Waubonsee Community College

An encyclopedia of swearing, the social history of oaths, profanity, foul language, and ethnic slurs in the English-speaking world, Geoffrey Hughes

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 521-522) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

An encyclopedia of swearing

dictionariesbibliography

60323487

Geoffrey Hughes

the social history of oaths, profanity, foul language, and ethnic slurs in the English-speaking world

This is the only encyclopedia and social history of swearing and foul language in the English-speaking world. It covers the various social dynamics that generate swearing, foul language, and insults in the entire range of the English language. While the emphasis is on American and British English, the different major global varieties, such as Australian, Canadian, South African, and Caribbean English are also covered. A-Z entries cover the full range of swearing and foul language in English, including fascinating details on the history and origins of each term and the social context in which it found expression. Categories include blasphemy, obscenity, profanity, the categorization of women and races, and modal varieties, such as the ritual insults of Renaissance flyting and modern sounding or playing the dozens. Entries cover the historical dimension of the language, from Anglo-Saxon heroic oaths and the surprising power of medieval profanity, to the strict censorship of the Renaissance and the vibrant, modern language of the streets. Social factors, such as stereotyping, xenophobia, and the dynamics of ethnic slurs, as well as age and gender differences in swearing are also addressed, along with the major taboo words and the complex and changing nature of religious, sexual, and racial taboos. ... Publisher description

Preface -- Introduction -- Abbreviations -- Abjuration -- Aliens -- Alliteration -- Anathema -- Anatomical Insults -- Anglo-Saxon Period -- Anglo-Saxon Terms -- Animal Terms -- Ass/Arse -- Asseveration -- Attestation -- Australia -- Barbarian -- Bastard -- Bawdy -- Beggar -- Berk -- Bible -- Billingsgate -- Bitch -- Blacks -- Blason Populaire -- Blasphemy -- Blast -- Bloody -- Body Language and Gesture -- Bowdler, Dr. Thomas -- Bowdlerization -- Broadcasting -- Bugger -- Bum -- Burns, Robert -- Bywords of Swearing -- Canada -- Caribbean -- Catholics -- Caxton, William -- Censorship -- Charms -- Chaucer, Geoffrey -- "Cherles Termes" -- Children, Swearing in -- Chinese, The -- Christ -- Cinema -- Class and Swearing -- Cleland, John -- Cock -- Collier Controversy -- Comics -- Communism -- Comstockery -- Coolie -- Coon -- Coprolalia -- Copulation -- Cowardice -- Crap -- Crimen Injuria -- Cuckoldry -- Cunt -- Curse and Cursing -- Damn -- Devil, The -- Dickens, Charles -- DictionariesDisability and Deformity -- Disease -- Disguise Mechanisms -- Dogs -- Dozens, The -- Drat -- Dunbar, William -- Dysphemisms -- English, The -- Ethnic Insults -- Etymologies -- Euphemisms -- Expletives -- Fabliaux, The -- Fanny -- Farmer, John S. and William E. Henley -- Fart -- Fashion in Swearing -- Feminization of Opprobrious Terms -- Fines and Penalties -- Fishwife -- Flexibility -- Flexner, Stuart Berg -- Flyting -- Folk Etymology -- Formal Oaths -- Formulas in Swearing -- Forswearing -- Foul Language -- Letter" Words -- French, The -- Frig, Frigging -- Fuck -- Gender in Swearing -- Genitalia -- Germans -- Git -- God -- God's Wounds -- Goddam/Goddamn -- Gook -- Goon -- Gorblimey -- Graffiti -- Graves, Robert -- Grose, Captain Francis -- Grundy, Mrs -- Hate Speech -- Heathen, Infidel, and Pagan -- Hell -- Hollywood -- Homosexuals -- Honky -- Hottentot -- Hun -- Impact -- Imprecation -- Incest, See Mother-Fucker -- India, Swearing in Indians, North American -- InnovationInstability of Swearing Terms -- Irish, The -- Italians -- Japanese, The -- Jesus -- Jews -- Johnson, Dr Samuel -- Jonson, Ben -- Kaffir -- Knave -- Lady Chatterley's Lover -- Larkin, Philip -- Lawsuits -- Literature -- Lord -- Lord Chamberlain -- Loss of Intensity, Weakening, or Verbicide -- Lousy -- Mahomet/Mohammed -- Maledicta -- Malediction -- Mamet, David -- Master of the Revels -- Masturbation -- Medieval Period -- Mencken, H.L. -- Minced Oaths -- Moralization of Status Words -- Motherfucker -- Nicknames -- Nigger -- Non-Jurors -- Obscenity -- Oxford English Dictionary -- Oz Magazine -- Partridge, Eric -- Perjury -- Phonetic Patterns -- Pidgin English -- Piss -- Police -- Political Correctness -- Political Names -- Pom, Pommy -- Popular Culture -- Pornography -- Poverty -- Prat -- Press, The -- Profanity -- Promiscuity -- Prostitutes -- Psychology of Swearing and Foul Language -- Punk -- Pygmalion -- Quakers and Shakers -- Quean and Queen -- Queer -- Rabelais, François -- RapRascal -- Recantation -- Reclamation of Opprobrious Terms -- Red -- Reformation, The -- Register -- Religious Oaths -- Renaissance, The -- Renegade -- Restoration, The -- Rhyme -- Rhyming Slang -- Rhythm -- Riddles -- Roarer -- Rochester, The Earl of Rogue -- Rude Words, Semantic Field of Rufflers -- Saints' Names -- Sambo -- Scatology -- Scold -- Scots -- Semantic Changes and Trends -- Shakespeare, William -- Shaw, George Bernard, See "Pygmalion" -- Shit Words -- "Shock Jocks" -- Shrew -- Slang -- Soldiers Andsailors -- Son of a Bitch -- South Africa -- Spells -- Sports -- Sterne, Laurence -- Stupidity -- Swift, Jonathan -- Syphilis -- Taboo -- Thou -- Treachery -- Turd -- Twain, Mark -- Twat -- Tynan, Kenneth -- "U" and Non-"U" -- Uncle Tom -- Unparliamentary Language -- Victorian Age -- Villain -- Virago -- War -- Webster and His Dictionaries -- Welsh -- Whitehouse, Mrs Mary -- Whore and Whoreson -- Witch -- Wog -- Women, Stereotypes of Women, Swearing in Word-Field of Swearing -- Word Magic -- Word of Honor -- Wretch -- Xenophobia -- Yankee -- Zounds -- Chronology