Comment by clauderoux

As a French speaker, what is quite surprising is how close the use of "fuck" mirrors the use of "foutre" in French. However, in French, the word has become pretty weak as an expletive. Nobody would be shocked if you say: "je m'en fous", which could be translated either as "I don't give a fuck" or "I don't give a damn". The original sexual meaning of the word is lost on most people now, except when it is used as a noun. For instances, in French movies in the 1930, people would use the verb in a pretty casual way, without any real problems, which means that it had already lost its vulgar side. I guess "fuck" is following the same parallel trend.