Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing

If you're interested in the more wacky and fascinating bits of cultural history (or are just fond of swearing for the sake of it), this book is for you!

Sprinkled with humor and plenty of obscenities, it takes a look through ancient and more modern history and shows the reader how and why swearing was used in different times and cultures, where swear words probably came from and why they are usually taboo subjects.

An entertaining and never dry read, perfect as a gift for a potty-mouthed friend.

For a bit of a sample, one of the first recorded uses of the F-word comes from the Scottish writer William Dunbar who wrote sometime before his death in 1513:

'He clappit fast, he kist and chukkit,

As with the the glaikis he we ovirgane

Yit be his feirris he wald have f---it ...

He embraced fast, he kissed and groped

As if he were overcome with desire

Yet it seemed from his behavior he would f---ed.'