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Rooted: An Australian History of Bad Language
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. From the defiant curses of the convicts to the humour of Kath & Kim, Amanda Laugesen, Chief Editor of the Australian National Dictionary, takes us on an engrossing journey through the tumultuous history of Australia's bad language.
Bad language has been used in all sort 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, notably Indigenous Australians and women. Revealing the fundamental tensions, conflicts, preoccupations and anxieties that have shaped our past and continue to shape our present, the story of bad language is a story about what it means to be Australian.
Bad language has been used in all sort 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, notably Indigenous Australians and women. Revealing the fundamental tensions, conflicts, preoccupations and anxieties that have shaped our past and continue to shape our present, the story of bad language is a story about what it means to be Australian.
314 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 6, 2025
In 2017, veteran Aussie protester Danny Lim was arrested for holding a sign reading ‘Tony You CⱯNT’ (directed at Tony Abbot, the PM). When it went to court, the judge – in a verdict hard to imagine elsewhere – dismissed the case with the ruling that the word was ‘not necessarily offensive’.
It's good to have it nailed down in law, since the impression has long been that Australians are unusually quick and unusually creative in reaching for the stock of English swearwords. It's an impression that goes back pretty much as long as the country does. A Tasmanian soldier serving with Americans in the nineteenth century wrote home disappointed that ‘their blasphemy lacks the poetical variety and fluency of expression of the Australian’. Plus ça change.
This book from Amanda Laugesen (Chief Editor of the superb Australian National Dictionary) tracks the history of all this, from the legendarily foul-mouthed bullock-drivers of early Australia, through the urban larrikins and wartime diggers, all the way down to Barry Humphries, Germaine Greer and Kath and Kim.
Anyone who has spent time in Australia will appreciate the creativity of much of their slang. (I am particularly enamoured of root ute ‘van with a mattress in the back for sex’, but the phrase ‘I'm not here to fuck spiders’ must also be applauded.) Creativity is not always called for, of course; one of the angriest and most justified explosions of swearing I can think of is Tim Minchin's wholly admirable The Pope Song, which, in terms of its swearing, is as basic as it gets. Still, there has been a flurry of fascinating new coinages, often linked to what Laugesen refers to, rather wonderfully, as ‘the amelioration of cunt’.
In 2019, for example, there was a minor scandal over an episode of the Australian Bachelor, when one of the contestants referred to the titular date-seeker as a ‘dog cunt’ on primetime. As one viewer tweeted, ‘As an Australian, it's hard to decide whether calling Matt a “dog cunt” is mean-spirited or if it's just flirting.’
One of Laugesen's running themes is the dichotomy in swearing. On the one hand, it can be a form of hate speech, closely tied to racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination; but on the other hand, ‘bad language can challenge existing frameworks of power’. The use of swearing in countercultural protests, second-wave feminism, and debates over race in Australia are unpicked here, with, perhaps, not a great deal of depth but with some fascinating illustrative examples.
While swearing can, in certain situations, still be a criminal offence against public order, we see for instance that Aboriginal Australians are disproportionately charged with these offences. So the ‘question of who can use offensive language and whether or not they are punished for it remains an urgent one’.
Wise words, from a country whose Northern Territory once ran a tourist campaign with the slogan ‘CU in the NT’.
It's good to have it nailed down in law, since the impression has long been that Australians are unusually quick and unusually creative in reaching for the stock of English swearwords. It's an impression that goes back pretty much as long as the country does. A Tasmanian soldier serving with Americans in the nineteenth century wrote home disappointed that ‘their blasphemy lacks the poetical variety and fluency of expression of the Australian’. Plus ça change.
This book from Amanda Laugesen (Chief Editor of the superb Australian National Dictionary) tracks the history of all this, from the legendarily foul-mouthed bullock-drivers of early Australia, through the urban larrikins and wartime diggers, all the way down to Barry Humphries, Germaine Greer and Kath and Kim.
Anyone who has spent time in Australia will appreciate the creativity of much of their slang. (I am particularly enamoured of root ute ‘van with a mattress in the back for sex’, but the phrase ‘I'm not here to fuck spiders’ must also be applauded.) Creativity is not always called for, of course; one of the angriest and most justified explosions of swearing I can think of is Tim Minchin's wholly admirable The Pope Song, which, in terms of its swearing, is as basic as it gets. Still, there has been a flurry of fascinating new coinages, often linked to what Laugesen refers to, rather wonderfully, as ‘the amelioration of cunt’.
In 2019, for example, there was a minor scandal over an episode of the Australian Bachelor, when one of the contestants referred to the titular date-seeker as a ‘dog cunt’ on primetime. As one viewer tweeted, ‘As an Australian, it's hard to decide whether calling Matt a “dog cunt” is mean-spirited or if it's just flirting.’
One of Laugesen's running themes is the dichotomy in swearing. On the one hand, it can be a form of hate speech, closely tied to racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination; but on the other hand, ‘bad language can challenge existing frameworks of power’. The use of swearing in countercultural protests, second-wave feminism, and debates over race in Australia are unpicked here, with, perhaps, not a great deal of depth but with some fascinating illustrative examples.
