A Field Guide to the F Word - Softcover

Never embarrass yourself again by using the F word inappropriately. "A Field Guide to the F Word" explores its history from the fifteenth century, its blossoming in World War II, and its evolution into contemporary acceptance. Its linguistic and syntactic peculiarities are explained, alternative words evaluated, its etiquette and misuse clearly defined, and its nuances exposed—without The Word appearing in print. Charming, thought-provoking, playful, subtle, and all in good clean fun. "A Field Guide to the F Word" is your ticket to social success. Laurence Urdang, former editor of "Verbatim, The Language Quarterly," called it, “The best f***ing book on the subject I have seen.” “Idiosyncratic but intellectually rigorous . . . this book is an irreducible argument that the F word, used properly, can in fact be its own kind of poetry.” — Kathleen Rooney, Chicago Tribune Evokes an entire generation and the war that defined them. Never have so few words captured so completely the essence of the men of the greatest generation, their humor, irreverence, dogged pragmatism and solidarity. It helped me understand my father. — Chris Chouteau, Social activist. As hilarious as it is well-researched, mixing vernacular phrasing with technical precision worthy of the Chicago Manual of Style. Parker manages to accomplish this without writing the word itself, making this the perfect gift for the word nerd in your family, no matter how sensitive or foulmouthed. — Glenn Dallas, Manhattan Book Review