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Depraved and Insulting English
Originally published as two distinct collections, Depraved and Insulting English brings to light the language's most offensive and obscene words—words that have fallen out of today's lexicon but will no doubt delight, amuse, and in some cases prove surprisingly useful. Who hasn't searched for the right word to describe a colleague's maschalephidrosis (runaway armpit perspiration) or a boss's pleonexia (insane greed)? And what better way is there to insult the scombroid landlord (resembling a mackerel) or that tumbrel of a brother-in-law (a person who is drunk to the point of vomiting) than by calling him by his rightful name?
A compact compendium of ingenious words for anyone who's been tongue-tied, flabbergasted, or dumbfounded, Depraved and Insulting English supplies the appropriate vocabulary for any occasion. Word lovers, chronic insulters, berayers, bescumbers, and bespewers need fear no more—finding the correct word to wow your friends or silence your enemies just got a whole lot easier.
A compact compendium of ingenious words for anyone who's been tongue-tied, flabbergasted, or dumbfounded, Depraved and Insulting English supplies the appropriate vocabulary for any occasion. Word lovers, chronic insulters, berayers, bescumbers, and bespewers need fear no more—finding the correct word to wow your friends or silence your enemies just got a whole lot easier.
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 14, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 14, 2018
Re-read 2018
Sometimes you need a new way of saying rude things when you cannot take any more. Is the semester over yet?
I've had this book forever and decided to pull it out to reread when I found it again. This book is a very interesting dictionary of old and now unused words. If you want a way to say something nasty about a person and you don't want them to realize it was an insult read this book to find some unique ideas. Some of the definitions made me laugh out loud while others made me want to start yelling Ewwww at the top of my lungs. This is a very different book and really enjoyable even if only to pick up occasionally and read a few definitions.
Sometimes you need a new way of saying rude things when you cannot take any more. Is the semester over yet?
I've had this book forever and decided to pull it out to reread when I found it again. This book is a very interesting dictionary of old and now unused words. If you want a way to say something nasty about a person and you don't want them to realize it was an insult read this book to find some unique ideas. Some of the definitions made me laugh out loud while others made me want to start yelling Ewwww at the top of my lungs. This is a very different book and really enjoyable even if only to pick up occasionally and read a few definitions.
December 31, 2007
Warning: this might not be everyone's cup of tea. But it's the kind of book I find irresistible.
OK, I can sense your silent entreaties even from here. You want some examples. Here are some of my favorites:
bescumber (verb): to splatter with feces; to spray with ordure.
rudesby (noun): a loud boor; a generally offensive person.
scombroid (adj): resembling a mackerel.
tittery-whoppet (noun): an archaic euphemism for what is nowadays referred to as the va-jay-jay.
feague (verb): to insert an 'energizing suppository' (usually ginger) into the anus of a horse, in order to make it sprightly and to perk up its tail.
rhodorhinorangifericide (noun): the act of killing a red-nosed reindeer.
OK, I made that last one up. But it *could* be a word, no?
OK, I can sense your silent entreaties even from here. You want some examples. Here are some of my favorites:
bescumber (verb): to splatter with feces; to spray with ordure.
rudesby (noun): a loud boor; a generally offensive person.
scombroid (adj): resembling a mackerel.
tittery-whoppet (noun): an archaic euphemism for what is nowadays referred to as the va-jay-jay.
feague (verb): to insert an 'energizing suppository' (usually ginger) into the anus of a horse, in order to make it sprightly and to perk up its tail.
rhodorhinorangifericide (noun): the act of killing a red-nosed reindeer.
OK, I made that last one up. But it *could* be a word, no?
June 22, 2013
Interesting book. I like the ability of insulting someone without them realizing that they have been insulted. A lot of the words deal with defacatory and execratory functions. The book is in desperate need of a definition to word index, otherwise the practical use of these bon mots is limited.
August 13, 2014
What could be better on an awful day than calling someone the most obscene and offensive word imaginable? There is something that could be. It’s the fact that the one called that awful offensive word might not even comprehend what horror has befallen him. Or her. There are plenty of disgusting names for both sexes in this little gem of a book, and the pleasure you will derive in seeing the puzzled face of your enemy will undoubtedly make your bad day so much better, you will dare to grin a sinister inner smile at your secret knowledge. And that knowledge would be this book. How about a couple choice words for you to warm you palate?
BDELLOID: resembling a leech. What an excellent word to drop on a date that didn't go too well, wouldn’t you agree?
GAMMERSTANG: a tall, skinny, and awkward woman. Oh, you could have a field day with this one, couldn’t you?
MOME: a nitpicking critic. How lovely would it be to throw in the face of those constantly criticizing you!
SNUDGE. A scoundrel who hides under the bed, waiting for a chance to rob the house. There is a word for that??
Have I convinced you yet? Go buy this book and carry it close to your heart at all times of day.
BDELLOID: resembling a leech. What an excellent word to drop on a date that didn't go too well, wouldn’t you agree?
GAMMERSTANG: a tall, skinny, and awkward woman. Oh, you could have a field day with this one, couldn’t you?
MOME: a nitpicking critic. How lovely would it be to throw in the face of those constantly criticizing you!
SNUDGE. A scoundrel who hides under the bed, waiting for a chance to rob the house. There is a word for that??
Have I convinced you yet? Go buy this book and carry it close to your heart at all times of day.
April 8, 2008
This book will always be in my reading it shelve since it is really a dictonary and I learn a new word every day.
