In Praise of Profanity

Linguist Michael Adams (From Elvish to Klingon) is a historian and lively defender of the English language. He never shies away from the provocative, and his imaginative, anti-academic approach holds great appeal. In Praise of Profanity is an illuminating, creatively presented exposition on the use of expletives--from four-letter words to latrine graffiti--throughout the ages. His aim in writing about language we're not supposed to use is to "illustrate profanity's very humane aspects, how expressive language participates in the human comedy and the human tragedy, and most often the human tragicomedy." By blending literary and cultural criticism, Adams sets up a defense of profanity that shatters over-simplified taboos, while outlining and illustrating stylistic motivations and the many valuable benefits expressive swearing can offer via the personal, emotional, societal and aesthetic.

Attitudes about using bad language are paradoxical and persistent, as the "functional need to express powerful emotion is inherently human" and goes back to Chaucer's often crude and bawdy Canterbury Tales. Adams writes that "were there ever a time to admire profanity, it would be now," as society is enmeshed in a profuse and profligate "Age of Profanity." Readers won't necessarily come away from this book swearing a blue streak. But the next time they're compelled to light up with an expletive--or they hear someone cursing up a storm--they'll more than likely remember Adams's thought-provoking, contemporary investigation that casts a new light on the darker side of the English language. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

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