Not long ago, the worst curses you could utter tended to be short and simple - typically, four letter words. Now, things are more complicated, as a result of changing taboos and multi-layered contexts, so that words which may seem innocuous on the surface have the power to offend, distress, or infuriate. This is the subject of historical linguist Philip Gooden's new book, Bad Words. Join Gooden in this fascinating author talk to explore how and why contentious expressions have changed over time.

The talk will take place in the Makerspace at Oxfordshire County Library. Gooden is a member of the Writers in Oxford group, a close partner of the library which has provided several speakers for the series of free author talks that has been running since they reopened in the Westgate Centre in 2017.

Share this event