The humor in the fact that is a very well written book with what seems like years of research having gone into it as well as tender love and some sweat and tears. There are cited sources and everything is academic on a very professional level. But not a single page goes by where there isn't at least 5 swears or profane words. I listened to the audio book a well as read the paper back and the man with the UK accent said everything so matter of a factly and royally that I had to pause it at times because I couldn't hear it in my headphones over my own giggling. The real A+ comes in here when toy basically get the entire history of the western world through the lense of profane swear words. It's a type of cultural evolution that would be hilarious to actually teach in schools one day. Imagine this as the main textbook they have to go by and a team of people working hard to create newer and more in depth editions to sell to students each year hahaha!! We have a part of our brain which registers certain words or phrases as emotive. They may be oaths, expletives, obsentites or racial slurs. These words are used for everything from accent and stress to outright villification. The words we use, and their literal meanings, have changed a lot through time and yet what we do with them is remarkably similar. A fascinating insight into the way the emotive content of words has changed through time. I was particularly struck by how difficult it is to put over how offensive certain words may have been several hundred years ago when they are not the words we would use now for the same sort of purpose.It is written by an American. Even though she is talking about the English language and English speakers from all over the world, with a good understanding of the UK, she still has a noticable American bias when talking about the present day.
pretty illuminating to see how the concept of privacy developed (alongside swearing)!
—Ren
An enjoyable and interesting review of what I prefer to call, "profanity."
—blah
I was disappointed in this book. I guess I've been spoiled by Mary Roach.
—ninchys
I liked the part of the Romans and Greeks and the summary at the end.
—LuLu
