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Sex
is easier done than said — until now. Here at last are
the words you need - words, and more words - slang words, rich and colorful;
euphemisms, flowery, arcane, and remote; quaint sexual terms from English
past, and those of the four-letter variety. Traveling where
few etymologists have gone before, Lawrence Paros shows how
to use them to elegantly express your most prurient thoughts.
A
sex reference book like no other, Bawdy Language features a wide
ranging survey of rude, profane, dirty, naughty and taboo language, dirty sex talk and toilet humor. Not just a catalogue a dirty word phrases or a sex slang dictionary, it's several books in one - a history of sex, the origins of curse words, a sexual satire & parody, a personal body manual, a collection of dirty poems & quotes, a social commentary, and a tasteful but biting editorial statement against the forces of restraint and convention.
Story
Angles
1. Obscenity:
Obscenity is once more under attack. Protectors of "family values"
continue their offensive against offensive slang words and actions
in TV, films, music, book, and the internet, raising issues
of first amendment rights and the responsibility of those engaged
in creative work. This author suggests a more enlightened approach
to the issue, beginning with a redefinition of what is "obscene."
He speaks out both against those who would muffle our use of
language and those who would abuse it to death. See his revolutionary
call to action on the Website in his Bawdy Manifesto.
2.
Bawdy Language and Political Suppression:
The
New York Times ( 05/09/03) reports how neo-puritans
in the Bush administration are conducting a witch hunt, scouring
grant applications and research abstracts, and even emails for
"sensitive" language," i.e. use of words such as "gays," "homosexuals,"
"anal sex," and "sex workers." As a result, National Institute
of Health personnel have been forced to resort to a secret code
when making reference to sex, especially when it occurs between
men. This has had a chilling effect on an agency which has a
major mandate to address the AIDS plague. Apparently, the administration
and the religious right is of the belief that "If you can't
say it or write about it, you can't do it," hoping thereby that
it and the problem will simply fade away.
3.
Sex talk and other bodily functions: Americans
are a talkative people and seem to have a word for everything.
Almost everything, that is. Talking about sex, the toilet, and
the parts of the body thus engaged, however, often tends to
leave them somewhat speechless or relying on somewhat trite
expressions. How exactly do Americans express the inexpressible?
See the fascinating results of an info-poll on Bawdy awareness
conducted by the author on how Americans express themselves
on such topics. If you're online, you can see the poll here.
4.
Sexism in the
language: How man's control of the language
of sex reflects both his inflated sense of self and his treatment
of woman as object. How sexism in the language goes far beyond
the current chairman: chairperson; actor: actress debate and
is, in fact, much more deeply rooted, especially in sexual language
describing the Bawdy.
5.
The History of Censorship:
How censorship in America has evolved historically. How just
a very few years ago, words such as "backside" could not be
used in a magazine and how one could not be "pregnant" on the
air. What the mindset is today. What the future may hold.
6.
The Telling
Nature of Bawdy Language: Why we need to take
a fresh look at curse words, slang words, profanity and our use of them. How our discomfort
with them and the synonyms we've employed convey interesting
and important views of our bodies and ourselves.
7.
How Scholarship need not be stuffy and boring: Profanity is a legitimate area of study, one that reflects seriously upon several key aspects of the human condition. It is an area of
legitimate scholarship. The fact that it is also humorous should
not be held against it. Good scholarship should be readable
and entertaining as well as accurate and comprehensive. It should
have the broadest possible appeal to both experts in the field
and to lay people. The study of word origins and language especially should be
not laborious but fun. After all, what we speak is what we are.
Backgrounders
1. The to-do about "dirty" slang words.
How they mean different things to different people.
A
Poignant plea from a student for a sexual lexicon:
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~cla7u/sexxx/120500.html
Why
I love curse words: http://www.people.virginia.edu/~cla7u/sexxx/120500.html
One
man's ruminations on what dirty words means to him: http://www.glassdog.com/the_experience/hp96/hp121296.html
A
sex columnist lauds the ability to talk dirty: http://www.ivillage.com/relationships/experts/sexcoach/qas/0,,189074
_80752,00.html
George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words that helped set it all off:
http://staff.dstc.edu.au/bill/carlin.html
A
Verbatim transcript of Carlin's Monologue: http://www.netheaven.com/~mosaica/carlin.html
Carlin's
Later Commentary and Reflections on them: http://www.georgecarlin.com/georgecarlin/dirty/2443.html
The
People behind Offensive Stuff: http://www.metrog.com/headline/articles02/021602_offended.html
An
Example: The Glossary of Perversion: From getoffended.com http://www.tomorrowideation.com/getoffended/TheList.html
2.
