got corrupted have not yielded much dividend. There are speculations that the word was coined out in the United States because a child's mother is considered sacred to that child. Messing up with one's mother was therefore considered as the highest form of sacriledge. Over the years, the word was adopted to describe any person who is mean,unreliable and who represents everything negative.

As more researches on English words continue, it is hoped that one day, other facts related to this word which has become notorious in English vocabulary would emerge.