Books by Randall Kennedy
“This is a great examination of the n-word. It’s a little bit of a history and a lot of legal examination of how people have used this word and under which cases is it okay, under which cases is it illegal, and under which it is immoral. It looks at the valences of the word—how it can be negative, how it can be positive, and how that changes.” Read more...
Melissa Mohr, Linguist
Interviews where books by Randall Kennedy were recommended
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1
Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity in English
by Geoffrey Hughes -
2
What the F: What Swearing Reveals about Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves
by Benjamin K Bergen -
3
The F-Word
by Jesse Sheidlower -
4
Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word
by Randall Kennedy -
5
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
by Steven Pinker
The best books on Swearing, recommended by Melissa Mohr
The best books on Swearing, recommended by Melissa Mohr
Linguistically, swear words are unique—they can shock and offend, are processed differently in the brain, and saying them may allow you to withstand pain for longer. But where do they get their distinctive power? And how has this changed over time? Melissa Mohr gives us a badmouthed tour of the best fucking books on swearing . . .
