Download or read book Swearing Is Good for You The Amazing Science of Bad Language written by Emma Byrne and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2018-01-23 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An irreverent and impeccably researched defense of our dirtiest words. We’re often told that swearing is outrageous or even offensive, that it’s a sign of a stunted vocabulary or a limited intellect. Dictionaries have traditionally omitted it and parents forbid it. But the latest research by neuroscientists, psychologists, sociologists, and others has revealed that swear words, curses, and oaths—when used judiciously—can have surprising benefits. In this sparkling debut work of popular science, Emma Byrne examines the latest research to show how swearing can be good for you. With humor and colorful language, she explores every angle of swearing—why we do it, how we do it, and what it tells us about ourselves. Not only has some form of swearing existed since the earliest humans began to communicate, but it has been shown to reduce physical pain, to lower anxiety, to prevent physical violence, to help trauma victims recover language, and to promote human cooperation. Taking readers on a whirlwind tour through scientific experiments, historical case studies, and cutting-edge research on language in both humans and other primates, Byrne defends cursing and demonstrates how much it can reveal about different cultures, their taboos and their values. Packed with the results of unlikely and often hilarious scientific studies—from the “ice-bucket test” for coping with pain, to the connection between Tourette’s and swearing, to a chimpanzee that curses at her handler in sign language—Swearing Is Good for You presents a lighthearted but convincing case for the foulmouthed.
Download or read book What the F written by Benjamin K. Bergen and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It may be starred, beeped, and censored -- yet profanity is so appealing that we can't stop using it. In the funniest, clearest study to date, Benjamin Bergen explains why, and what that tells us about our language and brains. Nearly everyone swears-whether it's over a few too many drinks, in reaction to a stubbed toe, or in flagrante delicto. And yet, we sit idly by as words are banned from television and censored in books. We insist that people excise profanity from their vocabularies and we punish children for yelling the very same dirty words that we'll mutter in relief seconds after they fall asleep. Swearing, it seems, is an intimate part of us that we have decided to selectively deny. That's a damn shame. Swearing is useful. It can be funny, cathartic, or emotionally arousing. As linguist and cognitive scientist Benjamin K. Bergen shows us, it also opens a new window onto how our brains process language and why languages vary around the world and over time. In this groundbreaking yet ebullient romp through the linguistic muck, Bergen answers intriguing questions: How can patients left otherwise speechless after a stroke still shout Goddamn! when they get upset? When did a cock grow to be more than merely a rooster? Why is crap vulgar when poo is just childish? Do slurs make you treat people differently? Why is the first word that Samoan children say not mommy but eat shit? And why do we extend a middle finger to flip someone the bird? Smart as hell and funny as fuck, What the F is mandatory reading for anyone who wants to know how and why we swear.
Download or read book The Stuff of Thought written by Steven Pinker and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-09-11 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This New York Times bestseller is an exciting and fearless investigation of language from the author of Rationality, The Better Angels of Our Nature and The Sense of Style and Enlightenment Now. "Curious, inventive, fearless, naughty." --The New York Times Book Review Bestselling author Steven Pinker possesses that rare combination of scientific aptitude and verbal eloquence that enables him to provide lucid explanations of deep and powerful ideas. His previous books - including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Blank Slate - have catapulted him into the limelight as one of today's most important popular science writers. In The Stuff of Thought, Pinker presents a fascinating look at how our words explain our nature. Considering scientific questions with examples from everyday life, The Stuff of Thought is a brilliantly crafted and highly readable work that will appeal to fans of everything from The Selfish Gene and Blink to Eats, Shoots & Leaves.
Download or read book Bad Words Or Bad People written by Bishop E. H. Houston Jr and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2011-02 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are the words that people use bad or are the people that use the words bad? The answer is in this book, which graduates to answering deeper, more life-fulfilling questions like, "When you are born again of God, can you sin?" Every answer includes the precise scripture of where it is found in the King James Version of the Bible. The reader will find that every problem and every question in life can be solved and answered by knowing God's words and obeying Him.
