Comments on: Theologian Provides Health Advice

By: jaguar

jaguar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:08:24 +0000

And I doubt ‘sucking’ her would cure him of anything. I’m sure she’d be willing to give it a try, but still…

By: Petronius

Petronius — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:13:15 +0000

Wesley’s preference for fucking or sucking notwithstanding, the religious aspects of health were a common theme in the 19th century. People opposed doctors because many of their “cures” were pure poison, larded with arsenic or mercury. During the Jacksonian era in the US medical licensing was abolished throughout the country, and people dosed themselves with herbal medications sent via mail order. The 7th Day Adventist church with its call for vegetarianism became popular in this period. The hilarious Battle Creek Sanitarium in The Road to Wellville was an Adventist outfit, and pretty accurately portrayed in the film. Yes, God wanted you to be healthy, but as time went on He didn’t want you to fuck. As Dr. Kellogg stated, “An erection is a flagpole over your own grave!”

By: GvS

GvS — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:15:52 +0000

No, it’s definitely “fuck”. The “f”-looking “s” seen in older texts is a “medial-s”- it was only used in the middle of words, not at the begining. You can’t even argue about the use of an italic typeface, since, if that were the case, the medial-s would have been used in “watercresses” (also in italics) a few lines earlier.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:19:41 +0000

There is a postscript to the article. It shows the actual text wherein the “F” hangs below the line (Like a g, p, q or j normally do.) This is how the lower case “S” was written in those days, right?
The author of the “Quack” page says… “It would appear to be almost certain, on reflection, that ‘suck’ is the correct interpretation. However, I have written to the Methodist New Rooms in Bristol (the oldest Methodist Chapel in the world where my copy was published) to see if Wesley preferred fucking or sucking.”

By: Earl

Earl — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:37:55 +0000

It wasn’t til the Victorian era that words like fuck really acquired the pejorative they’re saddled with today. Read a bit of Chaucer, the language and attitude might surprise you.

By: Bleys

Bleys — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:56:59 +0000

When discussing older uses of “fuck” it is good to remember that the “secondary connotation” was always there. Fuck is an onomatopoeia from Middle English, which meant to strike something. Imagine Adam West punching the joker, and seeing the word FUCK! across the scene. It is more akin to “did you bang her?” or “I’d hit that,” as Pinker points out in the link. More interesting to me is the word “frick,” which I always thought was how children and Mormons were coy about “fuck.” It actually is another onomatopoeia coming from around that same time, that was used to indicate stabbing. (Like “peck” today). Why frick sounds childish and fuck is the worst word you can say is a total mystery to me, unless it is just historical accident as I suspect.