Four-letter word
The phrase four-letter word refers to a set of English words written with four letters which are considered profane, including common popular or slang terms for excretory functions, sexual activity, and genitalia.
Common four-letter words (in this sense) include: cunt, damn, fuck, shit, and twat. These, in addition to at least ten others, are widely considered vulgar or offensive to some degree.
A similar tradition in the Dutch language occurs with "three-letter words": (kut, pik, lul, gvd)
In French, the word merde ("shit") was sometimes referred to as les cinq lettres ("the five letters") before its use became widespread and mild.
In Latin, a common insult used to be "Es vir trium litterarum", meaning "you are a man of three letters". The underlying implication was that the addressed was a fur, meaning "thief", although if challenged, the speaker could always claim he simply meant vir, i.e. "man".
Tetragrammaton
Another interesting meaning of "four-letter word" (in Greek, tetragrammaton) is the Hebrew name of the Abrahamic god, that is, יהוה (commonly transliterated as "YHWH", "Yahweh", and "Jehovah"), which Jews did not speak aloud.
Quotation
- Good authors too who once knew better words
- Now only use four-letter words
- Writing prose.
- Anything goes.
- — Cole Porter, "Anything Goes"
The fact that "love" is literally a four-letter word has been used in several popular songs, including "Love Is Just A Four-letter Word" written and performed by Bob Dylan, and "Four Letter Word" written by Ricky & Marty Wilde and performed by Kim Wilde. A show called Love is a Four-letter Word was produced by ABC in Australia.