Rooted

Bugger, rooted, bloody oath …

What is it about Australians and swearing? We’ve got an international reputation for using bad language and letting rip with a choice swear word or two.

Bad language has been used in all sorts of ways in our history: to defy authority, as a form of liberation and subversion, and as a source of humour and creativity. It has also been used to oppress and punish. Revealing the fundamental tensions, conflicts, preoccupations and anxieties that have shaped our past and continue to shape our present, the story of bad language tells a unique history of Australia.

In Rooted, Chief Editor of the Australian National Dictionary Amanda Laugesen takes us on an engrossing journey through the tumultuous history of Australia’s bad language.