Phat [was Re: gay/ghey/ghay]

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Wed, Jun 02, 2004 at 11:15:31AM -0400, Baker, John wrote:

>         I think that the last time around, the majority
> view, which I found convincing, was that words such as
> "fuck" were not in fact slang.  Consider the AHD4 definition
> of "slang":
>
>         <<NOUN: 1. A kind of language occurring chiefly in
> casual and playful speech, made up typically of short-lived
> coinages and figures of speech that are deliberately used in
> place of standard terms for added raciness, humor,
> irreverence, or other effect. 2. Language peculiar to a
> group; argot or jargon: thieves' slang.>>
>
>         "Fuck" doesn't really fit either of these
> definitions, even though AHD4 and other dictionaries do
> label it as slang.

It doesn't fit? I do think that "fuck" occurs chiefly in
casual speech and is deliberately used for added raciness or
irreverence or other effect. The purportedly "short-lived"
nature of slang is something I've always thought is wrong, but
since AHD modifies it with "typically" we can ignore it here.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED