Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing (50 page)

female,
27
,
30
,
52
,
85
,
98
,
107
,
221

as locus of sacred,
41
–42,
73
–74,
103
,
256

male,
17
,
39
–43,
75
,
84
,
89
,
99
,
109
,
197
,
221

See also cock
;
cunt
;
mentula

genres, hierarchy of,
45
–52,
83

God.
See
Bible; Yahweh

Gone with the Wind
,
232
–33

graffiti,
6
,
20
–21,
25
,
27
,
31
,
46
–47,
51
,
229
,
251

Graves, Robert,
228
–29,
240

Great Rebuilding,
157
–60

Grose, Francis,
175
n,
178
,
219
–21

Gunpowder Plot,
137

Harington, John,
143
–45,
159
–60,
163
–65,
201

Harold, Earl of Wessex,
113
–14

Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies
,
220
–22

hate speech,
238
–39

Hawes, Stephen,
121
–22

Hebrew language,
57
,
64
–65,
67
,
73
,
81
–85,
95

Henry VIII,
104
,
131
,
140
,
143

Henry, Matthew,
84

Herbert, Henry, Master of the Revels,
168
–70

Hicklin Rule,
242

Hittites,
57

homosexual, lack of Roman category for,
17
,
30
–31,
36
–37,
42

See also
masculinity, priapic

housing,
103
–5,
157
–59

Hunt, Leigh,
198
–99

insults in court records,
99
–101,
117
–19,
154
–55,
234
–39

Internet,
5
,
246
,
255

irrumatio
,
16
–17,
25
,
31
–33,
38

Israelites,
62
–64,
66
–69,
75
,
79
–81,
84
–85

Jerome, Saint,
87

Jesuits,
129
–30,
137
,
174
–75

Johnson, Samuel,
10
,
13
,
223

jokes,
16
,
33
,
58
,
86
,
107
,
140
,
166
,
199
–200,
227

Jonson, Ben,
167

Joyce, James (
Ulysses
),
239
–43

kissing,
107
,
111
,
167
,
170
,
182
,
198
,
220

Kuntillet Ajrud,
71
–72

landica
,
17
,
27
–29,
51
,
55

Latin language

in Britain,
19

history of,
52
–53

as language for male initiates,
53
,
147

obscenities as polite English terms,
52
–53

as source of euphemism,
198
,
201
–2

latrines,
23
,
31
,
46
,
159

Lawrence, D. H. (
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
),
228
,
243
–44

