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FCC Ruling on 'F-Word' Fires up Pro-Family Groups
By Melanie Hunter
CNSNews.com Deputy Managing Editor
November 18, 2003

(Editor's notes: Changes descriptor for groups urging FCC action. The following also contains references to a word that the reader may find objectionable.)

(CNSNews.com) - Pro-family groups are urging action after the Federal Communications Commission's ruling that the use of the "f-word" during the 2003 Golden Globe Awards does not violate the commission's obscenity standards.

The American Family Association (AFA) and Parents Television Council (PTC) sounded off over the January broadcast of the awards show in which performer Bono used the phrase: "This is [expletive] great."

"This ruling clearly opens the floodgates for general use of the 'f-word' in any TV show or radio program - except in sexual situations," said AFA founder and Chairman Donald E. Wildmon in a statement.

"That means that real soon, you will be watching a sitcom on TV, or news, or any drama or movie - any program - and it's okay! Hollywood is rejoicing!" Wildmon wrote.

"Soon, when you are driving your kids to school, you will be listening to a song that makes extensive use of the word," Wildmon added. "Shock jocks such as Howard Stern are now free to use any language, no matter how vile and repugnant, on their radio shows. And use it they will.

"No longer will movies shown on TV have to be edited because of language," wrote Wildmon, who urged people to contact their congressman, senator and members of the FCC.

"Have we now reached the place where common decency enforcement is deemed censorship?" Wildmon asked.

"The chief of the FCC's enforcement bureau determined that the 'f-word' is not indecent for primetime broadcast television if it is used as an adjective or as an insult. I cannot imagine a ruling that could make a bigger mockery of an organization charged with serving the public interest," said PTC founder and President Brent Bozell in a statement.

"I ask that each commissioner respond personally and publicly whether he agrees with this decision," added Bozell, who is also president of CNSNews.com.

Bozell wrote to the FCC's five commissioners demanding answers regarding the commission's decision.

In an Oct. 21 letter to the commissioners, Bozell wrote: "On January 19, 2003, a national television network broadcast contained a performer clearly speaking the words 'f-ing brilliant.' This broadcast was viewed by millions of Americans, a substantial number of whom were young children."

Added Bozell: "On October 3, 2003, Mr. David H. Solomon, Chief of the Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission, issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order which rejected the claims of citizens across the United States that the aforementioned program content was indecent.

"Mr. Solomon's Opinion states that the offensive language does not fall within the scope of the Commission's indecency prohibition because 'the performer used the word 'f-ing' as an adjective or expletive to emphasize an exclamation.' Moreover, the Opinion states that 'offensive language used as an insult' and 'fleeting and isolated remarks of this nature' do not warrant Commission action.

"This means it is the position of the FCC that one can use words like 'f-k,' or phrases like 'f-k you' over the public airwaves, in front of millions of children, because they are only an insult or an adjective and do not describe sexual activity," Bozell wrote.

"I ask you to state clearly and unambiguously whether you agree or disagree with this decision," Bozell added. "Silence on this matter can only be interpreted to be your affirmation of this decision."

The Federal Communications Commission did not return calls seeking comment, but in an Oct. 27 letter to the Bozell's request, FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps responded.

Copps said although he could not comment "directly on the specifics" of a decision that will soon come before him, "I do believe as a general matter that a single word can indeed constitute indecency and be actionable under the authorities granted to the FCC. For years, the commission itself so believed and so acted."

"Certain words were deemed sufficient to justify indecency rulings. The commission has arguably come to put more emphasis in recent years on the contextual presentation of indecency. I am concerned that we may be too narrow in our interpretation of the statute. Interestingly, the statute restricts obscene, indecent or profane language," Copps wrote.

"I would also examine closely any approach wherein a word that might otherwise be indecent is deemed to be indecent if it is used as 'only' an adjective or expletive," the commissioner added. He repeated that "a single word can violate the statutory prohibition."

Copps suggested that "if our current definition of indecency is not getting the job done," the commission should "reexamine our definition."

The commissioner said he gave the FCC a failing grade on the issue of enforcement of statutes that exist to curb indecency.

"The 'race to the bottom' of the airwaves just continues to get worse. When only a tiny minority of complaints at the commission result in any action at all, it is time to take a hard look at why so many instances of indecency are falling through the cracks," Copps wrote.

