Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing (48 page)

“
Th’art good cunt
”: Lawrence,
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
, 177–78.

“
The word shit, uh
”: “The Following Is a Verbatim Transcript of ‘Filthy Words,’” University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law (online), July 31, 2012.

Legally, indecency is:
“Obscenity, Indecency, and Profanity,” FCC.gov, July 31, 2012.

The FCC threatened: Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica
, 435 U.S. 966; 98 S. Ct. 1602; 56 L. Ed. 2d 57 (1978).

three of the top ten hit songs:
Jon Pareles, “From Cee Lo Green to Pink, Speaking the Unspeakable,”
New York Times
, March 15, 2011.

Much of rap music deals with:
Jay-Z,
Decoded
(New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010); Tim Strode and Tim Wood, eds.,
The Hip Hop Reader
(New York: Pearson Longman, 2008).

“
Lighters
”: Bad Meets Evil, “Lighters,”
Hell: The Sequel (Deluxe Version)
, Aftermath, 2011, compact disc.

Rap battling evolved most directly from:
Elijah Wald,
The Dozens: A History of Rap’s Mama
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).

Hustling, as rapper Jay-Z:
Jay-Z,
Decoded
, 18.

On July 10, 1890:
William Osler,
On Chorea and Choreiform Affections
(London: H. K. Lewis, 1894), 79–81.

Tourette’s syndrome is characterized:
Timothy Jay,
Why We Curse: A Neuro-Psycho-Social Theory of Speech
(Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2000), 63–80. See also Douglas W. Woods et al.,
Treating Tourette Syndrome and Tic Disorders: A Guide for Practitioners
(New York: Guilford Press, 2007); Howard I. Kushner,
A Cursing Brain: The Histories of Tourette Syndrome
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999); Lowell Handler,
Twitch and Shout: A Touretter’s Tale
(New York: Dutton, 1998).

The problem was thought:
For the various theories of what causes Tourette’s, see Kushner,
A Cursing Brain
, 45–118.

what goes on in “normal” brains:
Jay,
Why We Curse
, 33–62; Steven Pinker,
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
(New York: Viking, 2007), 331–37; Diana Van Lancker Sidtis, “Formulaic and Novel Language in a ‘Dual Process’ Model of Language Competence,” in
Formulaic Language
, ed. Roberta Corrigan et al. (Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2009), 2:445–72; Diana Van Lancker Sidtis, “Where in the Brain Is Nonliteral Language?”
Metaphor and Symbol
21, no. 4 (2006): 213–44.

The standard word frequency list:
Paul Cameron, “Frequency and Kinds of Words in Various Social Settings, or What the Hell’s Going On?”
Pacific Sociological Review
12, no. 2 (Autumn 1969): 101–4.

this one based on spoken telephone conversations:
David B. Morris, “The Neurobiology of the Obscene: Henry Miller and Tourette Syndrome,”
Literature and Medicine
12, no. 2 (Fall 1993): 194–214.

on average 0.7 percent of the words people use:
Timothy Jay, “The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words,”
Perspectives on Psychological Science
4, no. 2 (2009), 155.

psychologist Paul Cameron complied word frequency lists:
Morris, “The Neurobiology of the Obscene,” 196.

the top five recalled were:
Timothy Jay, “Recalling Taboo and Nontaboo Words,”
American Journal of Psychology
121, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 83–103.

Another piece of folk wisdom about swearing:
Richard Stephens, John Atkins and Andrew Kingston, “Swearing as a Response to Pain,”
Neuro-Report
20 (2009): 1056–60.

Epilogue

swearing would simply go extinct:
Bernard Nezmah, “Fuck This Article: The Yugoslav Lexicon of Swear-Words,”
Central Europe Review
2, no. 41 (November 27, 2000).

Russian obscenities constitute almost an entire language:
Victor Erofeyev, “Dirty Words,”
New Yorker
, September 15, 2003, 42.

“
To Is a Preposition, Come Is a Verb
”: Lenny Bruce, “To Is a Preposition, Come Is a Verb,” Famous Trials: The Lenny Bruce Trial 1964 (online), July 31, 2012.

“
Are There Any Niggers Here Tonight
”: Lenny Bruce, “Are There Any Niggers Here Tonight?”
Warning Lenny Bruce Is Out Again
, Sicsicsic, 2004, compact disc.

where religious oaths, called
sacres
: Clément Légaré and André Bougaïeff,
L’Empire du Sacre Québécois
(Sillery, Québec: Presses de L’Université du Québec, 1984); “Swearing in Quebec: If You Profane Something No One Holds Sacred, Does It Make a Swear?”
Economist
, November 24, 2011; “Quebec French Profanity,”
Wikipedia
, July 24, 2012 (online), accessed July 31, 2012.

CREDITS

32
The Seven Sages, Michael Larvey.

39
The Forum of Augustus, Harvard College Library, Widener Library, Class 6029.34F.

40
The Oikema, Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library, University of Pennsylvania.

71
Pictures from the
pithos
, Pirhiya Beck,
The Drawings from Horvat Teiman
(Kuntillet ‘Ajrud),
Tel Aviv
. 9.1, 198, pp. 3–68.

