McWhorter deftly models a way for us to think deeply and systematically about language while celebrating its wildness, its slipperiness and its silliness.

Two paradoxes within Nine Nasty Words make it a most enlivening read. The first is of profanity embraced by the masses while also being held in puritanical quarantine in certain quarters. The second is McWhorter’s personal anecdotes and guy-on-the-next-barstool’s witty and often cheeky asides juxtaposed with his brilliant, erudite, dizzying command of the English language.

In the sections I found most intriguing, McWhorter takes deep dives into derogatory terms for minorities (women, people of color, non-straight people). McWhorter does a magnificent job of uprooting English’s ugly past when people in places of privilege uttered these taboo terms to dehumanize others.

... high on amusement, if short on salient findings.

Nine Nasty Words, although containing more dirty words than any other book in my library, falls into the category 'delightfully charming read' for two reasons. First, the depth of his linguistic scholarship will impress even the casual reader. McWhorter goes into the history of each word. He dispels myths, and breaks new ground where existing scholarship has hit dead ends.

It’s distinctive McWhorter, dense yet breezy, jumping from one reference to another.

... playful.