*Fuck you and wash the dishes.
An excellent paper.
Comments
on 2005-05-10 15:11:56.0, bitchphd commented:
I like "describe and fuck communism."
and, further, on 2005-05-10 20:50:53.0, washerdreyer commented:
I wouldn't have found it via your comment, but apparently I would have found it without Chopper's link.
and, further, on 2005-05-10 23:03:05.0, dave zacuto commented:
*Shit on each irregular verb.
It's that sort of care which distinguishes the grammarian dilettante from the true language-shitter.
and, further, on 2005-05-11 11:30:00.0, Adam Kotsko commented:
I found his argument to be basically persuasive. Fuck analyzing "fuck you" as an imperative!
and, further, on 2005-05-11 0:09:49.0, tammy commented:
Here's what I think. I think we can treat fuck2 as a jussive subjunctive. "Fuck communism" is roughly semantically equivalent to "let communism be fucked," yes? An imprecation, if you will. This sort of explains the restriction against adverbial elements (*fuck communism tomorrow) because of the nonspecific nature of an imprecation. I don't remember enough syntax to say that more intelligently.
If Jim McCawley were still alive I would totally run over to his office and ask him about this.
and, further, on 2005-05-11 0:25:36.0, ben wolfson commented:
"Fuck communism" is roughly semantically equivalent to "let communism be fucked," yes?
I am skeptical. And what about "let Lyndon Johnson be fucked on the sofa", or a bare "fuck!"?
and, further, on 2005-05-11 0:35:38.0, dave zacuto commented:
I think Tammy's argument is convincing, insofar as I understand it; it's not like "Fuck communism" is the sort of imperative which one expects the listener to fulfill.
and, further, on 2005-05-11 13:00:40.0, tammy commented:
Ben, I'm not sure what you're saying about those two. The point of "Fuck Lyndon Johnson on the sofa" was that it can only be read as an imperative ("Copulate with LBJ on the sofa"). So I suppose you could say "let LBJ be fucked on the sofa," but then you're dealing with a different fuck, is what McCawley's saying, anyway.
Also, I think may might have been a better word to use than let. "May Lyndon Johnson be fucked!" (I'm imagining Jerry Stiller saying this, for some reason, fists in the air.)
As for "fuck!," I'm kind of surprised he brought that up at all, since it seems like a bit of a red herring. As a plain old interjection, it doesn't really need any explanation; there's plenty of syntactic precedent for that.
and, further, on 2005-05-11 13:05:05.0, ben wolfson commented:
I also don't know what I was thinking of when I said that. Nevermind. Jerry Stiller would be a very good person to say "may Lyndon Johnson be fucked!".
and, further, on 2005-05-11 15:35:56.0, bitchphd commented:
Oh for fuck's sake, this conversation is fucking fucked.
and, further, on 2005-05-12 8:42:44.0, Chopper commented:
Fuck to oboe?