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020 $a9781541617209 (pbk.) :$cNT$595
040 $aTWTNM$beng$dTWTNM
050 4$aP410.O27$bB47 2018
082 04$a401.9$222
100 1 $aBergen, Benjamin K.
245 10$aWhat the f :$bwhat swearing reveals about our language, our brains, and ourselves /$cBenjamin K. Bergen.
250 $aFirst trade paperback edition.
260 $aNew York :$bBasic Books,$c2018.
300 $avii, 288 p. :$bill. ;$c21 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 255-272) and index.
505 0 $aHoly, fucking, shit, nigger -- What makes a four-letter word? -- One finger is worth a thousand words -- The holy priest with the vulgar tongue -- The day the Pope dropped the c-bomb -- Fucking grammar -- How cock lost its feathers -- Little Samoan potty mouths -- Fragile little minds -- The $100,000 word -- The paradox of profanity.
520 $aSmart as hell and funny as fuck, this book explains why we can't stop swearing and what it tells us about our language and brains. Everyone swears. Only the rare individual can avoid ever letting slip an expletive. And yet, we ban the words from television and insist that polite people excise them from their vocabularies. That's a fucking shame. Not only is swearing colorful, fun, and often powerfully apt, as linguist and cognitive scientist Benjamin K. Bergen shows us, the study of it can provide a new window onto how our brains process language. How can patients left otherwise speechless after a stroke still shout out Goddamn!? Why did Pope Francis say fuck in the middle of a speech? When did a cock cease to be a rooster? Why is crap vulgar when poo is just childish? And what are we shooting when we give someone the bird? What the F? Let me effing tell you--$cProvided by publisher.
650 0$aBlessing and cursing$xPsychological aspects.
650 0$aLanguages, Modern$xObscene words$xPsychological aspects.
650 0$aPsychoanalytic interpretation.
650 0$aPsycholinguistics.
650 0$aObscene words$xPsychological aspects.
650 0$aSwearing$xPsychological aspects.