What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves - Tapa blanda

"In What the F, a self-proclaimed 'book-length love letter to profanity, ' cognitive scientist Benjamin K. Bergen succeeds in bringing me around to appreciate the broader context, as well as the finer points, of the role 'bad' words play in human society."--Science

"Interesting and insightful"--National Review

"Full of cute tidbits you can drop at cocktail parties.... It's a quick read, not a detailed, academic dissection. But don't mistake breeziness for triviality: cursing plays a central role in our lives."--Ars Technica

"An illuminating read, and makes the case for swears as a salutary aspect of our lexicon."--A.V. Club

"A sweeping book, exploring not just the history of English profanity in words and in gestures, but also the impact that swears and other taboo words can have on the human brain...a valuable addition to the literature about profanity."--Atlantic.com

"Some prospective readers may avoid this book because of its subject matter. That would be a gosh-darned shame."--Science News

"There's something here guaranteed to offend everyone (the book wouldn't be doing its job otherwise), but...lovers of language will savor every word."--Booklist

"What the F is accessible and engaging, and so brimming with insights that, even as a linguist, I found myself stopping every couple of pages to say to myself, 'Huh-I never thought of that.' You'll find yourself saying the same thing-and you'll never hear profanity the same way again."--Geoff Nunberg, author of Ascent of the A-Word, language commentator on NPR's Fresh Air

"It takes courage, energy, extraordinary intellectual chops, and a sense of fun to take on profanity. Ben Bergen has all in full measure. Read this book."--George Lakoff, Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics, The University of California, Berkeley

"A fascinating journey to the crossroads of etymology, neuroscience and culture."--Discover

"A sneaky--charming, consistently engrossing--introduction to linguistics." --New York Times Book Review
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 Pop 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 doing when we give someone the bird?
What the F? Let me effing tell you.