Very Good Condition. Light shelf wear along edges and slight hand soiling to Page Edges, otherwise "clean", clear text in a tightly bound book. Philadelphia 1987 1st Running Press. Large octavo, 200pp., index, wraps. VG. An investigation of verbal abuse from around the world, including slang terminology, insults, vulgarities, slurs, curses, and other offensive words expressions. A journal about bad language sounds like an exercise for teenage boys, at first, but this book proves otherwise. It's all about profanity in English and other languages, and it's fascinating stuff -- an interesting mirror on human nature. It makes the language come alive. Maledicta, "the journal of verbal aggression", is a small journal edited by Reinhold Aman. If you've ever wondered why our curses are phrased the way they are, read this book.