具体描述
Many words and expressions are viewed as 'taboo', such as those used to describe sex, our bodies and their functions, and those used to insult other people. This book provides a fascinating insight into taboo language and its role in everyday life. It looks at the ways we use language to be polite or impolite, politically correct or offensive, depending on whether we are 'sweet-talking', 'straight-talking' or being deliberately rude. Using a range of colourful examples, it shows how we use language playfully and figuratively in order to swear, to insult, and also to be politically correct, and what our motivations are for doing so. It goes on to examine the differences between institutionalized censorship and the ways individuals censor their own language. Lively and revealing, Forbidden Words will fascinate anyone who is interested in how and why we use and avoid taboos in daily conversation.
作者简介
目录信息
Acknowledgements ix
1 Taboos and their origins 1
2 Sweet talking and offensive language 29
3 Bad language? Jargon, slang, swearing and insult 55
4 The language of political correctness 90
5 Linguistic purism and verbal hygiene 112
6 Taboo, naming and addressing 125
7 Sex and bodily effluvia 144
8 Food and smell 175
9 Disease, death and killing 203
10 Taboo, censoring and the human brain 237
Notes 254
References 277
Index 293
vii
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