John McWhorter Books
John McWhorter is an American linguist, author, and professor at Columbia University. He specializes in language change, creole languages, and sociolinguistics, and is known for his accessible writing and commentary on language and culture.
Known for: Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever, Words on the Move: Why English Won't—and Can't—Sit Still (Like, Literally)
Books by John McWhorter
Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever
A lively exploration of the history, evolution, and cultural significance of profanity in the English language. Linguist John McWhorter traces how taboo words have changed over time, what they reveal ...
Words on the Move: Why English Won't—and Can't—Sit Still (Like, Literally)
In this lively exploration of language change, linguist John McWhorter explains how English words constantly evolve in meaning, pronunciation, and usage. He argues that linguistic shifts are natural a...
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Historical Foundations
To understand profanity, we must start at the beginning. Early English was full of vivid, earthy expressions, but what distinguished profane from ordinary speech were the taboos set by religion and authority. In medieval times, cursing involved invoking the sacred—taking the Lord’s name in vain or c...
From Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever
Religious and Moral Origins of Taboo
In the medieval world, every utterance carried spiritual weight. To curse someone invoked the divine, to swear an oath bound one before God. The earliest 'bad' words, therefore, were tied to blasphemy. Profanity was literally profaning—the desecration of the holy through words. This proximity to sac...
From Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever
The Nature of Linguistic Change
Every language that has ever existed is a work in progress, an organism constantly adjusting to the needs of its users. The temptation to treat one moment in a language’s life as its pinnacle—Shakespeare’s English, perhaps—is a misunderstanding of what language is. I begin by demystifying this chang...
From Words on the Move: Why English Won't—and Can't—Sit Still (Like, Literally)
Historical Shifts in English
To understand how English keeps moving, we need to look at its long arc. From Old English, through Middle English, to the modern forms we use today, English has never remained fixed. The massive simplification of inflectional endings after the Norman Conquest was not decay—it was natural streamlinin...
From Words on the Move: Why English Won't—and Can't—Sit Still (Like, Literally)
About John McWhorter
John McWhorter is an American linguist, author, and professor at Columbia University. He specializes in language change, creole languages, and sociolinguistics, and is known for his accessible writing and commentary on language and culture.
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John McWhorter is an American linguist, author, and professor at Columbia University. He specializes in language change, creole languages, and sociolinguistics, and is known for his accessible writing and commentary on language and culture.
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