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Author Bergen, Benjamin K., author.

Title What the f : what swearing reveals about our language, our brains, and ourselves / Benjamin K. Bergen.

Publication Info. New York : Basic Books, [2016]

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Avon Free Public Library - Adult Department  401.9 BERGEN    Check Shelf
 Bloomfield, Prosser Library - Adult Department  401.9 BER    Storage
 Enfield, Main Library - Adult Department  401 BER    Check Shelf
 Farmington, Main Library - Adult Department  401.9 BER    Check Shelf
 Glastonbury, Welles-Turner Memorial Library - Adult Department  401.9 BERGEN    Check Shelf
 Manchester, Main Library - Non Fiction  401.9 BERGEN    Check Shelf
 Newington, Lucy Robbins Welles Library - Adult Department  401.9 BERGEN    Check Shelf
 University of Saint Joseph: Pope Pius XII Library - Standard Shelving Location  401.9 B495W    Check Shelf
 West Hartford, Noah Webster Library - Non Fiction  401.9 BERGEN    Check Shelf
 Wethersfield Public Library - Non Fiction  401.9 BERGEN    Check Shelf
Description vii, 271 pages : charts, illustrations ; 25 cm
Contents Holy, fucking, shit, nigger -- What makes a four-letter word? -- One finger is worth a thousand words -- The holy priest with the vulgar tongue -- The day the Pope dropped the c-bomb -- Fucking grammar -- How cock lost its feathers -- Little Samoan potty mouths -- Fragile little minds -- The $100,000 word -- The paradox of profanity.
Summary "Smart as hell and funny as fuck, this book explains why we can't stop swearing and what it tells us about our language and brains. Everyone swears. Only the rare individual can avoid ever letting slip an expletive. And yet, we ban the words from television and insist that polite people excise them from their vocabularies. That's a fucking shame. Not only is swearing colorful, fun, and often powerfully apt, as linguist and cognitive scientist Benjamin K. Bergen shows us, the study of it can provide a new window onto how our brains process language. How can patients left otherwise speechless after a stroke still shout out "Goddamn!"? Why did Pope Francis say "fuck" in the middle of a speech? When did a cock cease to be a rooster? Why is "crap" vulgar when "poo" is just childish? And what are we shooting when we give someone the bird? What the F? Let me effing tell you"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-256) and index.
Subject Obscene words -- Psychological aspects.
Swearing -- Psychological aspects.
Blessing and cursing -- Psychological aspects.
Languages, Modern -- Obscene words -- Psychological aspects.
Psychoanalytic interpretation.
Psycholinguistics.
Language and languages.
Psycholinguistics.
Swearing -- Psychological aspects.
Words, obscene -- Psychological aspects.
Languages, Modern -- Obscene words -- Psychological aspects.
Psychoanalytic interpretation.
SCIENCE -- History.
LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES -- Linguistics -- General.
PSYCHOLOGY -- Social Psychology.
Language.
Verbal Behavior.
Brain.
ISBN 9780465060917 (hardcover)
0465060919 (hardcover)
9780465096480 (electronic book)
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