The Art of Verbal Warfare

We use salty or artful language to win arguments, slander, cheat, and bully, as well as to express feelings of joy or frustration by swearing or "blowing off steam." Rik Smits delves into the magic of oaths and profanity, art and advertising, the lure of fake news and propaganda, as well as invective and off-colour jokes the world over. This book shows why conversation dies in crowded elevators and what drives us to curse at our laptops. The Art of Verbal Warfare is, when all is said and done, the story of how we can get through life without coming to physical blows.

'If you want to know why you swear, what counts as a potty mouth in other cultures, and why words can hurt more than sticks and stones, then this rampage of a book is for you: it will amuse, embarrass, provoke, enlighten, and annoy the hell out of you about all forms of dirty language and dirty politics. It is also a passionate defence of the joys and failures of Western democracy, liberalism, and rationality — for which using words well really matters.' - Simon Goldhill, professor of Greek, University of Cambridge, fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and foreign secretary of the British Academy