While swearing can, in certain situations, still be a criminal offence against public order, we see for instance that Aboriginal Australians are disproportionately charged with these offences. So the ‘question of who can use offensive language and whether or not they are punished for it remains an urgent one’.
Wise words, from a country whose Northern Territory once ran a tourist campaign with the slogan ‘CU in the NT’.
January 26, 2021
In the spirit of this book I'm going to start off this review with a comment on how this read was really fucking fascinating.
As an eighties baby I was wholly unaware of how far Australia's censorship stretched though I was aware of our prevailing reputation as prolific swearers. And I'm still reminded, even now, how our relationships with words are very different from other countries... especially some of the four letter ones. There's always a lot of pearl clutching when the c-word is uttered.
However, Amanda Laugesen's study of the slang and swears takes an interesting look at how language, history and social movements are intertwined and the unique forms they take. It doesn't shy away from the ugly; the homophobia, racism and sexism. But it also looks at how the movements against these things used language to further their causes. And yeah sure, there was some dry academic language in places but the information was well worth the occasionally slog.
An excellent look at australianisms.
As an eighties baby I was wholly unaware of how far Australia's censorship stretched though I was aware of our prevailing reputation as prolific swearers. And I'm still reminded, even now, how our relationships with words are very different from other countries... especially some of the four letter ones. There's always a lot of pearl clutching when the c-word is uttered.
However, Amanda Laugesen's study of the slang and swears takes an interesting look at how language, history and social movements are intertwined and the unique forms they take. It doesn't shy away from the ugly; the homophobia, racism and sexism. But it also looks at how the movements against these things used language to further their causes. And yeah sure, there was some dry academic language in places but the information was well worth the occasionally slog.
An excellent look at australianisms.
September 6, 2021
3.5 stars rounded up. An often fascinating insight into the formation of Australian cultural identity. Thoughtfully written.
January 7, 2023
'Rooted' is a much needed study of Australian linguistic history with its focus on obscene and/or negative slang. Nominally Australian English is presented as a form of English that is dominated by swearing and colloquialisms, and that it can be both offensive and picturesque, opaque and pithy. Laugesen, through her chronological narrative of Australian bad language, contextualised into certain thematic areas (e.g. women, criminality, class, First Nations language), presents a well constructed and clear socio-linguistic history of her subject. 'Rooted' is definitely not rooted.
There is no doubt that Laugesen develops her account of bad language in Australia with an effective mix of clarity, entertainment and serious academic study. 'Rooted' can be read by non-experts and serious students of language alike, Australians and non-Australians as well. The author's prose is (for the most part) concise, well-annotated where necessary and does not rely on jargon (academic or otherwise). She has peppered her text with plenty of serious discussion points whilst also illustrating her study with plenty of anecdotes and 'real world' examples. The reader of 'Rooted' will not be bored or mystified by Laugesen's text.
That Laugesen follows a chronological approach is commendable, however where she really makes an impression is her evaluation of the usage of 'bad language' by specific social entities or in specific social contexts. For example, there is a considerable amount of attention given to First Nations' peoples and their use of what colonial or white Australians would consider inappropriate language. This is spoken of in terms of resistance from Indigenous peoples and as a catalyst for colonial oppression. This is something that is not as well understood or appreciated by non-Aboriginal Australians.
That women, criminals, blue collar workers, soldiers and immigrants can also find a reason for using 'bad language' is also documented by Laugesen, and she makes a point of referring to how its usage by many Australians can be seen as an expression of social identity and as a means to rebel against those who are nominally 'better'. Whether it be police, the boss or the British (among many other elites) the Australian usage of obscenities can often be linked to a desire to subvert the political or social order. 'Rooted' argues with much effectiveness that swearing is very much integral to the Australian sense of egalitarianism.
Having said that Laugesen is also willing to discuss how much of the Australian experience of offensive language can be linked to racism, homophobia and other negative social attitudes. There is no doubt that whilst Australians who swear can do so with some degree of humour, when it comes to slurs and other insulting obscenities Australians can do so with a unique degree of hatefulness. Of course what is considered offensive today may not be so say 20 or so years ago, however Laugesen has made the appropriate conclusions when considering how negative and abusive Australian English can be.
There are useful observations on some of the key figures in Australian English's 'bad language'. CJ Dennis, John O'Grady, Barry Humphries and others are all given their due as contributors to our slang, with Humphries perhaps the most prolific and proficient. That popular culture, including TV, radio, books, plays and other forms of entertainment have played their part in making bad language in Australian English such a rich experience is well documented by Laugesen.
In summary, 'Rooted: An Australian History of Bad Language' is a well researched and written popular linguistic study. It will appeal to the neophyte and the serious student alike, and Laugesen has written a very entertaining and informative book. It is not the authoritative book on this subject however if you want to understand Australians then you could do a lot worse than read this text.
