We all know that there are some things we shouldn’t say. Words that are mean-spirited and injurious, potty-mouthed expressions when we stub our toes, hateful things that can drip off the tongue like acid.
But no words are better equipped to capture the changing landscape of a culture than those that aren’t supposed to be uttered.
At a moment where everyone from high school principles to New York Times journalists are struggling with the latest iteration of language rules, John McWhorter, an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University is out with a thoughtful, deeply researched, and downright funny book about swears. Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter — Then, Now, and Forever wrestles with two thorny, topical questions: what can’t we say? And why can’t we say it?
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