Synopses & Reviews
Examines how we use language to swear, to insult, and also to be politically correct.
Synopsis
A fascinating insight into taboo language and its role in everyday life, showing how we use language in order to swear, to insult, and also to be politically correct. Lively and revealing, Forbidden Words will fascinate anyone interested in how and why we use and avoid taboos in daily conversation.
Synopsis
This book provides a fascinating insight into taboo language and its role in everyday life. It looks at the ways we use language to be polite or impolite, politically correct or offensive, depending on whether we are âsweet-talkingâ, âstraight-talkingâor being deliberately rude. Using a range of colourful examples, it shows how we use language in order to swear, to insult, and also to be politically correct. Lively and revealing, Forbidden Words will fascinate anyone who is interested in how and why we use and avoid taboos in daily conversation.
Table of Contents
1. Taboos and their origins; 2. Sweet talking and offensive language; 3. Bad language? Jargon, slang, swearing, insult; 4. The language of political correctness; 5. Linguistic purism and verbal hygiene; 6. Taboo, naming and addressing; 7. Sex and bodily effluvia; 8. Food and smell; 9. Disease, death and killing; 10. Taboo, censoring and the human brain.