Words Apart

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Words Apart is a collection of around four thousand words and phrases with a common prejudice. It is a lexicon that reveals the verbal lengths to which we will go to distance ourselves from people who are different. This is a broad vocabulary, encompassing much more than the simplistic terms of racist abuse. Here are phrases that we use everyday like 'French letter' or 'going Dutch', which draw on the language of nationalism but eschew the aggression and bigotry often associated with xenophobia. Here too are many expressions like 'the luck of the Irish' which begrudge a certain affection for our neighbours.This language is often contentious but it is also undoubtedly fascinating. From the grimly obvious - 'spick', 'mick', 'coon' and 'kike' - to the bizarre - 'as bilong sospen', 'side-pork' and 'ippeltysk' - Words Apart covers a waterfront of race-related language. As well as an introductory essay on the whole, thorny topic of xenophobic language, Jonathon Green (author of Slang Down the Ages) looks at different ethnic groups, the stereotypes they have taken on, the words they attract and those they use. Not for the squeamish, let alone the politically correct, Words Apart illumines one of the murkier aspects of human speech.