Copps applauded Bozell for asking the commissioners to address the issue of profanity on the airwaves and agreed that "commission-level commitment" is necessary to address indecency.

"As I traveled across the nation during my media ownership hearings this past year, I saw first-hand the rising anger of the American people over what they and their children are being served up during primetime viewing hours," Copps wrote. He encouraged Bozell to "keep pushing, and pushing hard" on the indecency issue.

Un-F@*#ing Believeable!

More frequent use of the f word on TV will make America a better place, no doubt. I hope this ruling hasn't been lost on Howard Stern. He and Larry Flynt are my favorite free speech advocates. Washington, Madison, and Jefferson are beaming from above, if there is an above to beam from. I can just hear the three of them crying in unison, "At f*#@king last!"

If the f word is okay on TV I assume it will be okay here now.....

people act like this is new - there's never been a law prohibitng the f-word - it's just alot of television and radio networks' policy not to allow certain vulgarities because they want to keep their sponsors.i'm pretty sure there's no law against ABC airing hardcore porn after a certain hour, but they'll never do it. money talks. i imagine it will be awhile before the f word becomes commonplace on radio or tv, if ever. south park excepted. lol

Rick-
I believe you are right and this can be taken to an even greater extent. Parents need to teach their children about everything from the "F" word to politics to abortion to religion et al, rather than rely on their peers to teach them.
Knowledge is key. As in your example with your wife, people need to know when to use the f word and when to be more docile in their language. We need to know when to use abortion and when it's not the best idea. When to question our leaders and when to change those leaders. Our world is not one size fits all.

divnmyk

rest assured my wife has told me to **** off on more then one occassion.

65gtoman,
I know several very wealthy men, who would disagree with you. I used to work in a bar, at the local country club. I heard the F word more often there, than I did working in a biker bar. I kinda thought it would be as you said. I guess the bikers have more class than millionaires.
Later
Dave (A.K.A. Meadmaker)

I agree with you on M and M.
But I know several, extremely successful men, who use the F word on a daily basis. My only arguement was about your assertion that "People that use words like that dally are from a lower class of people. Most people that use those words alot are poorly educated and or unsuccessful in life."
Many people of lower class rarely use the F word. Many people of Upper Class, regularly use that word.
It was just your assertion, that only uneducated lower class people use the f-word, on a regular basis. An assertion, that is only your opinion, and is not true, in my experience.
Later
Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)

The race card once again.....

I never said anything about (black people) Spence, try to stay on the topic. I even used a white man (m and m) as an example. Many people live in the intercity from all kinds back grounds. I feel that bad language is used and accepted more in the intercity then in the county’s.

Anyone that uses the f word in public around people they don’t know is very rude and puts you in a lower class of people in my eyes, regardless of how much money, color or celebrity status.

Maybe you’re the racist.

I agree the class doesn't have anything to do with who uses the F word and who doesn't.

I'm also perplexed as to how this became an issue of race.

Yo: I'm classy if you don't believe it just **** ask me. JonR

Yes you may be classy but it is apparent that you are un-educated by your use of a colloquialism and forgetting the "g". LOL!!

All I know is, when I was about 6-7 years old, not knowing what the 'f' word meant, I used it in front of my dad. I had probably heard it on the street. My dad slapped me across the face. Later that day, he apologized for slapping me and explained that the word was a curse word and was not to be used by me under any circumstances. My folks set a pretty good example for me, they did not use curse words as part of their every day vocabulary. So neither do I. I think we, as a society have lost our language skills, so we insert curse words instead.

Sorry, you guys are right, maybe I jumped the gun a little bit, but when someone uses a statement like:

"Im not personally offended by the use of the word, but I have respect for others, and try not to sound like some inner-city punk."

The initial reaction/implication is very negative and obviously has racial connotations. Having lived and gone to school very close to the "inner-city" in Buffalo, I do associate that area as having a heavier African-American population when compared to caucasian.

However, I do concede that this "punk" could be of any race. My intent was to point out the stereotype associated with the inner-city.

Improper playing of race card.
10 yard penalty, repeat first down!

There is only one time I use the "F" word......and that day is........
"The Great American Smoke Out".........**** That Day!!!

