A lively collection of sharp retorts and ripostes, pithy pot, ricocheting bombast - caustic quips, and polite, and the definitely unpolite, sort of put downs. This book can either be read for the sheer fiendish fun of it, or it can be put to work as a sourcebook for anyboday - speakers, entertainers, managers, writers - who wishes to communicate a little more forcefully. Carefully categorised according to targets, this book can be used time and time again to deflate egotists, dispose of bores and demolish dummies.

Lackbrain, oysterwench, wantwit, clotpoll--Samuel Johnson's famous dictionary of 1755 contained some of the ripest insults in the English language. In Samuel Johnson's Insults, Jack Lynch has compiled more than 300 of the curmudgeonly lexicographer's mightiest barbs, along with definitions only the master himself could elucidate. Word lovers will delight in flexing their linguistic muscles with devilishly descriptive vituperations that pack a wicked punch. Many of these zingers have long lain dormant. Some have even come close to extinction. Now they're back in all their prickly glory, ready to be relished once more.

The sharpest stings ever to snap from the tip of an English-speaking tongue are here at hand, ready to be directed at the knaves, villains, and coxcombs of the reader's choice. Culled from 38 plays, here are the best 5,000 examples of Shakespeare's glorious invective, arranged by play, in order of appearance, with helpful act and line numbers for easy reference, along with an index of topical scorn appropriate to particular characters and occasions.

Examines the nature and place of insults in daily life, discussing how insults influence a person's beliefs and impressions about others' character, honor, gender, intentions, conventions, and power.

A collection of almost 1000 derogatory literary and historical quotations, ranging from the venomous to the merely bitchy, and linked by an amusing commentary. The book is a combination of The Book of Insults Ancient and Modern and The Complete Book of Insults.

n A Slap in the Face, William Irvine undertakes a wide-ranging investigation of insults, their history, the role they play in social relationships, and the science behind them. He offers advice, based primarily on the writings of the Stoic philosophers, on how best to curb our own insulting tendencies and how to respond to the insults that are directed our way. A rousing follow-up to The Good Life, A Slap in the Face will interest anyone who's ever delivered an insult or felt the sting of one--in other words, everyone.

Away, you scullion, you rampallion, you fustilarian! Along with penning some of the most sublime passages in all of English Literature, Shakespeare was a master when it came to casting a wicked comeback or hurling a barbed insult. Whether it's Prospero calling Caliban a 'freckled whelp, hag-born' in The Tempest or King Lear railing against his daughter Goneril with the damning words, 'Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood', Shakespeare didn't hold back when it came to getting creative with his slights. Packed full of eloquent stings and poisonous putdowns, this is the perfect resource for anyone looking to scorn an enemy – without resorting to swearing! 'Away, you starvelling, you elf-skin, you dried neat's-tongue, bull's-pizzle, you stock-fish!' Henry IV Part I (Act 2, Scene 4). 'Away, you three-inch fool.' The Taming of the Shrew (Act 4, Scene 1). 'Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-liver'd boy.' Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 3). 'The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes.' The Comedy of Errors (Act 5, Scene 4).

Garfield, the feline master of the ironic aside, puts his paw to the grindstone and lets loose with these gems: good-natured insults, purr-fect put-downs, and deceptively sweet slams. For the young, the old, and the cranky at heart, Garfield knows how you feel sometimes—and he says it, in so many words.