Holy Sh*t (a Brief History Of Swearing)

By (author) Melissa Mohr; By (author) Mohr Melissa
Short description/annotation
A humorous, trenchant and fascinating examination of how Western culture''s taboo words have evolved over the millennia.
Description
Almost everyone swears, or worries about not swearing, from the two year-old who has just discovered the power of potty mouth to the grandma who wonders why every other word she hears is obscene. Whether they express anger or exhilaration, are meant to insult or to commend, swear words perform a crucial role in language. But swearing is also a uniquely well-suited lens through which to look at history, offering a fascinating record of what people care about on the deepest levels of a culture—what''s divine, what''s terrifying, and what''s taboo. Holy Sh*t tells the story of two kinds of swearing—obscenities and oaths—from ancient Rome and the Bible to today. With humor and insight, Melissa Mohr takes readers on a journey to discover how "swearing" has come to include both testifying with your hand on the Bible and calling someone a *#$&!* when they cut you off on the highway. She explores obscenities in ancient Rome—which were remarkably similar to our own—and unearths the history of religious oaths in the Middle Ages, when swearing (or not swearing) an oath was often a matter of life and death. Holy Sh*t also explains the advancement of civility and corresponding censorship of language in the 18th century, considers the rise of racial slurs after World War II, examines the physiological effects of swearing (increased heart rate and greater pain tolerance), and answers a question that preoccupies the FCC, the US Senate, and anyone who has recently overheard little kids at a playground: are we swearing more now than people did in the past? A gem of lexicography and cultural history, Holy Sh*t is a serious exploration of obscenity—and it also just might expand your repertoire of words to choose from the next time you shut your finger in the car door.
Table of contents
IntroductionChapter 1: Romana Simplicitate Loqui: To Speak with Roman PlainnessChapter 2: On Earth as It Is in HeavenChapter 3: Tearing God to Pieces: The Middle AgesChapter 4: The Rise of Obscenity: The RenaissanceChapter 5: How Trousers Became Unmentionable and Legs Disappeared Altogether: The 18th and 19th CenturiesChapter 6: The Law and Science of Swearing: The Twentieth CenturyConclusion
Review quote
Studying swearing is a way of studying human nature itself ... Holy Sh*t, Melissa Mohr''s book on the history of profanity ... would all be good places to start.
Review quote
Blending scholarly insight and ribald esprit, Holy Sh*t is a treasure trove of curious that will delight the logophile and the deviant alike.
Review quote
... an excellent book about history of language.
Review quote
... informative, often entertaining book
Review quote
I want to quote all of this to you, that''s how much fun this history of swearing is
Review quote
Insightful, accessible and witty.
Review quote
Throughout time, as words have left FCC-monitor territory and entered everyday conversation, we''ve kept coming up with new ways to express our greatest, angriest, most enthusiastic exclamations. And that process is pretty fucking cool.
Review quote
Intelligent and enjoyable... Ms. Mohr leads us on an often ear-boggling tour of verbal depravity, through the medieval and early-modern periods (via a fascinating analysis of scatological phrasing in early Bible translations) to the Victorian era and then our own time.
Review quote
...one of the most absorbing and entertaining books on language I have encountered in a long time
Review quote
As someone who relies on various forms of obscenity, vulgarity and profanity for roughly 75% of my written and verbal com