I for one use this word whenever possible. I think it's a great word. It has strayed so far from it's original meaning that it no longer means anything. It's been part of my vocabulary since my early teens. Of course, I've had to keep it under control in certain company but for the most part I use it pretty freely. I don't use in front of other peoples children but use it pretty freely in front of my own.

My 24 year old son uses it pretty freely but I don't think I've ever heard my 16 year old daughter say it. In 25 years of marriage I don't think my wife has said it once. And believe me, that's quite an accomplishment considering the amount of time we've spent together.


One thing I've noticed though is that I rarely use it in a sexual context. I may call someone a f--ing idiot but I wouldn't normally say something like "she's really hot, I'd f--- her". I'd probably use some other euphamism such as "she's really hot, I'd hose her down". It shows a lot more class!

The Origin of the Word "****"

Different Thoughts:

The word is derived from the Danish word "fokken" to breed cattle and Swedish "fokka" to copulate.

In truth yes the F-word does mean Fornication Under Consent of the King, but it was ingraved in the entry ways of brothels, it ment that the brothel was legal and paid taxes. Henry the 8th made prostitution legal and taxed it in order to make more money.

Actually the word "****" has nothing to do with Kings or their consent to have sex. **** is an Old English word which means "to sow a seed" (as in farming). "To sow" means to scatter seeds, similar to the process of a male ejaculating in to a female.

Popular etymologies agree, unfortunately incorrectly, that this is an acronym meaning either Fornication Under Consent of the King or For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. The latter usually accompanying a story about how medieval prisoners were forced to wear this word on their clothing.

Deriving the etymology of this word is difficult, as it has been under a taboo for most of its existence and citations are rare. The earliest known use, according to American Heritage and Lighter, predates 1500 and is from a poem written in a mix of Latin and English and entitled 'Flen flyys.' The relevant line reads:

"Non sunt in celi quia fuccant uuiuys of heli." Translated: "They [the monks] are not in heaven because they **** the wives of Ely [a town near Cambridge]." The word was not in common (published) use prior to the 1960s.

Shakespeare did not use it, although he did hint at it for comic effect. In Merry Wives of Windsor (IV.i) he gives us the pun "focative case." In Henry V (IV.iv), the character Pistol threatens to "firk" a French soldier, a word meaning "to strike," but commonly used as an Elizabethan euphemism for ****. In the same play (III.iv), Princess Katherine confuses the English words "foot" and "gown" for the French "foutre" and "coun" (**** and ****, respectively) with
comic results. Other poets did use the word, although it was far from common. Robert Burns, for example,
used it in an unpublished manuscript.

The taboo was so strong that for 170 years, from 1795 to 1965, **** did not appear in a single dictionary of
the English language. In 1948, the publishers of The Naked and the Dead persuaded Norman Mailer to use the
euphemism "fug" instead, resulting in Dorothy Parker's comment upon meeting Mailer: "So you're the man who
can't spell ****."

The root is undoubtedly Germanic, as it has cognates in other Northern European languages: Middle Dutch
fokken meaning to thrust, to copulate with; dialectical Norwegian ****ka meaning to copulate; and dialectical Swedish focka meaning to strike, push, copulate, and fock meaning ****. Both French and Italian have similar words, foutre and fottere respectively. These derive from the Latin futuere.

While these cognates exist, they are probably not the source of ****, rather they probably come from a common root. Most of the early known usages of the English word come from Scotland, leading some scholars to believe that the word comes from Scandinavian sources. Others disagree, believing that the number of northern citations reflects that the taboo was weaker in Scotland and the north, resulting in more surviving usages. The fact that there are citations, albeit fewer of them, from southern England dating from the same period seems to bear out this latter theory.

There is also an elaborate explanation that has been circulating on the internet for some years regarding
English archers, the Battle of Agincourt, and the phrase Pluck Yew! This explanation is a modern jest--a play on words. However, there may be a bit of truth to it. The British (it's virtually unknown in America) gesture of displaying the index and middle fingers with the back of the hand outwards (a reverse peace sign)--meaning the same as displaying the middle finger alone--may derive from the French practice of cutting the fingers off captured English archers. Archers would taunt the French on the battlefield with this gesture, showing they were intact and still
dangerous. The pluck yew part is fancifully absurd. This is not the origin of the middle finger gesture, which is truly ancient, being referred to in classical Greek and Roman texts.