Obscenity as a study in freedom of expression. Censorship, the
raging battle, over the net and elsewhere:
A
Case History in Free Expression and Censorship: http://www.fepproject.org/commentaries/sarahjones.html
Confessions of a smut-blocker, an Internet censor bares all:
http://amsterdam.nettime.org/Lists-Archives/nettime-l-9705/msg00032.html
Internet
Blocking and Censorware: http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Censorware/
AOL's
Secret Dirty Words List:
http://www.motley-focus.com/~timber/dirtyword.html
Libraries
Struggle against Censorship: http://www.eff.org/Legal/Cases/Multnomah_Library_v_US/
Internet
Censorship: http://www.internetcampus.com/internet.htm
More
on Internet Censorship: http://www.eff.org/Legal/Cases/ACLU_v_Reno_II/
Sex,
Censorship and the Internet: http://www.eff.org/CAF/cafuiuc.html
3.
The Protectors Of Public decency; the new cleaner than clean
technology
ABC
News Reports the technology to filter out dirty words: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/TechTV/techtv_FisherDVD020628.html
Absosafe:
A parody on outerware calculated to protect you against verbal
filth: http://unquietmind.com/censorwear/3rd_ad.html
Family
Safe introduces The TV Guardian: http://www.familysafemedia.com/introducing_tvguardian.html
More
Kid-Safe Technology: from ParentalTV: http://diane.parentaltv.com/parentaltv/
The
Parents' Television Council: http://www.parentstv.org/
4. Political Implications of Bawdy
The reign of terror on scientific research. How the far right
is using language to purge views on sex antithetical to their
own. See Nicholas D. Kristof, "No Time to Get Squeamish," New
York Times, May 9, 2003.
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Interview
Questions
1.
Could you explain to those who are not familiar with the book
exactly what it's all about…in a few decent words that is?
2.
You say it is an important book, how so? What do you mean when
you say that the words we use in talking about our body tells
us a lot how we think about it, how we think about ourselves
and how we relate to others?
3.
Why are people so afraid of these words? Explain about euphemisms,
what they are and how we use them.
4.
You are currently championing the use of the four letter words,
maintaining that they are not obscene, calling instead for a
new approach to them and to the language in your "Bawdy Manifesto."
What is that all about? What are your thoughts on censorship?
On filtering?
5.
You've been conducting an ongoing poll on how people talk about
their bodies. Could you tell us a bit about it and the results?
.
6.
What ever possessed you to write a book like this?
7.
Do you consider the study of dirty words to be legitimate scholarship?
8.
Who is the audience for this book?
9.
What is your background? What qualifies you to write a book
like this? How long did it take you to write it?
10.
What are Shakespeare, Aristophanes, St. Augustine, and Chaucer
doing in the company of Austin Powers and Rodney Dangerfield?
11.
You talk about the sexism in Bawdy language. What do you mean
by that? Give examples of man's control and influence over the
way we talk about sex, and how it is demeaning to women. The
story of Adam's first wife (it wasn't Eve) and words like hussy,
chick, buxom, and slut.
12.
What are some of your favorite quotations? Could you give a
few examples? Read from your favorite sections?
13.
Could you tell us the story behind of some of the more interesting
words in your book, such as fuck, hooker, faggot, condom, harlot,
syphilis, son-of-a-gun, bastard, lap dog, fornication, red-light
district
14.
What has been the reaction to the book? Critics? Ordinary people?
The
Author
 Lawrence
Paros is a master teacher whose work in alternative education
has received national recognition; an amateur neuroscientist
who has helped design and market a unique device for the treatment
of stress, and a professional writer, and self-described authority
on language. His published works include numerous articles and
a book on education, two earlier books on language, The Great
American Cliché (Workman) and The Erotic Tongue (Madrona
and Holt), and Smashcaps, a children's book (Avon). He
is also a former op-ed page columnist for the Seattle Post Intelligencer
and commentator on KUOW-FM, the NPR affiliate in Seattle.
