Customer Reviews
A very interesting diversion albeit with no true purpose - By: Mark Slattery, 07 Oct 2008 
It isn't about television & there aren't seven words, but this is an essay about obscene language. There are intelligent questions & ruminations about why we swear & how language becomes offensive for different people - & how offensive language can also be downgraded.
Pinker knows a lot about the brain & about the structure of English & this book is half playful & half serious when it explores modern attitudes to language. It is more of an exploration than a thesis, because he does not come to firm conclusions or offer a prescription as a result of his thoughts. We do get some neat quotes (Lenny Bruce comes out King) & some smart ironies & illogicalities. The incredible unintended self-satire of the Clean Airwaves Act has to be read to be appreciated.
The most perceptive quote for me is C. S. Lewis' observation that, "As soon as you deal with [sex] explicitly, you are forced to choose between the language of the nursery, the gutter, & the anatomy class." And my favourite rudism is by Lyndon Johnson: "He wouldn't know how to pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel."
Pinker sometimes states as fact things I wanted to take issue with (- is it proven that men lie more to get sex than women do or is that simply his supposition? I don't think I agree wholly with him about intransitive verbs either) - & on page 38 he asks himself a question he barely tries to answer. He could have looked at stigma words like racist & paedophile, which would have been a good fit for his subject.
The end result is a book that is an enjoyable read, intelligently written, but not a thesis or even a comprehensive examination. But that is not a killer criticism as it is a very illuminating read & on a subject we can alll relate to. Or so, at least, seemd to think the people who read it over my shoulder on the tube: they got an eyeful.
