The penultimate 'fuck' post

OK, so just recently it was suggested to me (by my mother) that I might curse too much.

Erm ...

Number one, by the woman who, when I was a child, could cuss a drunken sailor under the table. (back me up here, Dad!)

Also ...

What the Blue Fuck is wrong with the word "fuck"?

Wait, this is two-fold. 1) What's wrong with the word, and 2) what's the evil juxtaposition with kids?

OK ... I need to explain, don't I?

Me mum said to me, upon leaving my house after an afternoon of keeping my Brood:

"I wish you wouldn't curse in front of those children."

This has bugged me - obviously, it got me to blog - since.

Seriously.

Yes, I'm a 43 year old mum of five who does curse in front of her kids. I never curse AT my kids. But I do tend to *ahem* express myself on occasion in the presence of my children. Nothing excessive. I don't spend all day sounding like a dockworker.

Is this wrong?

The way I look at it is that there are things that grown-ups do (like drink alcohol, have sex, pay taxes, and curse) that kids don't do. My wee ones are pretty smart cookies. They comprehend that they can't taste Daddy's beer because it's a 'grown-up drink'. They also fathom that saying 'shit' or 'fuck' is verboten.

Some things are just for grown ups. This is NOT beyond the comprehension of (at least MY) offspring.

The word has an indistinct history. There are indications that it stems from the German 'ficken' (to copulate), Middle Dutch 'fokken' (to thrust, copulate, or to breed), or dialectical Norwegian 'fukka' (to copulate).

Honestly, as a descendant of these races (via the Saxon invasion of Britain), I must say:

DUH!

We love the word. It's a good word. It's an expletive ("FUCK!") when you stub your toe, a handy and unmistakable expression of dismay ("well, fuck me"), a to-the-point gesture of contempt or disbelief or disapproval ("fuck this!"), a convenient add-on for emphasis ("I can't fucking stand that" and "un-fucking-believable!"), a satisfyingly expressive epithet ("Fuck you!"), as well as a good old descriptive verb ("Ewan McGregor? I'd fuck him.")

How can that be wrong?

Of course this isn't about language so much as parenting, is it? No one likes to have her mothering skillz brought into question (least of all from her own *&%#ing mother).

Thoughts, gentle readers? Do you curse in front of your children?