Download or read book The Seven Words You Can t Say on Television written by Steven Pinker and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2008-09-04 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do so many swear words involve sex, bodily functions and religion? Why are some words rude and others aren't? Why can launching into expletives be so shocking - and sometimes so amusing? Steven Pinker takes us on a fascinating and funny journey through the world of profanities, taken from his bestselling The Stuff of Thought, to show us why we swear (whatever our language or culture), how taboos change and how we use obscenities in different ways. You'll discover that in Québecois French the expression 'Tabernacle' is outrageous, that the Middle Ages were littered with four-letter words, that 'scumbag' has a very unsavoury origin and that in a certain Aboriginal language every word is filthy when spoken in front of your mother-in-law. Covering everything from free speech to Tourette's, from pottymouthed celebrities to poetry, this book reveals what swearing tells us about how our minds work. (It's also a bloody good read).
Download or read book Holy Sh t written by Melissa Mohr and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-30 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A humorous, trenchant and fascinating examination of how Western culture's taboo words have evolved over the millennia
Download or read book Artemis written by Andy Weir and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bestselling author of The Martian returns with an irresistible new near-future thriller—a heist story set on the moon. Jasmine Bashara never signed up to be a hero. She just wanted to get rich. Not crazy, eccentric-billionaire rich, like many of the visitors to her hometown of Artemis, humanity’s first and only lunar colony. Just rich enough to move out of her coffin-sized apartment and eat something better than flavored algae. Rich enough to pay off a debt she’s owed for a long time. So when a chance at a huge score finally comes her way, Jazz can’t say no. Sure, it requires her to graduate from small-time smuggler to full-on criminal mastermind. And it calls for a particular combination of cunning, technical skills, and large explosions—not to mention sheer brazen swagger. But Jazz has never run into a challenge her intellect can’t handle, and she figures she’s got the ‘swagger’ part down. The trouble is, engineering the perfect crime is just the start of Jazz’s problems. Because her little heist is about to land her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself. Trapped between competing forces, pursued by a killer and the law alike, even Jazz has to admit she’s in way over her head. She’ll have to hatch a truly spectacular scheme to have a chance at staying alive and saving her city. Jazz is no hero, but she is a very good criminal. That’ll have to do. Propelled by its heroine’s wisecracking voice, set in a city that’s at once stunningly imagined and intimately familiar, and brimming over with clever problem-solving and heist-y fun, Artemis is another irresistible brew of science, suspense, and humor from #1 bestselling author Andy Weir.
Download or read book Intellectual Warfare written by Todd William and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-09 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A hundred-thousand years ago one of the biggest differences between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom was that we were better at catching them than they were at catching us. Today things have changed...somewhat. Thinking is easy. Anyone can think. What's important is thinking intelligently. The problem is that a battle for our minds is taking place, and most people don't even notice. We're influenced from the news, social gatherings, what we read, what we are told, and what everyone else is thinking. Salespeople, marketers, and politicians know thousands of ways to push our minds in one direction or another. The result is that society is littered with people who retain beliefs they cannot explain for reasons they do not know. What you think matters. People fight for their beliefs, defend them, and in some cases even die for them. Lesser minds might be content with easy answers and poorly thought out explanations. But if you seek a strong mind, you first must ensure that you are capable of overcoming the elements that influence the way you think. Intellectual Warfare is designed to equip you with the tools necessary to win the battle for your mind. The book spans a host of topics ranging from the human ego, natural biases, cognitive illusions, and an entire section on the weapons of persuasion constantly attacking your thought process. Aimed at anyone seeking to improve their intellect, this book will ensure you are making the most of your mind.
Download or read book Spin Sucks written by Gini Dietrich and published by Pearson Education. This book was released on 2014 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Go beyond PR spin! Master better ways to communicate honestly and regain the trust of your customers and stakeholders with this book.
Download or read book Bad Words written by Philip Gooden and published by Robinson. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Snowflake, elite, expert . . . What are today's 'bad words' and what do they say about us, both as individuals and as a society? Once upon a time, the worst words you could utter were short, simple and tended to be four letters in length. Now things are more complicated. To be insulted as a 'snowflake' or an 'expert' is arguably worse than being called a **** or a **** or even a ****. So what are today's 'bad words' and how are they different from yesterday's taboo expressions? This entertaining guide to the shifting sands of bad language is indispensable in an increasingly divided world in which abuse becomes ever more widespread and vituperative. Philip Gooden shows how and why taboo words and contentious expressions, including those four-letter ones, were first used in English. He discusses the ways such words have changed over the years and explores how a single syllable or two may possess an almost magical power to offend, distress or infuriate. Bad Words investigates the most controversial and provocative words in the English language in a way that is both anecdotal and analytical. Combining intrigue and scandal, the book delves into expressions connected to religion, ethnicity, nationality, politics, swearing and oaths, and includes contemporary issues like political correctness and elitism.
