"Nine Nasty Words is a deeply intelligent celebration of language that teaches us how to see English in high definition and love it as it really is, right now and in its myriad incarnations to come."—The New York Times

"Rollicking, salty, learned, and intensely informative, John McWhorter's Nine Nasty Words is a grand tour through the history of the profanities we (sometimes) abhor and (sometimes) revel in (and sometimes both), peppered with cameos by everyone from Geoffrey Chaucer and Cole Porter to Tallulah Bankhead and the too-little-known singer-songwriter Lucille Bogan, still making people blush seventy-odd years after her death, God bless her. I laughed frequently and learned plenty."—Benjamin Dreyer, New York Times bestselling author of Dreyer's English

"Shakespeare’s Caliban spoke for the human race when he said 'You taught me language, and my profit on’t is, I know how to curse.' Taboo language combines our touchiest social emotions with the poetic and metaphorical powers of language, and no one can explain these more clearly and compellingly than John McWhorter."—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; author of The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature

"Erudite and entertaining, McWhorter shows us foul language in its wonderful, fertile variety. We see how speech taboos that once applied to religion and the body now apply to groups of people—and why there should be such power (and pleasure) in transgressing them."—Aaron James, New York Times bestselling author of Assholes: A Theory

"A treat for the mind and a gift of laughter."—Leo Sopicki, Seattle PI

"A bawdy, bodacious, and brilliant excursion through the wonderful world of profanity, filled with delicious tidbits (who knew that Edna St. Vincent Millay practiced slinging the sh*t while darning?) and linguistic amuse bouches. In other words, it’s a  f***ing great read."—Ross and Kathryn Petras, New York Times bestselling authors of You’re Saying It Wrong

"A lively and informative study, not to mention wonderful cocktail party material."—Kirkus Reviews

"Effing delightful. A treat for every adult who used to look up swears in the dictionary (or still does)."—June Casagrande, bestselling author of It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences and Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies

"Dispensing his vast linguistic expertise with the lightest and deftest of touches, John McWhorter shows brilliantly how the ‘nastiest’ words can teach us about the dynamic and unruly nature of all language. Anyone interested in words (and not just the nasty ones) should read this book."—Joe Moran, author of First Yo