Is it "cock sucker" or "cocksucker"???

At a very young age I heard the term "cock sucker". It was grandfather's favorite word every time something didn't go his way. You'd always hear "You cock sucker!" coming from the back yard and you'd think to yourself, oh boy...what happened to Grandpa. I never thought twice about the word. I was like 8 or 9 years old. I didn't know what it meant. But as my little sister got older, she always hung around my grandfather. And when he was about to yell out his famous saying, he'd tell my sister to cover her ears. It was at that point I realized "cock sucker" might be a bad word. Regardless of whether or not it's technically a swear word, I used it all the time. It reminded me of my grandfather. And every time I said it, I heard it in his voice., and I always smiled a little.

My Grandfather passed away in 1989 and I didn't hear the term much after that. Unless I said it, and that was just here and there. But again, it always reminded me of him regardless. Then one day I was watching HBO. I came across the rerun of the first Episode of Deadwood. It was early 2005 and the first season aired in 2004 but I just never got a chance to watch it. I was delighted by their favorite cuss word on the show..."COCK SUCKER". For every time it was used (and it's used about every other word) I smiled. It was as if my Grandfather wrote the dialogue of the show. At that moment the word immediately came back into my vernacular, much to the shock of others. Especially ones who haven't seen the show or had known my Grandfather.

Anyone that knows me, truly knows me, knows that I swear. Sometimes too much. But fuck...if that pisses you off just go eat a bag of dicks you limber dicked cocksucker. =) I've always said, if swearing is the worst thing I do count your blessings. Besides, science has proven those of us who cuss regularly are more honest and trustworthy. So there...fuck off again!

While creating my website www.gusoneil.com I found myself using the word regularly. But one problem arose. How to spell it? As two words? A compound word? Which was correct? Spell check and autocorrect always flag "cocksucker" until you change it to "cock sucker". So going by that it should be two words right? No, urban dictionary shows it as one word. But quotes from the Deadwood series also show it as two words. So I guess you can use either one. Either spelling gets it's point across. The beauty of the term is that you can use it as an insult (You fucking cocksucker!), or as a term of endearment (Hey you cock sucker. How the hell are you?). Well, some of us can get away with using it as a term of endearment. Don't try it unless you're sure you can pull it off. It might cost you some teeth.

So I leave you with that. Either spelling of "cocksucker" is correct. Use which ever one you'd like. Use it for good, use it for evil. It turns peoples heads but it doesn't seem to set people off the way the word "fuck" does. I highly recommend you watch Deadwood if you've never seen it. If you have, watch it again. I always go back to it for two reasons. One, I love the wild west era and the show really captures that.

And two, Every time Al Swearengen (and all the other cast members) says that delightful word, I'm 9 years old hearing my Grandfather scream it out as he misses a nail and whacks his hand with a claw hammer. Ah the memories. Until next time, you cocksuckers!

Laissez les bons temps rouler ~ Gus