English Forums

Use our English forums to learn English. The message boards are great for English questions and English answers. The more you contribute, the more all members can practice English!

:  

Ask English!

Need help on American fictions

05:13 PM Apr 11 2006 | Reply

oregon

oregon

Thailand

Dear teachers,
I’m a grad student in China. I’m writing a thesis on “Contrastive Studies Between Chinese and American English Swear Words”. I’m looking for some Ameican contemporary fictions (1980-present) that contain a lot of swear words. Could you suggest me some? Thank you very much.
Kevin

07:25 PM Apr 15 2006 | Reply

Manglish

Manglish

China

Can you be more specific on what you want and what you are looking for? give some examples.

07:05 AM Apr 16 2006 | Reply

oregon

oregon

Thailand

I’m looking for a male author who likes using a lot of curse words in his work. His work should be published during the year 1990-2005. Could you think of anyone? Please suggest.
Kevin

05:28 AM Apr 17 2006 | Reply

Manglish

Manglish

China

Curse words normally come from ritual works of ancient western religions, such as recent popular movies of “Harry Porter”.
Chinese “Dao” religion has a lot of “Mantra” in their ritual works especially when dealing with spiritual contacts or communications with the Supereme beings.
Likewise, Buddhism has plenty of “Mantras” too. It has over 2,500 years of history, and was from India. These Mantras have not been translated into Chinese language except in its pronounciation.
I am not aware of any western author or book of Curse words related.

12:16 PM Apr 17 2006 | Reply

episod

episodSuper Member!

United States

A good example of some American writers who liberally use slang and curse words:
William S. Burroughs – Naked Lunch
Jack Kerouac – the Dharma Bums
These are known to be difficult works for non-English speakers, but they are both a treasure trove for idiomatic English as it developed in the 1950s. Most of the slang used in these books are in common use today.
Hope that helps you out!
Taylor

01:49 PM May 09 2006 | Reply

xiaomaomusic

United States

You might want to look at Jonathan Franzen’s “The Corrections”
(“Harry Potter” is a children’s book, so there won’t be any really strong cursing in the book).
Tom Robbins has a pretty filthy mouth (meaning he uses a lot of profanity) “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” has cursing in it, but was published in 1976. He has more recent books than that.
My guess is that James Salter’s “A Sport and A Pasttime” also has cursing in it, because it is about sex.
Good luck
Hope this was helpful.
-Holly

05:09 PM May 09 2006 | Reply

oregon

oregon

Thailand

Thank you for all of your help. If anyone has any more suggestions, pls let me know. Thanks a lot in advance!

05:33 PM May 09 2006 | Reply

xiaomaomusic

United States

Hey-
My boyfriend suggested Phillip Roth (he wrote “Portnoy’s Complaint”). He has some very recent novels as well.
Brett Easton Ellis (“American Psycho”)
Elmore Leonard (crime novels)
Also, there is a book called “Bright Lights, Big City” about drug use in New York City.
-Holly

11:41 AM Nov 22 2007 | Reply

gothicneway

Ghana

PLEASE  SIR  MY  TALET  IS  ART  AND  MY  PARETS  SAYS  THEY  DONT  HAVE  MONEY  TO  SEND  ME  TO  ART  SCHOOL  .PLEASE  CAN  EVERY  ONE  HELP?

TOEFL Practice Test

TOEFL® Practice Online

Practice for the TOEFL test with Ebaby! We now offer official practice tests from ETS with previously used questions.

English, baby!

Sign up for a Super membership

Ebaby! IM

Instant message friends
with Ebaby! IM

English, baby! Vocabulary Flash Card.


Find Friends