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The Big Book of Filth: 6500 Sex Slang Words and Phrases
Have some good "dirty" fun with more than 6,500 off-color phrases, all vividly, explicitly defined. Categories include body sites; arousal and frustration; masturbation; orgasm; intercourse in a dazzling variety of positions; oral, kinky, gay, bi, and safe sex; and many other aspects of sex. Sources range from street jargon and popular music lyrics to literary allusions, fascinating etymologies, and rhyming slang. Bonus : George Carlin's famous 1970s "12 words you can't say on TV," and their latest competitors
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 2000
2 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
Jonathon Green
92 books26 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
I am a lexicographer, that is a dictionary maker, specialising in slang, about which I have been compiling dictionaries, writing and broadcasting since 1984. I have also written a history of lexicography. After working on my university newspaper I joined the London ‘underground press’ in 1969, working for most of the then available titles, such as Friends, IT and Oz. I have been publishing books since the mid-1970s, spending the next decade putting together a number of dictionaries of quotations, before I moved into what remains my primary interest, slang. I have also published three oral histories: one on the hippie Sixties, one on first generation immigrants to the UK and one on the sexual revolution and its development. Among other non-slang titles have been three dictionaries of occupational jargon, a narrative history of the Sixties, a book on cannabis, and an encyclopedia of censorship. As a freelancer I have broadcast regularly on the radio, made appearances on TV, including a 30-minute study of slang in 1996, and and written columns both for academic journals and for the Erotic Review.
My slang work has reached its climax, but I trust not its end, with the publication in 2010 of Green’s Dictionary of Slang, a three volume, 6,200-page dictionary ‘on historical principles’ offering some 110,000 words and phrases, backed up by around 410,000 citations or usage examples. The book covers all anglophone countries and its timeline stretches from around 1500 up to the present day. For those who prefer something less academic, I published the Chambers Slang Dictionary, a single volume book, in 2008. Given that I am in no doubt that the future of reference publishing lies in digital form, it is my intention to place both these books on line in the near future.
I am a lexicographer, that is a dictionary maker, specialising in slang, about which I have been compiling dictionaries, writing and broadcasting since 1984. I have also written a history of lexicography. After working on my university newspaper I joined the London ‘underground press’ in 1969, working for most of the then available titles, such as Friends, IT and Oz. I have been publishing books since the mid-1970s, spending the next decade putting together a number of dictionaries of quotations, before I moved into what remains my primary interest, slang. I have also published three oral histories: one on the hippie Sixties, one on first generation immigrants to the UK and one on the sexual revolution and its development. Among other non-slang titles have been three dictionaries of occupational jargon, a narrative history of the Sixties, a book on cannabis, and an encyclopedia of censorship. As a freelancer I have broadcast regularly on the radio, made appearances on TV, including a 30-minute study of slang in 1996, and and written columns both for academic journals and for the Erotic Review.
My slang work has reached its climax, but I trust not its end, with the publication in 2010 of Green’s Dictionary of Slang, a three volume, 6,200-page dictionary ‘on historical principles’ offering some 110,000 words and phrases, backed up by around 410,000 citations or usage examples. The book covers all anglophone countries and its timeline stretches from around 1500 up to the present day. For those who prefer something less academic, I published the Chambers Slang Dictionary, a single volume book, in 2008. Given that I am in no doubt that the future of reference publishing lies in digital form, it is my intention to place both these books on line in the near future.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 15, 2020
Not really what I wanted.
I should have done better research. I was hoping for a little more information about the origins of some of these slang words, earliest known usage, in what text, etc.
It is a list book. And it does provide the date and country of origin for each word. But I wanted more detail and more history.
I should have done better research. I was hoping for a little more information about the origins of some of these slang words, earliest known usage, in what text, etc.
It is a list book. And it does provide the date and country of origin for each word. But I wanted more detail and more history.
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January 27, 2022My husband gifted me this for Christmas. I’m a romance writer.
February 9, 2022
Mostly a list. Difficult to use as a resource. 3.5.
August 21, 2015
This was given as a gift along with Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary as some people know I love word books.
If you like reading (who doesn't) and writing (ditto) this book could be useful, basically a dictioary of rude words going as far back as possible
If you like reading (who doesn't) and writing (ditto) this book could be useful, basically a dictioary of rude words going as far back as possible
May 12, 2017
a must-read for the morally impaired...
January 22, 2020
It was funny to read all the words for different sex acts or body parts. Who knew there were so many different names for these things? I wish the book had given more history behind some of the words.
June 16, 2009
An indispensible book for any writer, this book truly covers it all! Not only does it provide the actual slang word, it also gives the origin! For example, did you know that "snorker" is 1940's Australian slang for the Penis? Or how about "bunghole"?? Did you know it originated way back in the 17th century?! Neither did I. Now you know. And there are 6,498 more where that came from!
August 28, 2007
There are many interesting and underutilized words.
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January 24, 2011Funny
August 13, 2011
(Sound of throat clearing)Gorilla In The Washing Machine
(There may be more to this obsession than I realize.)
(There may be more to this obsession than I realize.)
July 18, 2021
Exactly what it says, a large collection of slang terms. Amusing as some of them come back and some can draw a laugh as they have fallen from circulation but are remembered by some.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews