History lessons have never been so hilarious thanks to this collection of insults through the ages—the targets of your barrage of vintage invective won’t know what’s hit them.

Ever wanted to “air the lungs (1)” like a cowboy or dreamed of channeling the wit of Shakespeare to deliver that killer put-down to an Elizabethan fustilarian (2)? Are you too much of a medieval scobberlotcher (3) to realize this ambition? Well, you’re in luck because The History of Insults has some of the finest put-downs of all time—starting with the Ancient Romans and Greeks and working through the centuries to modern times. This means you can dish out the best burns to bacon-fed bell swaggers (4) to your heart’s content. As they used to say in 19th-century London, “It’s more than enough to make a stuffed bird laugh!”

(1) Swear; (2) Scoundrel; (3) Lazy person; (4) Fat, loudmouth bullies