Keith Allan
Australian linguist and professor at Monash University, known for influential work in semantics and pragmatics, particularly on euphemism and dysphemism; author of Natural Language Semantics and coauthor/editor of major works on taboo language.
Books
This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.
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1. Forbidden Words
Taboo and the Censoring of Language
An exploration of linguistic taboo and the social forces that regulate expression, examining how communities manage offense through euphemism, dysphemism, and orthophemism across domains like sex, death, religion, and politics. Combining linguistic analysis with cultural history, it details strategies for softening or intensifying meaning, the workings of censorship and politeness, and how taboo words both mirror and mold social values.