Bad Language (Penguin Language & Linguistics)

The authors of Bad Language were careful to condemn pedantry and deride disinformation about language and dialect when they wrote this enjoyable book in 1990. More than that, they were at pains to dismiss any notion of correctness in language, regularly pointing out classism and elitism in this. The book breaks down ideas considered "bad" in English, from swearing to malapropisms, and presents them as part of a living, loved language. And they had fun along the way.

And so did I.