Pacific Grove author and comedian shifts from bad words to warfare.

Pacific Grove’s Sterling Johnson is going to give it to you straight, minor discomforts be damned.

The introduction to his first book, English as a Second F*cking Language, uses a brief dialogue between a couple to demonstrate no fewer than eight uses for the F-word in its title, including as a strong affirmation, an intensifier, an abbreviation for “I don’t know,” an interjection and a synonym for “damaged,” all to teach foreign born readers how to navigate the tricky, previously unwritten dictionary of dirty words.

Johnson, it should be noted, is a pseudonym almost as cheeky as his in-depth analysis of bestiality in Watch Your F*cking Language, the bad-word Bible that followed his first guidebook. His real name is Jeff Whitmore.

The inspiration? “At the time it was that moron on Long Island, Bobbitt,” he remembers. “His wife had cut off his penis, the subject of many jokes. One of them was that he was going to change his name to Les Johnson.”

His most recent work is called Dangerous Knaves. This week, the Pacific Grove resident marks the debut of the adventure novel—based on the author’s Cold War service as a public information specialist in Germany—with a book signing at Monterey’s Old Capitol Books.

The blurb on the back reads, “suspenseful, explosive, and cautionary…a twisted world of unexpected dangers.” But the story takes the format of a dry historical biography. There is potential in the rich backstories and exotic details of its characters, but it won’t likely sell the same millions of copies his guides have.

In his cussing handbooks, terms are organized into sections such as “Sodomy,” “His,” “Hers,” “Fuck” and “Farts,” accompanied by examples to represent the nuances of profanity—like the difference between corn-holing and corn-husking.

The F-word, he says, is “the mother of all words. Short and effective, it gets to the root of creation. The euphemisms for it are cumbersome and inexact.”

In a move of tomfoolery or shrewd determination, he sent a copy to Stephen King.

After the first book was published, Johnson, in a bold move of either tomfoolery or shrewd determination, sent Stephen King a copy.

“I thought, Stephen likes to swear, he’s from New England [like me]…I wrote [him that] we both had our pictures [and stories] in Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone Magazine. His photo was in color and on the front cover, and mine was like a freshman’s yearbook picture next to his.”

King replied. His comments: “Great f*cking book! Funny as a f*ck!”

Johnson has penned a humor column for the Monterey County Herald accompanied by cartoons signed with the name “Roka” and has been a contributing writer for a long list of publications. While working as a ghostwriter for a tech company, Johnson was inspired to write the swearing guides for people like the technician from Thailand who spoke perfect textbook English but couldn’t understand basic profanities.

Originally a native of Cape Cod, Mass., Johnson equates his knowledge of saucy language to the brashness of that New England upbringing and Army life. He gets concerned with most censorship and believes everything in his books should be taken within context.

“[Censorship] makes no sense,” he says. “Who is it protecting?”

Johnson began a stint as a standup comedian just last year when his daughter, a standup in her own right, encouraged him to join her onstage. Johnson worked The Purple Onion in San Francisco, The Improv in San Jose, The Living Room in Redwood City, and other venues in Northern California. Johnson cites Sarah Silverman, Tina Faye, Louie C.K., Don Rickles, Lenny Bruce and George Carlin as inspirations who exude his comedic values of likability and wit.

He does draws boundaries when it comes to profanity and comedy. And he honors the use of swearing for effect rather than laziness or intimidation.

“I don’t like bullies. Some people swear to be tough,” he says. “It’s certainly adolescent boys, and adolescence can be prolonged decades. Centuries!”

At that he laughs, a 74-year-old man with a young soul.

STERLING JOHNSON book signing of Dangerous Knaves 2-4pm Saturday. Old Capitol Books. 559 Tyler St., Monterey. 333-0383.www.oldcapitolbooks.com.