There is no doubt that Laugesen develops her account of bad language in Australia with an effective mix of clarity, entertainment and serious academic study. 'Rooted' can be read by non-experts and serious students of language alike, Australians and non-Australians as well. The author's prose is (for the most part) concise, well-annotated where necessary and does not rely on jargon (academic or otherwise). She has peppered her text with plenty of serious discussion points whilst also illustrating her study with plenty of anecdotes and 'real world' examples. The reader of 'Rooted' will not be bored or mystified by Laugesen's text.
That Laugesen follows a chronological approach is commendable, however where she really makes an impression is her evaluation of the usage of 'bad language' by specific social entities or in specific social contexts. For example, there is a considerable amount of attention given to First Nations' peoples and their use of what colonial or white Australians would consider inappropriate language. This is spoken of in terms of resistance from Indigenous peoples and as a catalyst for colonial oppression. This is something that is not as well understood or appreciated by non-Aboriginal Australians.
That women, criminals, blue collar workers, soldiers and immigrants can also find a reason for using 'bad language' is also documented by Laugesen, and she makes a point of referring to how its usage by many Australians can be seen as an expression of social identity and as a means to rebel against those who are nominally 'better'. Whether it be police, the boss or the British (among many other elites) the Australian usage of obscenities can often be linked to a desire to subvert the political or social order. 'Rooted' argues with much effectiveness that swearing is very much integral to the Australian sense of egalitarianism.
Having said that Laugesen is also willing to discuss how much of the Australian experience of offensive language can be linked to racism, homophobia and other negative social attitudes. There is no doubt that whilst Australians who swear can do so with some degree of humour, when it comes to slurs and other insulting obscenities Australians can do so with a unique degree of hatefulness. Of course what is considered offensive today may not be so say 20 or so years ago, however Laugesen has made the appropriate conclusions when considering how negative and abusive Australian English can be.
There are useful observations on some of the key figures in Australian English's 'bad language'. CJ Dennis, John O'Grady, Barry Humphries and others are all given their due as contributors to our slang, with Humphries perhaps the most prolific and proficient. That popular culture, including TV, radio, books, plays and other forms of entertainment have played their part in making bad language in Australian English such a rich experience is well documented by Laugesen.
In summary, 'Rooted: An Australian History of Bad Language' is a well researched and written popular linguistic study. It will appeal to the neophyte and the serious student alike, and Laugesen has written a very entertaining and informative book. It is not the authoritative book on this subject however if you want to understand Australians then you could do a lot worse than read this text.
February 19, 2021
Ms Laugesen is one of Australia's leading experts on Australian English. On my journey of learning more of what it means to be Australian, coming to terms with the different meanings of English words than what they mean in American English, or even England's English is a constant source of pleasure. In this book, Ms Laugesen goes all the way back to the first colonists arriving and how the language of the convicts, who for the most part were poor working class folks sentenced for stealing a loaf of bread or their own cow back from a landlord because he doubled the rent which they didn't have. But I digress, she starts out with why we swear, pointing out that it can express anger, frustration or happiness. And it can be used to insult, joke with or bond with someone. Of the top 10 American swear words or phrases, only two would be considered in the Australian top 10: fuck and shit and the former heard much more in conversation in Australia then in the US. To enlighten my US friends, the other top ten in Australia are bloody, bastard, dickhead, wanker, cunt, cock and piss. While moral authorities (the Church and government) decried the bad language heard on the streets compared to what was heard in England of the early 19th century, and believed it was a moral marker of convict's moral failings. However, it can also be said that swearing was a way for convicts to challenge authority and express identity. As the 19th century progressed, so did the colourful language, with one English visitor calculating the number of times a bullock driver (teamster) would have said the word bloody over the course of his adult life from the amount of times said driver exclaimed the word 25 times in 15 minutes: 18, 200,000. Language hardened a bit during WWI with some returning soldiers writing accurate portrayals of conversations in the trenches and field hospitals and finding those words being censored in print by magazines, newspapers and publishers. This being an attempt to show the diggers, as they are known, to be wholesome righteous people serving God, King and Country. And it was in this post WWI period that stricter censorship laws were enacted and held sway until the 1960's, when writers, theatres and films started challenging them, by using the banned words and eventually start winning court cases. One of those leading the charge was Barry Humphreys (Dame Edna) although Mr Humphreys also said it was better to use more colourful language and giving new life to old phrases as well as mading up his own, many still used today such as: dead dingo's donger, stone the crows, don't come the raw prawn, strike me pink, hope all your chooks turn into emus and kick your dunny down. He also came up with: busy as a one-armed Sydney cab driver with crabs, and point Percy at the porcelain. He pulling out the etymology of the word fuck was fascinating, being of Germanic orgion, meaning 'to strike'. It came into English usage as a sexual term in the 16th century. In Australia the word is combined with other words in many different ways, none of them Australian in themselves, however, Australia can lay claim to one that has now found its way into general usage throughout the English speaking world: fuckwit and was first used in the play The Front Room Boys in 1969. From there Ms Laugesen shows the origins of other swear words: be they Danish, Arabic, Greek, Italian and so on. A fun and interesting read for sure.
March 4, 2022
A very interesting history of swearing in Australia.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews