Blue streak

Most language issues from the cerebral cortex - evolution's pride and joy. But swearing erupts from the buried, primitive limbic system, which is the same part of the brain that produces passion, hatred, and aggression. As National Book Award nominee Richard Dooling tells us in his smart, funny, and erudite exploration of verbal taboos, this difference in linguistic origin explains why many people who suffer brain damage that destroys their ordinary speaking abilities can nevertheless cuss up a storm. It also helps to explain why swearing pervades all eras, cultures, and levels of human society: We have the hardware for swearing built into our systems, and nature - or at least human nature - doesn't like to let any tool lie around unused. But our capacity and our impulse to give vocal offense have always run smack into good manners, and in America these days they also run smack into political correctness and federal regulations. These age-old and newfangled conflicts provide Richard Dooling with his richest sources of insight and humor. He demonstrates in logical and hilarious detail why government rules about language are next to unenforceable, focusing directly on those that invo