Ledoux, Claude-Nicholas,
40

legal regulation of swearing,
179
–83

Act Against Jesuits, Seminary Priests (1585),
129

Act to Restrain Abuses of Players (1606),
168

Chaplinsky v. State of New Hampshire
(1942),
234
–35

Cohen v. California
(1971),
237
–38

fighting words,
233
–39

obscenity,
169
,
239
–46

lesbians.
See tribades

Lewis, C. S.,
100
–101

libertines,
176

Lindisfarne Gospels,
88
–89,
145

literacy, Roman,
47

Lollards and Lollardy,
78
,
89
,
116
–19,
121
,
126

ludi florales
(games of Flora),
42

Luther, Martin,
78
,
116

Lyndsay, Sir David,
86

manners,
104
–5,
162
,
176

Manning, Cardinal Henry,
181

Manning, Frederic,
228
,
240

Marlowe, Christopher,
49
–50

Marryat, Captain Frederick,
192
–93

Marston, John,
145

Martial,
147
,
183

biography,
47
–48

Epigrams
,
16
,
21
,
22
,
23
,
25
–28,
30
,
37
–38,
48
,
189

status as client,
47
–48

Marvell, Andrew,
52

masculinity, priapic,
29
–39,
42
–44,
47
–48

Melanchthon, Philipp,
78

mental reservation,
130
,
135
,
137

mentula
,
17
,
25
–26,
39
–45,
48
–49,
51

Milton, John,
52

miracle-of-the-host exempla,
123
–24

modesty,
23
,
34
–35,
41
,
51
,
82

Moloch,
63
,
68

monotheism,
63
,
65
–66,
80
,
272
n

moralisation of status words,
100
–101

Motion Picture Production Code (Hays Code),
232

mouth

in oral sex,
31
–32,
38
,
220

as sacred,
37
–39

sins of,
109
–10

Mutunus Tutunus,
42

mystery plays,
97
,
107

nakedness,
41
,
103
,
105
–6,
162
–64,
170
–71,
183
–84,
186
–89

Nashe, Thomas,
145
–46

Nationalism,
223
–25

nigger
,
5
,
224
,
232
–33,
247
,
252
,
255
–56

as fighting word,
236

as neutral or positive,
10
,
225
,
233

as “worst” word,
9
–10,
17
n,
231
,
233

nominative determinism,
205

Norman Conquest,
91
,
113
–14

Norman French language,
91
,
93
,
159
,
282
n

oaths

“Bloody Question,”
134

continuing use in Catholic countries,
258

effects on God,
9
,
112
–13,
120
–26,
139
,
253

encouraged by God,
61
–62,
120

ex officio
,
133
–34

false,
115
–16,
119
–20,
130
–31,
135

forbidden by Christ,
77
–80

frequency of,
177
–78

God’s own,
59
–60

on God’s body parts,
120
–26

in Hebrew Bible,
55
–80

in legal system and government,
114
–16,
127
,
135
–37,
179
–83

of loyalty,
140

proper or sincere,
7
,
55
,
60
–62,
79
,
90
,
112
–19,
127
,
180
–81

on stage,
166
–68

vain,
7
–8,
61
–62,
91
,
112
,
120
–21,
177
–79

weakening power of,
131
,
137
–42,
177
–83

as worship,
67
–68,
120

See also
covenants; vows and vowing

obscenities

as apotropaic,
43
–44,
102
–3,
128

in the Bible,
80
–90,
206

in cipher,
152
–53

as common names,
20
,
93
–94,
100

connection between sex and violence in,
26

in dictionaries,
94
–95,
98
,
143
,
146
–51

growing power of,
154
,
156
,
175
–77,
215

in literature,
96
–97,
165
–70,
247

as magical,
43
–44

medical texts,
96

as religious language,
18
,
41
–45

as revealing “truth,”
41
,
183
–86

sexual as “worse” than excremental,
111
–12,
148
–50

See also
racial slurs; self-control

obscenity

definition,
17
–18

etymology,
17

first English uses of term,
143
–46

vs. obscene words,
239
–41

prosecutions for,
169

Oldcastle, Sir John,
116

oratory,
46
,
50

orthophemism,
198

Ovid,
34
,
49
–50,
166

Oxford English Dictionary. See
dictionaries

paki
,
9
–10,
225
,
231
,
239
,
256

palimpsests,
64

Palsgrave, John,
150
–51,
154
,
165

Pan,
42

papal bull,
132

Parliamentary oaths,
179
–82

Partridge, Eric,
228
–29

pastoral texts,
108
–12,
119
–21,
124
,
127
,
254

Paul, Saint,
58
,
86

pederasty,
35

pedicatio
,
17
,
21
,
25
,
29
–31,
32
–33,
38
,
43
,
213

penis
,
19
,
41
,
51
–52,
53

Pepys, Samuel,
158

perjury.
See
oaths, false

pilgrimage badges,
101
–3,
132

pintel
,
98
–99,
102
,
112

piss
,
15
,
17
,
22
–24,
50
,
80
–82,
93
,
95
–96,
98
–99,
111
,
150
,
154
,
199
–200,
206
,
245

Polari,
153

polytheism

ancient Near Eastern,
63

Israelite,
63
–64,
80

traces in the Bible of,
64
–77

See also
Asherah; Baal; El

Pompeii,
20
,
24
,
46
,
229

pop music,
247

Pope, Alexander,
10
–11,
93
n,
177
–78,
189
,
196

pornography,
169
,
196
,
214
–15,
231
,
234
,
239

Priapea
,
33
,
47
,
48
–49

Priapus,
18
,
33
,
34
,
42
,
49
,
254

priests

Biblical,
69
,
70
,
75

Catholic,
88
–89,
107
,
108
,
129
–30,
132
–33,
135
–38,
157

Hittite,
57
n

role in Eucharist,
117
,
121
,
123
,
124
,
126
–27

Roman,
42

privacy,
7
,
10
,
23
,
39
–43,
103
–7,
156
–62,
205
,
289
n

privies,
23
,
117
,
144
,
158
–59,
160
,
163

See also
latrines; toilets

profanity,
10
,
11
,
219
,
232

prostitutes and prostitution,
24
,
26
,
34
,
42
,
45
,
46
,
47
,
89
,
93
,
100
,
101
,
151
,
189
,
214
,
220
–21,
222