The days when the dandelion could be called the pissabed, a heron could be called a shitecrow and the windhover could be called the windfucker have passed away with the exuberant phallic advertisement of the codpiece.

–historian Geoffrey Hughes in Swearing

Quoted by Steven Pinker here.

Oh, this is just the thing to brighten my day. The Boston Phoenix has created short MP3s of the crucial bits from Obama’s reading of his autobiography. Hear the President of the US say: “You know that guy ain’t shit. Sorry-ass motherfucker ain’t got nothing on me.” “There are white folks, and then there are ignorant motherfuckers like you.” “You ain’t my bitch, nigga! Buy your own damn fries!”

In his bestselling autobiography, Dreams From My Father, President Obama introduces us to his high school friend, “Ray,” who, like him, is bi-racial. Who, also like him, is casting about to find his place in the world. But, who, unlike him, has a potty mouth that would make a sailor blush.

Best of all? When reading the audiobook version of his bio, Obama does impressions of Ray’s manner of speech. Swear words and all. It’s fucking awesome.

{Via WFMU’s Beware of the Blog}

Oh, and here’s some YouTubeage of these bits: