Rebecca Roache interviewed Alex Farrow

Philosopher Rebecca Roache asks why we love to swear so much, why we get offended when others do it, and why we are more tolerant of f*** than fuck.

Roache takes a lively and amusing look at swearing and argues that what makes swearing offensive is not the words at all. She says it is the unspoken inferences that speakers and listeners make that explain the capacity to shock. Roache celebrates the power of swearing as a tool of communication and a source of humour whilst also looking at particular words directed at women’s bodies that function in particularly complex ways.

‘Finally, a book that rips the fuck out of the arseholes who claim that swearing is ‘the sign of a poor ‘vocabulary’ or ‘unnecessary’. Bollocks to them. This book puts those dim wankers right in as serious, intelligent, knowledgeable and hilarious a fashion as the subject deserves.’ Stephen Fry

Roache is senior lecturer in philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her previous books include as co-editor of Psychiatry Born and her work has appeared on the BBC and in the Times and Guardian.  Here she talks to standup comedian Alex Farrow, who uses comedy to explore the funny side of philosophy. His solo show on the Edinburgh fringe is a regular sellout.