Download or read book Live Original written by Sadie Robertson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The television personality and member of the Duck Commander family shares the list of principles that lead her to personal and spiritual growth and help her live the way God says to live.
Download or read book Bad Words Dictionary and Even Worse Expressions written by Voy Sobon and published by SP Books. This book was released on 1996 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Injurious language, vulgar expressions and curses
Download or read book Forbidden Words written by Keith Allan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-05 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many words and expressions are viewed as 'taboo', such as those used to describe sex, our bodies and their functions, and those used to insult other people. This 2006 book provides a fascinating insight into taboo language and its role in everyday life. It looks at the ways we use language to be polite or impolite, politically correct or offensive, depending on whether we are 'sweet-talking', 'straight-talking' or being deliberately rude. Using a range of colourful examples, it shows how we use language playfully and figuratively in order to swear, to insult, and also to be politically correct, and what our motivations are for doing so. It goes on to examine the differences between institutionalized censorship and the ways individuals censor their own language. Lively and revealing, Forbidden Words will fascinate anyone who is interested in how and why we use and avoid taboos in daily conversation.
Download or read book On Bullshit written by Harry G. Frankfurt and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-10 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 New York Times bestseller that explains why bullshit is far more dangerous than lying One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, as Harry Frankfurt writes, "we have no theory." Frankfurt, one of the world's most influential moral philosophers, attempts to build such a theory here. With his characteristic combination of philosophical acuity, psychological insight, and wry humor, Frankfurt proceeds by exploring how bullshit and the related concept of humbug are distinct from lying. He argues that bullshitters misrepresent themselves to their audience not as liars do, that is, by deliberately making false claims about what is true. In fact, bullshit need not be untrue at all. Rather, bullshitters seek to convey a certain impression of themselves without being concerned about whether anything at all is true. They quietly change the rules governing their end of the conversation so that claims about truth and falsity are irrelevant. Frankfurt concludes that although bullshit can take many innocent forms, excessive indulgence in it can eventually undermine the practitioner's capacity to tell the truth in a way that lying does not. Liars at least acknowledge that it matters what is true. By virtue of this, Frankfurt writes, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.
Download or read book Questions About Language written by Laurie Bauer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-05-19 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questions About Language sets out to answer, in a readable yet insightful format, a series of vital questions about language, some of which language specialists are regularly asked, and some of which are so surprising that only the specialists think about them. In this handy guide, sixteen language experts answer challenging questions about language, from What makes a language a language? to Do people swear because they don’t know enough words? Illustrating the complexity of human language, and the way in which we use it, the twelve chapters each end with a section on further reading for anyone interested in following up on the topic. Covering core questions about language, this is essential reading for both students new to language and linguistics and the interested general reader.
Download or read book Diary of a Jackwagon written by Tim Hawkins and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2015-08-04 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He’s a comedian. He’s a YouTube sensation. And now he becomes an author. Best known for his song parodies and riffs on yoga pants and homeschooling, Tim Hawkins now shares his perspective on life in the 21st century in his long-awaited debut book. Tim's topics are as wide-ranging as his stand-up comedy including marital communications (“Marriage needs a challenge flag, like in pro football”), worship music (“Pick the right key, because I’m not Barry White and I’m not a Bee Gee”), and food (“Eating a Krispy Kreme donut is like eating a baby angel”). Diary of a Jackwagon reveals a witty and relatable voice reminding readers that for life’s many difficulties, laughter is always the best medicine – when there aren’t any pills left.
Download or read book Little Bird s Bad Word written by Jacob Grant and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-07-21 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Little Bird loves learning new words and sharing them with his friends, so when he realizes that his latest one is a bad word, he knows just what to say to set things right.
