Wicked Words: A Treasury of Curses, Insults, Put-downs, and Other Formerly Unprintable Terms from Anglo-Saxon Times to the Present"The author of the widely acclaimed ... Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Doubletalk returns with the other side of the story in this witty, anecdote-filled guide to the many 'bad' words with which the English language is blessed. This sardonic excursion along the dark side of language traces the origin, use, and abuse of words we love to hate. It ranges widely, including personal insults (lily-livered), ethnic slurs (wops), political attacks (knee-jerk liberals), plus the great four-letter Anglo-Saxon words which are covered in great detail. Wicked Words will appeal to wordsmiths and word buffs, as well as the vast audience who enjoy browsing through collections of odd and interesting facts."--Back cover. |
Other editions - View all
A Dictionary of Invective: A Treasury of Curses, Insults, Put-downs, and ... Hugh Rawson No preview available - 1991 |
Wicked Words: A Treasury of Curses, Insults, Put-Downs, and Other Formerly ... Hugh Rawson No preview available - 1989 |
Common terms and phrases
adjective American Speech appears applied bird bitch BLOCKHEAD British called Captain Francis Grose Classical Dictionary cock Columbia Journalism Review comes connotations copulate course crazy dated derives Dictionary of American disparaging Dutch early eighteenth century English epithet Eric Partridge especially euphemism example expression fellow female film fool French fuck George German girl H. L. Mencken homosexual horse insult Irish James John jokes Journal known lady language Latin Lenny Bruce Leo Rosten male Maledicta meaning metaphor modern nigger nineteenth century nonsense obscene older one's origin Oxford English Dictionary pejorative phrase political popularized President probably prostitute referring Samuel Johnson seems Senator sense seventeenth century sexual shit sixteenth century slang someone stupid person taboo talk term thou usually Vance Randolph variant verb Vulgar Tongue W. E. Henley whore William Safire William Shakespeare woman women word word's World Yankee Yiddish York young