On Cussing: Bad Words and Creative Cursing

Enjoyable writer. Conversation has degenerated into crudity, as my mother would say, counter-productive and off-putting. The finest minds in history have found alternative, thoughtful, and even funny ways to express disagreement, praise or damn, to avoid offending, to avoid the halt of communication. Things are desperate enough that the University of Washington now has a course entitiled something like "Calling B.S. 101"; and, yes, they use the full spelling. This is a fun and thoughtful look.

A delight, and great source for the more colorful words we use.

Superficial analysis

from book blogger Alex Kourvo on the Writing Slices blogON CUSSING is a celebration of taboo language, covering the history and neuroscience of swearing while also giving plenty of examples of how to do it well. At a short 70 pages, ON CUSSING is like good cussing itself—it makes its point without any wasted words.At their core, curse words are emotional. Some scientists think they’re even processed in a different part of our brain. Their connotations are blasphemous or sexual or just plain filthy. These words don’t add much grammatically to a sentence. Most sentences would make just as much sense without them. But boy, do they pack a punch. And therefore, Dunn argues, these words need to be used carefully.Curse words can be used to complain, to threaten, to solidify an oath, to lay on a curse, to insult, and to emphasize. Dunn gives examples of each, along with instruction on how to make it your own. Cussing needs to fit the character, the tone of the book, and the time period. Different eras had different curse words. Something we think of as mild would shock our ancestors, and vice-versa.Dunn includes excerpts from classic books, although I didn’t find these very helpful. She also cautions against using curse words carelessly. There is, after all, a time and place, even for a well-deployed f-bomb.

Brilliant, funny, and honest about how we use language.