His website, A Word with You (http:
// www.wordwithyou.com) has garnered numerous awards and
attracted more then a half million visitors since its inception.
It has also inspired two self-published volumes (A Word with
You America), one version of which is soon to be published in
China. He is currently working on his magnum opus on education,
The Once and Future School: The Story of the Y.S.H.S.
An
accomplished public speaker, Paros has had extensive teaching
and lecturing experience; in the course of promoting his earlier
works, he has been interviewed on dozens of TV shows and over
100 radio stations.
A
cantankerous sexagenarian (what else?), he lives quietly on
the periphery of Seattle Washington with his two cats and a
teenage son to whom he is an endless source of embarrassment.
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 Book Reviews
Read What They Say About Bawdy Language
- Possibly the most accessible, colorful etymology book currently in publication.
—Seattle P.I.
- I laughed my ass off. Also, my rear, bum and can.
—A.J. Jacobs, Esquire
- Fascinating and titillating.Jam-packed with information. Add the lovely illustrations on every page and you have a most enjoyable read.
—Take Our Word for It
- An unusual present, for those of you making your lists and checking them twice, Two indexes, one of persons and works, and one of topics, plus a large bibliography, make this more than a curiosity. Trust me-that person on your list who has everything doesn't have this.
—Verbatim
- A fun book for adults whose love of words knows no bounds.
—Associated Press
- A lexicon of colorful, quaint, euphemistic, and often raunchy terms to liven any discussion of sexual matters. Recommended for being a tongue-in-cheek and highly amusing (yet quite practical) guide to talking dirty while avoiding unpolished obscenity and retaining the respect of one's peers and both genders.
—The Midwest Book Review
- "Terrific, entertaining, well researched, and just plain fuckin' good."
—George Carlin
- "A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste. If you love words and erotica, you must read this punographic masterpiece."
—Richard Lederer, Wordsmith, Author of The Cunning Linguist
- "An excellent history for both the profane and the casual user."
—Robert Klein, Comedian, Actor
- "Bawdy Language is a delightful book that brings an astounding amount of research and scholarship to words we might not have thought had anything to teach us about who we are and from where we have come. The author takes us on a journey through the etymological history of the underside of the English language and he does so with wit, intelligence and sly puns. The illustrations and quoted material in the margins enrich the volume enormously as this book will enrich the lives of those open to learning about themselves through the words which we all know, and might even occasionally say, if only to ourselves in silence."
—Julius Lester, author, Professor, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, University of Massachusetts
- "A great book…funny, informative, crammed with historical minutiae."
—Mike Henderson, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post Service
- "If any book on sex can be said to be indispensable this is it…Billed as "The Last Word on Sex," it is hilariously -intentionally so-and delightful."
—Seattle Weekly (Fred Moody)
- "Entertaining and informative. It adds life and respectability to a subject normally deadened by professional dullards or cheapened by sleazy scribblers. Get your copy and benefit from the years of work Paros has spent compiling this clean treatise on dirty words."
—Dr. Reinhold Aman, editor, Maledicta, The International Journal of Verbal Aggression
- "The best combination of erudition and sheer entertainment I've seen on the subject."
—SEXYG, The Sexuality Special Interest Group of American MENSA
- "Copious and Entertaining."
—Willard Espy
- "I think this is one book which I would not want to be identified with."
—Edwin Newman, Former NBC Commentator and Wordsmith}
- "…A real dictionary that includes and discusses the bad words of unhemmed latitude, coarseness, directness, live epithets, expletives and words of opprobrium."
—Walt Whitman (As per his last wish)
More rave book reviews coming in as we speak…
Official
Website
If
you're not already online, be sure to go to our official Website
at www.bawdylanguage.com. Be sure
you especially check out the Bawdy
Manifesto, Today's
Excerpt, the Bawdy Survey,
and take the Sex Puns test. And
for more background and interview material, see our many Dirty Links.
Printable
Media Kit
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