The science and linguistics of profanity

From the latest Slate Lexicon Valley. I especially liked the four division of four categories of profanity–blasphemy, sex, bodily excretions, and slurs (or, as the author calls it, “Holy shit! Fuck! N****r!”*)–and the way different linguistic cultures accept or reject any of them.

[*] Yes, I recognize the sad irony of not using the word in a post about words. I don’t need the headache.

Posted by Howard Wasserman on June 9, 2016 at 01:31 PM

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