It is just a wonderfully funny book and I can now confuse my friends even more when I speak with them or use the words in a bar to get a person to stop talking to me.
It is just a wonderfully funny book and I can now confuse my friends even more when I speak with them or use the words in a bar to get a person to stop talking to me.
November 11, 2018
I've had this book for a few years floating around the writing reference shelf. I picked it up and decided to reread it after stumbling across it while looking for another book.
Depraved and Insulting English is a fun book to read full of all kinds of odd, disused and obscure words. I would caution the writer considering using any of these words, as even with a very good vocabulary, very few of these words I knew. While some writers get away with having obscure words in their writing; other writers might not get by sending their readers scrambling for a dictionary.
A writer using too many of the words found in Depraved and Insulting English might come across as stuck up, or trying too hard to impress the reader with the writer's education. Other readers might feel the author's goal using these words is to make the reader feel stupid, rather than viewing obscure words as a chance to learn something new.
Some of the definitions in Depraved and Insulting English made me laugh, but some were so disgusting I wanted to fling the book across the room. Depraved and Insulting English is a good book on a writer's reference shelf - something to flip through occasionally. You never know, a description of an obscure word might even break writer's block.
Depraved and Insulting English is a fun book to read full of all kinds of odd, disused and obscure words. I would caution the writer considering using any of these words, as even with a very good vocabulary, very few of these words I knew. While some writers get away with having obscure words in their writing; other writers might not get by sending their readers scrambling for a dictionary.
A writer using too many of the words found in Depraved and Insulting English might come across as stuck up, or trying too hard to impress the reader with the writer's education. Other readers might feel the author's goal using these words is to make the reader feel stupid, rather than viewing obscure words as a chance to learn something new.
Some of the definitions in Depraved and Insulting English made me laugh, but some were so disgusting I wanted to fling the book across the room. Depraved and Insulting English is a good book on a writer's reference shelf - something to flip through occasionally. You never know, a description of an obscure word might even break writer's block.
November 18, 2021
The Women of the Copper Country: A Novel Oh what a great book. The poor get poorer and the rich get richer. you know why? Read this book, it is an excellent account of money over whelming the need to see the humanity in all of us. A novel based on fact, but it brings to life the philosophies that stand between us. Oh yeah. Mary Doria Russell is the greatest writer I have ever encountered in all my years of reading.
October 1, 2017
Holy. Ordure! When does Volume 2 come out!!
August 23, 2018
Great to dip into throughout the day. What made the book, for me, were the authors' absolutely hilarious comments after many of the words.
October 23, 2019
Best dictionary of odd words I have ever read. I've reread this multiple times and have even tried to implement many of the words into my daily vocabulary.
July 26, 2012
Novobatzky and Shea are two authors who must have once been the kids who just loved to write snide and offensive sentences using assigned vocabulary words, but could never publicize them... until now. All grown up, they now have a more appropriate (okay, appropriate is DEFINITELY the wrong word) audience for their junior-high-style bawdy imaginative sentences, only they got to choose the words. They carefully chose some of the most usefully disgusting terms from a large number of cited resources. The antiquarian illustrations add to the whole sense of tastelessness under the facade of sophistication. This book was a gift from a dear friend, and I'm so glad she knows me so well. It has brought me much mirth.
August 17, 2021
For anyone who cherishes the English language, its subtle nuances and strange etymology, this book will entertain you for hours. Peter Novobatzky and Ammon Shea have carefully mined the depths of vocabulary to locate the most bizarre collection of truly gross and outlandish words. In addition to the definition of each rare gem, the author's use of the selected word in a sentence is one of the highlights of this wild, ribald compilation. "Depraved and Insulting English" is the go-to vade mecum for cutting someone to the quick without their ever knowing it. Not for the easily offended.
July 3, 2007
Thank you Maxim Magazine for this one. I almost lost it to Larry and other assorted folks it's so good. Find out words you never thought existed, and repatriate them to the English language! For instance, don't just club someone, use a pizzle* to beat them! Don't say 'that girl has a nice ass', say "My, what a pygobombe** she is!"
*Pizzle: a cane made from a dried and stretched bull's penis. Popular in the Victorian era.
**Pygobombe: a woman with round shapely buttocks.
*Pizzle: a cane made from a dried and stretched bull's penis. Popular in the Victorian era.
**Pygobombe: a woman with round shapely buttocks.
June 22, 2007
One of the most useful books I own, the only thing I wish it had was some sort of cross-referencing index.
December 4, 2007
My friend Erin-poo Bardonner got this for me for my birthday. I love her. And this book. Super funny for a lover of the written and spoken word!
August 19, 2008
A reference book for insulting words that are now in disuse, or completely forgotten.
This book is excellent so far. Funny, intelligent and setting me up with an arsenal of new insults.
This book is excellent so far. Funny, intelligent and setting me up with an arsenal of new insults.
April 19, 2010
I consult this all the time for witty remarks that others don't understand. This might be the best gift I was ever given. Chock full of naughty, naughty, words :)
October 7, 2010
A man of loose behaviour can be refered to as a FRANION
October 14, 2010
Standard big annotated list of funny words -- good, and with plenty of obscure stuff.
September 5, 2012
Highly recommended for anyone that loves learning new and obscure words, and word nerds in general.
September 15, 2008
Most awesome grotesque vocabulary expander.
September 18, 2008
If you don't own this book, you're little more than a lant-drinking trugabelly!
Want to read
July 28, 2011Have not yet read all of this but it has to be returned. Would be great to own!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews