The Art of Verbal Warfare

A funny and fascinating exploration of our reliance upon swear words, insults, and the artfully placed expletive, damn it.

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-color 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.

Rik Smits is a linguist based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His books include The Puzzle of Left-handedness, also published by Reaktion Books, and Dawn: The Origins of Language and the Modern Human Mind.