WTF?

A four-letter word's five greatest hits

November 10, 2006—In making his new documentary, F*ck, director Steve Anderson interviewed dozens of historians and other authorities (Kevin Smith, Bill Maher, and Miss Manners, to name a few) to chart the evolution and cultural implications of the ultimate four-letter word. We asked Anderson to name his five favorite uses—and though we're happy to drop the F-bomb from time to time, we've opted to shield your eyes from the full word in all its profane glory. (Hey, Mom.)

"Non sunt in coeli, quia fvccant vvivys of heli." —Anonymous poet, 1475
("This is the first written use of the word—'fvccant' meant 'f*ck'—and it's from a poem called Flen Flyys about some monks in an abbey outside London.")

"F*ck the draft."—Paul Robert Cohen, 1968
("This guy walked into a California courtroom with that written on his jacket, and he was arrested and brought to trial. He was acquitted, and he's the reason we can walk around with the word on our shirts today.")

As part of George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television," 1972
("He always said that while some of the other words may have been worse, 'f*ck' was the one that got everybody going.")

"F*ck Caspar Gomez! And f*ck the f*ckin' Diaz brothers! F*ck 'em all!"—Tony Montana, 1983
("Scarface used the word around 275 times and turned it into a form of poetry.")

"Go f*ck yourself."—Dick Cheney, 2004
("I don't begrudge his use of the word—it's a very effective way of communicating an emotion—but it just goes to show the hypocrisy in government. They hold themselves up as paradigms of virtue, but they swear like sailors, too.")