FOR F*CK'S SAKE

A senior academic offers a tongue-in-cheek examination of why, how, and when we swear.

One might expect that an author who teaches philosophy at the University of London would be on the stuffy side, but Roache, host of the Academic Perfectionist podcast, is anything but dull. Her book is a lively examination of swearing in all its forms, and although it is often humorous, Roache also has serious points to make. Swearing is sometimes meant to be offensive, but much depends on the context. It can signal solidarity within a group or class, be used to emphasize a point and denote surprise, and have a cathartic quality that prevents disputes from escalating to violence. Brain scans suggest that swearing is intuitive and automatic rather than logical, an idea that fits its emotional basis. A surprising number of researchers have looked into this field, and Roache draws together their findings. She is mainly interested in swearing in the English language, and she traces the history of the key words and underlying concepts. There have been numerous attempts to censor swearing, but they have seldom worked, and there are terms that can be more offensive than a swear word, including racial slurs. The author disdains the use of asterisks when swear words are written since everyone will know what the word is anyway. Swearing was once seen as a lower-class phenomenon, but in recent decades, it has crossed socioeconomic and gender boundaries, to the point that it might have lost its power to shock and sting. Despite this, there are still some prohibitions. Swearing in front of children and from public figures is widely considered unacceptable. Those who are easily offended might want to avoid the book, but the rest of us will find it to be an informative, entertaining read.

With dry wit and a storyteller’s eye, Roache romps through the history and social meaning of colorful language.