72
Asherah, from the same
pithos
, Pirhiya Beck,
The Drawings from Horvat Teiman
(Kuntillet ‘Ajrud),
Tel Aviv
. 9.1, 198, pp. 3–68.

74
Goats and Asherah, Harvard College Library, Widener Library, BL 1600.k44 1998x.

76
The “Ram Caught in a Thicket,” © Trustees of the British Museum.

102
Three Phalluses Carrying a Crowned Vulva on a Litter, lead-tin alloy, found in Bruges (Belgium), 1375–1425, Van Beuningen Family Collection, Langbroek (
Heilig & Profaan
[1993], cat. 0652, inv. 0967 by permission of the Medieval Badges Foundation).

122
The Conversion of Swearers
, reproduced by permission of The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

125
The Warning to Swearers, St. Lawrence’s Church, Broughton, photo by Andy Marshall, courtesy of the Churches Conservation Trust, which cares for the church.

161
The Metamorphosis of Ajax
, reproduced by permission of The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

164
A dress for Queen Henrietta Maria, © Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth, reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees.

171
The Ranters Ranting
, © The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved, November 29, 2011.

188
The Venus de Milo, Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, New York.

194
A New Cock Wanted, courtesy of the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.

200
A mid-nineteenth-century chamber pot, courtesy Chipstone Foundation, photography by Gavin Ashworth.

204
“The Cedric,” courtesy of Simon Kirby, Managing Director, Thomas Crapper & Co., Ltd.

INDEX

Abraham,
55
–60,
66
–67,
73
,
77

swears oath on genitals,
73
,
75

Adam and Eve,
84

affirmation,
179
–83

Alford, Henry,
186
,
195
–96

American English,
89
,
177
,
193
–95,
201
–2,
203
,
205
,
223
,
232
–33,
256

amphibology,
130

Aquinas, Thomas,
78

architecture parlante
,
39
–41

Ariosto, Ludovico,
143
–44

arse
(ass),
30
,
96
–97,
111
,
151
,
167
,
173
–75,
189
,
191
,
221
,
225
,
229
–30

Anglo-Saxon uses,
19
,
94

in the Bible,
89
–90

in jokes,
107
,
184

as
vox propria
,
93
–95,
107

arsehole
(asshole),
32
,
94
–96,
111
,
185
,
251

Asherah,
63
,
70
–77,
103

sacred poles of,
75

as tree of life,
72
–74

–ass
construction,
217

assault with contumelious words.
See
insults in court records

atheism,
179
–81

Aubrey, John,
174

Augustine, Saint,
78
,
109
,
115

Augustus, Caesar (Octavian),
25
–26,
183

Baal,
63
,
67

Yahweh’s triumph over,
69
–70,
73
,
75

bad language, medieval views of.
See
foul words

balls
,
49
,
51
,
75
,
89
,
97
,
162
,
215
,
229

Baudelaire, Charles,
3
,
6
,
8

Bayeux Tapestry,
114

bedrooms,
158
,
232

bestiality,
57
,
151
,
213

Bible

Deuteronomy,
60
,
65
,
68
,
70
,
75
,
81
,
85
,
89

Ephesians,
85
–86

excrement in,
80
–82

Exodus,
57
n,
60
–62,
70

Ezekiel,
64
,
83

Galatians,
58

Genesis,
55
–60,
65
,
73
–75,
84

genital oaths in,
73
–75

Hebrew (Old Testament),
55
–77,
80
–85,
87
,
181

humor in,
58

idle speech in,
86
–87,
90

interpretations of,
84
–87,
118
–19

Isaiah,
60
,
62
,
70

James,
78

Jeremiah,
62
,
64
,
68

Joshua,
68

Judges,
63

1 Kings,
69
,
81

2 Kings,
80

kissing the,
182

Leviticus,
61
,
67
n,
69
–70,
75
,
81
,
89

Matthew,
79
,
87
–89,
116
,
179
,
236

New Testament,
58
,
77
–80,
85
–87,
90
,
108
,
180

Numbers,
60
,
69

other gods in,
63
–67

“priestly” authors of,
70
,
75

Psalms,
60
,
70

1 Samuel,
89

Song of Solomon,
83
–84,
241

Third Commandment,
60
–62,
120
,
127

translation of,
67
n,
81
–85,
88
–90,
195

Vulgate,
81
–82,
88
,
90

See also
Asherah; Baal; polytheism

binding spells.
See
cursing

blasphemy,
11
,
62
,
181

bloody
,
209
–12,
215
,
216
,
217
,
218
,
219
,
225
,
227
,
228
,
229
,
232

bollocks
,
89
–90,
96
,
116

Bono (U2),
7
,
11

botanical pornography,
197
,
239

bourgeoisie.
See
social class

Boyle, Robert,
142