Rooted: An Australian history of bad language

Bugger, rooted, bloody oath …

What is it about Australians and swearing? We’ve got an international reputation for using bad language and letting rip with a choice swear word or two.

Bad language has been used in all sorts of ways in our history: to defy authority, as a form of liberation and subversion, and as a source of humour and creativity. It has also been used to oppress and punish. Revealing the fundamental tensions, conflicts, preoccupations and anxieties that have shaped our past and continue to shape our present, the story of bad language tells a unique history of Australia.

In Rooted, Chief Editor of the Australian National Dictionary Amanda Laugesen takes us on an engrossing journey through the tumultuous history of Australia’s bad language.

‘Australia is built on blood, sweat and swears. Digging up the dirt, Amanda Laugesen finds out why, with flair, ferocity and other f-words.’ – David Astle

‘A colourful tour of more than two centuries of bad language that extends from the mildly offensive to the completely filthy.’ – Frank Bongiorno

‘In Rooted, her appositely titled, exhaustive history of the national use of the obscene, the offensive and the ever-creative slangy, Amanda Laugesen proves that so-called “bad language” makes for some of the most inventive, descriptive and even character-defining in the world.’ – Jonathon Green

About the author

Dr Amanda Laugesen is a historian, lexicographer and author. She is director of the Australian National Dictionary Centre at ANU and chief editor of the Australian National Dictionary: Australian words and their origins. She has published extensively on US and Australian history. Her book Australia in 100 Words was shortlisted for the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Australian History.

Amanda Laugesen
Published November 2026
Paperback
320 pages
210mm x 135mm
ISBN 9781761170904