Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing - Softcover

Mohr, Melissa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 019049168X ISBN 13: 9780190491680

Publisher: OUP USA, 2016

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review

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. (The Economist)

Blending scholarly insight and ribald esprit, Holy Sh*t is a treasure trove of curious that will delight the logophile and the deviant alike. (Houman Barekat, Times Literary Supplement)

... an excellent book about history of language. (William Leith, Evening Standard)

... informative, often entertaining book (Susan Elkin, Independent i)

I want to quote all of this to you, that's how much fun this history of swearing is (Alison Flood, Bookseller)

Insightful, accessible and witty. (The Lady)

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. (Atlantic Monthly)

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. (Wall Street Journal)

...one of the most absorbing and entertaining books on language I have encountered in a long time (Washington Post)

As someone who relies on various forms of obscenity, vulgarity and profanity for roughly 75% of my written and verbal communication, I found this book fascinating and illuminating. Melissa Mohr's scholarship is rigorous, her prose trenchant and delightful; right from page one, Holy Sh*t is a motherf*cker. We are what we swear by and about, and this slim volume represents a significant and deeply enjoyable contribution to our understanding of ourselves. (Adam Mansbach, #1 New York Times bestselling author of GO THE F*CK TO SLEEP)

About the Author

Melissa Mohr holds a Ph.D. in Renaissance Literature from Stanford. She won a Mrs. Giles Whiting Fellowship for her dissertation, Strong Language: Oaths, Obscenities, and Performative Language in Early Modern England.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 019049168X
• ISBN 13: 9780190491680
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 352