The termfour-letter word serves as a euphemism for words that are often consideredprofane or offensive.
The designation "four-letter" arises from the observation that many (though not all) popular orslang terms related toexcretory functions,sexual activity,genitalia,blasphemies, and terms linked toHell ordamnation are incidentally four-charactermonosyllables. Notably, the term "four-letter word" does not strictly refer to words containing exactly four letters.[1]
Certain "four-letter words" have multiple meanings (some serving asgiven names) and usually only offend when used in their vulgar senses. Examples include:cock,dick,knob,muff,puss,shag (UK), andtoss (UK). A borderline category includes words that areeuphemistic evasions of "stronger" words and those that happen to be short, with both an expletive sound to some listeners and a sexual or excretory meaning (many also have other, non-vulgar meanings):butt (US),crud,darn,dump,heck,poop (US),slag (UK, NZ, AUS),slut, andturd.
Finally, some four-letter terms with limited usage can be considered offensive within the regional dialect they are used, such asmong andmary.
Occasionally, the phrase "four-letter word" is humorously used to describe common words composed of four letters. Examples include the wordwork, implying that work can be unpleasant, or the game ofgolf, jokingly referred to as a four-letter word when a player's pastime becomes an exercise in frustration. In 1993,Charlotte Observer journalist Doug Robarchek noted how many U.S. politicians have names with four letters, humorously observing, "Ever notice how many U.S. politicians have names that are also four-letter words?Ford,Dole,Duke,Bush,Gore ... and how many make us think of four-letter words?"[3]
Chinese: The term 三字經 (lit.Three Character Classic) is used to describe swearing, as many such phrases in Chinese consist of three characters.
Dutch: A similar tradition occurs with "three-letter words", e.g.kut ("cunt"/"twat"),pik andlul ("cock"/"dick"/"prick").
Finnish: Rude words tend to be five-letter words, like the common swear wordperse meaning "arse", orpaska meaning "shit". Other offensive five-letter words refer to the genital region, eg.kulli andkyrpä ("cock"/"dick"/"prick"), along withpillu andvittu ("twat"/"cunt").
French: the wordmerde ("shit") is sometimes referred to asle mot de cinq lettres ("the five-letter word"), orle mot deCambronne. Also, profanities in French are usually calledgros mots (coarse words).
German: the phraseSetz dich auf deine vier Buchstaben! ("sit down on your four letters") is mainly used speaking to children, as it refers to the wordPopo, meaning "rump" in baby talk. A variant,Setz dich auf deine fünf Buchstaben! ("sit down on your five letters"), alludes to the vulgar use of the wordArsch, meaning "arse" (UK) or "ass" (US).
Latin: a common insult used to beEs vir trium litterarum, meaning "you are a man of three letters". The underlying implication was that the addressed was afur, meaning "thief", although if challenged, the speaker could always claim he simply meantvir, that is, "man".
Polish: the worddupa ("arse"/"ass") is calledcztery litery ("the four letters"). Historically, alsokiep, which formerly used to be ataboo word meaning "female genitals", but presently is a mild or humorous insult meaning "a fool" or a modern slang term for a cigarette. There is also a phraseSiadaj na cztery litery (sit down on your four letter), meaningsit on your arse.
Russian: the wordхуй ("cock"/"dick"/"prick"), the most common obscenity, is called "the three-letter word" (russ.: "слово из трёх букв") or just "three letters" (russ.: "три буквы") and is one of the key words of the "Russian mat".
Cole Porter's 1934 song "Anything Goes" includes the line "Good authors too who once knew better words, now only use four-letter words writing prose. Anything goes."
Chocolate Starfish have a track called "Four Letter Word" on their eponymous album.
The song "Irresistible" byFall Out Boy features the line "You know I give my love a four-letter name".
In the 2019BBC-HBO mini-seriesYears and Years written byRussell T Davies, after controversialist businesswoman Vivienne Rook gains popularity by claiming that she "doesn't give a fuck" about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict whilst onQuestion Time and subsequently railing against being censored, she establishes the populist, far-right Four Star Party, whose symbol is four asterisks.
A specified word that actually has four letters:Love:
