Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of LanguageCambridge University Press, 2006 M10 5 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 2006 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. |
Contents
1 | |
2 Sweet talking and offensive language | 29 |
3 Bad language? Jargon slang swearing and insult | 55 |
4 The language of political correctness | 90 |
Figure 41 Darkie Toothpaste becomes Darlie Toothpaste | 103 |
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 |
Figure 91 Squatters dispersing Australian Aborigines late nineteenth | 231 |
10 Taboo censoring and the human brain | 237 |
Other editions - View all
Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language Keith Allan,Kate Burridge No preview available - 2006 |
Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language Keith Allan,Kate Burridge No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
African Americans American animals associated Australian Australian English avoid behaviour believe bodily effluvia body called cancer cannibalism censorship century colloquial connotations context coprolalia cunt death denote described Dictionary dirty words disease dysphemism dysphemistic English euphemism euphemistic example fact faeces fear female French fuck hearer-or-named homosexuality human impolite in-group insult jargon killing kind label language expression Latin leprosy linguistic linguistic prescription linguistic purism male masturbation MCPC meaning meat menstrual blood menstruation mental metaphor motivated name taboo name-bearer nigger normally noun obscene offensive one’s oral sex orthophemism orthophemistic patient penis people’s perceived perhaps person phrase political correctness profane racist rape referred ritual s/he sense sexual shit slang smell society someone speaker speech style swearing syphilis taboo terms taboo words talk things today’s typically unclean usage utterance vagina verb verbal vocabulary woman women X-phemisms