Your Mother's Tongue: A Book of European Invective

by Stephen Burgen

Book Overview

An extremely funny history of so-called bad language by a European author. He asserts that Europeans try to get along but keep treading on each other's toes. In this tour of anger, exasperation, prejudice, irony and loathing as expressed in some 20 European tongues, we learn that what is invective in one country is sweet talk in another. A single currency in Europe? Yes. A common language? Not on your life. The Guardian review states that the book's "His gently comic tone recognizes how funny, how much of a release, much bad language can be." "Entertaining, widely informed."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0575061316
• ISBN13: 9780575061316
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square Publishing
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Brilliant Read

This is an hilarious romp through the minefield of "invective". Taking a pan-European perspective, Burgen leads us through the taboos and nuances of language, the why and how of our swearing. One suspects that this was a labour of love for Burgen, as he clearly enjoys exposing the biases and prejudices of his British roots and those of his European confreres. Not for the faint-hearted and those shy of four letter words, this is a truly brilliant read.